The Postnational Fantasy: Essays on Postcolonialism, Cosmopolitics and Science Fiction - Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy

Brief Description: "In twelve critical and interdisciplinary chapters, this text examines the relationship between the fantastic in novels, movies and video games and real-world debates about nationalism, globalization and cosmopolitanism. This anthology charts a space, where postcolonial theory and science fiction and fantasy studies work to expand our understanding of the fantastic, while expanding the scope of postcolonial discussions"--Provided by publisher. Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index. Table of Contents: Acknowledgments -- Foreword / Donald M. Hassler -- Introduction / Masood A. Raja, Swaralipi Nandi -- Part I. Postcolonial Issues in Science Fiction -- 1. Science Fiction as Experimental Ground for Issues of the Postcolonial Novel / Michele Braun -- 2. Truth Is Stranger: The Postnational Aliens of Biofiction / Karen Cardozo, Banu Subramaniam -- 3. Forms of Compromise: The Interaction of Humanity, Technology and Landscape in Ken MacLeod's Night Sessions / Adam Frisch -- 4. The Language of Postnationality: Cultural Identity via Science Fictional Trajectories / Chris Pak -- Part II. The Nation and Ethnicity in Science Fiction -- 5. The Popular Science: Bollywood's Take on Science Fiction and the Discourse of Nations / Swaralipi Nandi -- 6. Postcolonial Ethics and Identity in Mike Resnick's Kirinyaga / Jenn Brandt -- 7. The Frontier Myth and Racial Politics / Angel Mateos-Aparicio MartIn-Albo -- 8. Dystopia and the Postcolonial Nation / Suparno Banerjee -- Part III. Towards a Postnational Discourse -- 9. Body Speaks: Communication and the Limits of Nationalism in Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis Trilogy / Katherine R. Broad -- 10. Engineering a Cosmopolitan Future: Race, Nation, and World of Warcraft / Jason W. Ellis -- 11. When Nation Stops Making Sense: Mexico and Giorgio Agamben's State of Exception in Children of Men / Stacy Schmitt Rusnak -- 12. Fantastic Language/Political Reporting: The Postcolonial Science Fiction Illocutionary Force Is with Us / Marleen S. Barr -- About the Contributors -- Index. Publisher Marketing: In twelve critical and interdisciplinary essays, this text examines the relationship between the fantastic in novels, movies and video games and real-world debates about nationalism, globalization and cosmopolitanism. Topics covered include science fiction and postcolonialism, issues of ethnicity, nation and transnational discourse. Altogether, these essays chart a new discursive space, where postcolonial theory and science fiction and fantasy studies work cooperatively to expand our understanding of the fantastic, while simultaneously expanding the scope of postcolonial discussions.

Contributor Bio:  Hassler, Donald M Donald M. Hassler is a professor of English at Kent State University and the author of books on Erasmus Darwin, Isaac Asimov, Hal Clement, Arthur Machen, and others. He is coeditor with Clyde Wilcox of New Boundaries in Political Science Fiction.