2014-15 AM Speculative Fiction

• Time: Thu, 10:00 - 12:00
• Venue: A01 0-010 b
• Course: 3.02.140
• Lecturer: Anna Auguscik
• Modul: ang614 Genres: Cultural, Historical and Theoretical Perspectives

• Course Description:

What is speculative fiction? Is it a synonym for science fiction or does it function as an umbrella term for sci-fi and fantasy? Does it only apply to future scenarios or could it also be applied to fictional representations of alternative histories? The term was first mentioned in an 1889 review in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine but was only defined and put to use by writer Robert A. Heinlein half a century later. Recently, 'speculative fiction' has had a comeback in literary debates about the relationship between 'literary' and 'genre' fiction - not least due to Margaret Atwood's Maddaddam trilogy (2003, 2009, 2013).

In this seminar we will track the different meanings of speculative fiction, its history, its proponents and contestants. We will read two novels which were (controversially) discussed as speculative fiction in journalistic and academic criticism - Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. In the fifth week of the seminar we will attend a reading by and conversation with philosopher and novelist Rebecca Goldstein in Bremen. In addition, we will have a guest lecturer from Canada, Professor Janine Rogers, who will not only join our discussion of Oryx and Crake but who will also offer a workshop on teaching 'literature and science' - a thriving field of research and education which will be of core interest to any current/future educator.

Please, make sure to purchase and read the two novels in advance (both will be made available at the CvO bookshop). Your reading of them is prerequisite to the course.

• Margaret Atwood. Oryx & Crake [2003]. London: Virago, 2013.
• Kazuo Ishiguro. Never Let Me Go [2005]. London: Faber and Faber, 2010.

• Additional materials for preparation, as well as the detailed syllabus, will be made available here.

• Course Requirements

• Requirements for 6 KP: regular attendance and a written/oral contribution in the form of a project, with a term paper of ca. 10-12 pp. based on the topic of the project.
• As part of the "Aktive Teilnahme" regulation:

    Die aktive Teilnahme besteht aus folgenden Komponenten
    - regelmäßige Anwesenheit: max. 2 Abwesenheiten und gegebenenfalls Nacharbeit
    - Vor- und Nachbereitung des Seminarstoffs (Gruppenprojekte, Vorbereitung/Lektüre von Texten) 
    - Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Fragestellung aus dem Problembereich des Seminars, durch:
      *Übernahme von Ergebnispräsentationen und 
      *(nur falls Seminararbeit angestrebt, verschriftlicht, ansonsten als Teil der Präsentation) 
       Entwicklung einer Research Paper Outline im Laufe des Semesters (die Zeitangaben verstehen sich als Empfehlungen): 
       Wahl eines Themenbereichs (bis ...),
       Abstract mit Fragestellung inkl. Forschungsbibliographie (RPO) (bis ...), 
       Vorstellung der Fragestellung in der letzten Semestersitzung.

Session 1 Thu, 23 Oct

• Introduction
• Why speculative fiction?

Session 2 Thu, 30 Oct

• Genre and Speculative Fiction

Session 3 Thu, 6 Nov

• Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake: narration and characterization

Session 4 Thu, 13 Nov

• Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake (with Janine Rogers)

Session 5 Wed, 19 Nov

• Rebecca Goldstein in Bremen

Session 6 Thu, 27 Nov

• Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go: narration and characterization

Session 7 Thu, 4 Dec

• Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go: themes and plot structure

  [Specify research interest until 5 Dec at the latest]

Session 8 Thu, 11 Dec

• Oryx and Crake as Speculative Fiction

Session 9 Thu, 18 Dec

• Never Let Me Go as Speculative Fiction

Session 10 Thu, 8 Jan

• Speculative Fiction and Race/Gender

Session 11 Thu, 15 Jan

• Speculative Fiction vs. Science Fiction

Session 12 Thu, 22 Jan

• Speculative Fiction in the Marketplace

Session 13 Thu, 29 Jan

• evaluation

  [Hand in RPOs until 30 Jan at the latest]

Session 14 Thu, 5 Feb

• discussion of RPOs
• feedback on evaluation

Materials

Bibliography

• Robert A. Heinlein. "On the Writing of Speculative Fiction." [1947] Of Worlds Beyond. The Science of Science Fiction Writing. Ed. Lloyd Arthur Eshbach. London: Dennis Dobson, 1965.
• Thomas, P. L.. "A CASE FOR SF AND SPECULATIVE FICTION: An Introductory Consideration." Science fiction and speculative fiction: Challenging genres. Rotterdam, Boston, Taipei: Sense, 2013.
• Gill, R. B. "The Uses of Genre and the Classification of Speculative Fiction." Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature 46.2 (2013): 71-85.

Oryx and Crake

• Sean Murray. "The Pedagogical Potential of Margaret Atwood's Speculative Fiction: Exploring Ecofeminism in the Classroom." Environmentalism in the Realm of Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature. Ed. Chris Baratta. Newcastle upon Tyne, England: Cambridge Scholars, 2012. p111-125.
• Karen F. Stein. "Problematic Paradice in Oryx and Crake." Margaret Atwood: The Robber Bride, The Blind Assassin, Oryx and Crake. Ed. J. Brooks Bouson and Sarah Graham. New York, NY: Continuum, 2010. p141-155. Continuum Studies in Contemporary North American Fiction New York, NY.
• Angela Laflen. "'There's a Shock in This Seeing': The Problem of the Image in The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake." Amerikastudien/American Studies 54.1 (2009): p99-120.

Never Let Me Go

• Karl Shaddox. "Generic Considerations in Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go." Human Rights Quarterly 35.2 (May 2013): p448-469.
• Keith McDonald. "Days of Past Futures: Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go as 'Speculative Memoir'." Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly 30.1 (Winter 2007): p74-83.

Tools

• Handout: Traditions in our discourse about literature
• Handout: Narratology

Quotes

• Robert A. Heinlein: "Speculative fiction is not fantasy fiction, as it rules out the use of anything as material which violates established scientific fact, laws of nature, call it what you will, i.e., it must [be] possible to the universe as we know it. Thus, Wind in the Willows is fantasy, but the much more incredible extravaganzas of Dr. Olaf Stapledon are speculative fiction—science fiction." (Grumbles from Grave, 1990 [1949])
• Margaret Atwood: "What I mean by "science fiction" is those books that descend from HG Wells's The War of the Worlds, which treats of an invasion by tentacled Martians shot to Earth in metal canisters – things that could not possibly happen – whereas, for me, "speculative fiction" means plots that descend from Jules Verne's books about submarines and balloon travel and such – things that really could happen but just hadn't completely happened when the authors wrote the books." (The Guardian, 14 Oct 2011)

Further Reading

• Maxwell, Lauren Rule. "Desperate Times, Desperate Measures: Atwood's Speculative Fiction and Environmental Activism". Margaret Atwood Studies: 3.2 (2010 Aug.), pp. 4-10.
• Batty, Nancy, and Robert Markley. "Writing Back: Speculative Fiction and the Politics of Postcolonialism, 2001." ARIEL: A Review of International English Literature 33.1 (2002): 5-201.
• Gomez, Jewelle. "Speculative Fiction and Black Lesbians." Signs 18.4 (1993): 948-55.

Links

• The Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• The Speculative Literature Foundation
• Science Fiction Citations
• QWC Writing Speculative Fiction