Despite the growing importance of economics in our lives, literary scholars have long been reluctant to consider economic issues as they examine key texts. This volume seeks to fill one of these conspicuous gaps in the critical literature by focusing on various connections between science fiction and economics, with some attention to related fields such as politics and government. Its seventeen contributors include five award-winning scholars, five science fiction writers, and a widely published economist. Three topics are covered: what noted science fiction writers like Robert A. Heinlein, Frank Herbert, and Kim Stanley Robinson have had to say about our economic and political future; how the competitive and ever-changing publishing marketplace has affected the growth and development of science fiction from the nineteenth century to today; and how the scholars who examine science fiction have themselves been influenced by the economics of academia. Although the essays focus primarily on American science fiction, the traditions of Russian and Chinese science fiction are also examined. A comprehensive bibliography of works related to science fiction and economics will assist other readers and critics who are interested in this subject.
Author(s): Gary Westfahl, Gregory Benford, Howard V. Hendrix
Publisher: McFarland & Company
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 298
City: Jefferson
Table of Contents
Introduction • Gary Westfahl, Gregory Benford, Howard V. Hendrix and Jonathan Alexander
Part One: The Business in Science Fiction
Economics and Science Fiction: An Introduction • Gregory Benford
An Underutilized Tesource: Economics in Science Fiction • Steven Postrel
Complicating the Frankenstein Barrier: Science Fiction Futures and Social Transformation • Joey Eschrich
Robert A. Heinlein Revisited: A Response to George Slusser’s Calvinist Interpretation of his Works • Bradford Lyau
The Emperor—and Heretic—of Point of View • David Brin
Counterfeit Worlds: Simulacron-8 on Film and Television • Jonathan Alexander
Millions Seek the Egg: Replicative Technofuturism in Ready Player One and Armadaho • Ward V. Gendrix
Part Two: The Business of Science Fiction
Science Fiction: The Age of Perspective • Gary K. Wolfe
You Can’t Get There from Here: Unrealistic Expectations among the Practitioners of Science Fiction • Charles Platt
Negotiating Fear and Optimism: Surveillance in Early Science Fiction • Ari Brin
The Pulp Cauldron of the 1960s: Ace Books and Ursula K. Le Guin • George Slusser
The Homeostatic Culture Machine Revisited, or, the Contemporary Wordmills of Science Fiction • Gary Westfahl
Father of the Strugatskys: The Origins of Russian Science Fantasy • George Slusser
Looking Backward: Soviet Utopianism and Post-Soviet Dystopias • Stephen W. Potts
Chinese Science Fiction and its Doubles • Lisa Raphals
Part Three: The Business of Science Fiction Scholarship
The Slusser Test for Generic Identity: Reflections on George Slusser’s “Reflections on Style in Science Fiction” • Alvaro Zinos-Amaro
The Early Life of the Eaton Collection and Dr. George Slusser’s Invaluable Contributions • Julia D. Ree
The Odd Couple: Blending Disciplines of Science and Humanities Through Teaching • Robert L. Heath
Profiting from Prophecies: Science Fiction Scholars and Their Textbooks • Gary Westfahl
Bibliography of Primary and Secondary Works Related to Science Fiction and Economics
About the Contributors
Index
