User:Karsten Sill

I study history and English Lehramt Gymnasium, 11th semester

Possible Final Essay Topics

More brainstorming...

SF Genre Theory

• What is Science Fiction?

Star Trek vs. Star Wars

• A comparison of genres taking ST and SW as examples
• Can Star Wars be classified as fantasy? Science Fantasy? Space Opera?
• Why do people (fans) need/use genres? What do they expect from a certain genre? Are genres really that bad?
• How does/does not recent scholarly discussion on genres reflect general views on genres and/or the categorization of media (literature, film etc.)
• How do the views of fans and scholars differ? What do they have in common?

Star Trek and the American frontier

• the American frontier (myth) reflected/represented/mirrored in Star Trek

Current reading list

• Kanzler, Katja, 2004: 'Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations'. The Multicultural Evolution of Star Trek. Universitätsverlag Heidelberg.
• Pinsky, Michael, 2003: Future Present. Ethics and/as Science Fiction, Associated University Press London.
• Johnson-Smith, Jan, 2005: Amercian Science Fiction TV. Star Trek, Stargate and beyond. Tauris London.
• Gentejohann, Volker, 2000: Narratives from the Final Frontier. A Postcolonial Reading of the Original Star Trek Series. Frankfurt am Main.
• for leisure: William Gibson: Spook Country/John Irving: A Son Of The Circus

Resources

• Science Fiction in the Information Age: http://tinyurl.com/ysvsk5