III – Proposed Schedule

Week 1: Introduction. Common ‘beliefs’ on the specificity of science fiction literature by its readers and writers

Essays:

· Jacques Sadoul, History of Modern Science Fiction (1911-1971), 1973 [1984]

· Brian Aldiss, Billion Year Spree (a true history of science fiction), 1975 [1986]

Fiction:

· Hannu Rajaniemi, Neurofiction, 2013 [2015; 2017]

Concepts: Sense of wonder; skill; state of mind; neurofiction

Week 2: Literary Studies: Darko Suvin & Richard Saint-Gelais as science fiction readers

Studies:

· Darko Suvin, Metamorphoses of Science Fiction, On the Poetics and History of a Literary Genre, 1979

· Richard Saint-Gelais, L’Empire du pseudo. Modernités de la science-fiction, 1999 [excerpts will be translated in English by the TA]

Fiction:

· Christopher Priest, Inverted World, 1974.

· William Gibson, Neuromancer, 1984.

Concepts: novum; cognitive estrangement; science-fictional reading; science-fictionality

Week 3: Ethnography: Emmanuel Grimaud & Pierre Déléage as science fiction readers

Essays:

· Emmanuel Grimaud & Pierre Déléage, Estrangemental, 2019 [Forthcoming]

· William James, The Will to Believe, 1896

· Philip K. Dick, The Exegesis, 2011

Fiction:

· Philip K. Dick, Ubik, 1969

· Philip K. Dick, Martian Time-slip, 1964

Concepts: reality; description; epistemic doubt; dead hypothesis; living hypothesis

Week 4: Anthropocene I: Anna Tsing & Amitav Ghosh as science-fiction readers

Studies:

· Anna Tsing et. al., Less Than One but More Than Many, 2015

· Amitav Ghosh, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable, 2016

Fiction:

· Ursula K. Le Guin, The Word for World is Forest, 1972.

Week 5: Anthropocene II: Chiara Mengozzi as a science fiction reader

Study:

· Chiara Mengozzi, The Blind Spot of the Plot: Thinking Beyond Human with Karel Čapek, 2019

Fiction:

· Karel Čapek, War with the Newts, 1936

Week 6: Feminism: Donna Haraway as a science-fiction reader

Studies:

· Donna Haraway, A cyborg Manifesto, 1985

· Donna Haraway, Primate Visions: Gender, Race, and Nature in the World of Modern Science, 1990

Fictions:

· Naomi Mitchison, Memoirs of a Space Woman, 1962

· Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness, 1969

· Karen Joy Fowler, What I didn’t see, 2010.

Week 7: Animals & Posthumanism: Erica Fudge & Sherryl Vint as science fiction readers

Studies:

· Jacques Derrida, The Animal That Therefore I Am, 2008

· Erica Fudge, Animal, 2002.

· Sherryl Vint, Animal Alterity, 2010

Fictions:

· H. G. Wells, The Island of Doctor Moreau, 1896

· Olaf Stapledon, Sirius, 1944

· Clifford D. Simak, City, 1952

Week 8: Postcolonialism: Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak as a science fiction reader

Studies:

· Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Thinking Academic Freedom in Gendered Post-Coloniality, 1993.

Fictions:

· Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness, 1969

· Octavia Butler, Xenogenesis Trilogy, 1984-89

Week 9: Science & Technology I: Astrophysicists as science fiction readers

Studies:

· Freeman Dyson, Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infrared Radiation, 1960.

· Freeman Dyson, Disturbing the Universe, 1979.

· Jason T. Wright, The Search for Extraterrestrial Civilization with Large Energy Supplies, 2016.

· Arthur C. Clarke, Profiles of the Future, 1962.

Fictions:

· Olaf Stapledon, Star Maker, 1937

Week 10: Science & Technology II: Hal Clement & Larry Niven as scientific readers

Essays:

· Hal Clement, Whirligig World, 1953

· Larry Niven, Bigger Than Worlds, 1974.

Fictions:

· Hal Clement, Mission of Gravity, 1953.

· Larry Niven, Ringworld, 1970

Week 11: Translations & World Literature

Study:

· Pascale Casanova, The World Republic of Letters, 2007

Fiction:

· Ken Liu, Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation, 2016

· Ken Liu, Broken Stars: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation, 2019

· Julie Nováková, Dreams from Beyond: Anthology of Czech Speculative Fiction, 2016

· Tarun K. Saint, The Gollancz Book of South Asian Science Fiction, 2019

Week 12: Conclusion: Drawing some elements for a historical perspective on the studies on and with science fiction since the 1970’s