Practicing Science Fiction: Critical Essays on Writing, Reading and Teaching the Genre
Edited by Karen Hellekson Craig B. Jacobsen, Patrick B. Sharp and Lisa Yaszek ISBN 978-0-7864-4793-0
notes, bibliographies, index
226pp. softcover 2010
notes, bibliographies, index
226pp. softcover 2010
Price: $35.00
Description
Drawn from the Science Fiction Research Association conference held in Lawrence, Kansas, in 2008, the essays in this volume address intersections among the reading, writing, and teaching of science fiction. Part 1 studies the teaching of SF, placing analytical and pedagogical research next to each other to reveal how SF can be both an object of study as well as a teaching tool for other disciplines. Part 2 examines SF as a genre of mediation between the sciences and the humanities, using close readings and analyses of the literary-scientific nexus. Part 3 examines SF in the media, using specific television programs, graphic novels, and films as examples of how SF successfully transcends the medium of transmission. Finally, Part 4 features close readings of SF texts by women, including Joanna Russ, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Octavia E. Butler.
Drawn from the Science Fiction Research Association conference held in Lawrence, Kansas, in 2008, the essays in this volume address intersections among the reading, writing, and teaching of science fiction. Part 1 studies the teaching of SF, placing analytical and pedagogical research next to each other to reveal how SF can be both an object of study as well as a teaching tool for other disciplines. Part 2 examines SF as a genre of mediation between the sciences and the humanities, using close readings and analyses of the literary-scientific nexus. Part 3 examines SF in the media, using specific television programs, graphic novels, and films as examples of how SF successfully transcends the medium of transmission. Finally, Part 4 features close readings of SF texts by women, including Joanna Russ, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Octavia E. Butler.
Table of Contents
Preface 1
—KAREN HELLEKSON
PART 1. TEACHING
Introduction: Teaching with Science Fiction 7
—CRAIG B. JACOBSEN
1. Grokking Rhetoric through Science Fiction: A Practical Examination of Course Construction 13
—JEN GUNNELS
2. Incorporating Science Fiction into a Scientific Rhetoric Course 24
—MICHAEL J. KLEIN
3. Revealing Critical Theory’s Real-Life Potential to Our Students, the Digital Nomads 37
—JASON W. ELLIS
PART 2. READING AND WRITING
Introduction: Reading and Writing SF 53
—PATRICK B. SHARP
4. Reading/Writing Martians: Seeing Techne and Poiesis in The War of the Worlds 58
—CHARLES HARDING
5. The Creation of Heinlein’s “Solution Unsatisfactory” 74
—EDWARD WYSOCKI
6. Entropy, Entertainment, and Creative Energy in Ben Bova 87
—DONALD M. HASSLER
PART 3. MEDIA
Introduction: Media and Science Fiction 99
—KAREN HELLEKSON
7. Investigating the Postmodern Memory Crisis on the Small Screen 104
—SUSAN A. GEORGE
8. Text’s Resistance to Being Interpreted: Unconventional Relationship between Text and Reader in Watchmen 117
—HO-RIM SONG
9. “Breathe, baby, breathe!” Ecodystopia in Brazilian Science Fiction Film 130
—ALFREDO SUPPIA
PART 4. WOMEN
Introduction: Women and Writing 149
—LISA YASZEK
10. Hail the Conquering Campbellian S/Hero: Joanna Russ’s Alyx 154
—EILEEN DONALDSON
11. Essentialism and Constructionism in Octavia E. Butler’s Fledgling 168
—KRISTEN LILLVIS
12. Joanna Russ and the Murder of the Female Child: We Who Are About To... 183
—REBEKAH SHELDON
13. Learning to Listen, Listening to Learn: The Taoist Way in Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Telling 197
—JAMES H. THRALL
About the Contributors 213
Index 217
Preface 1
—KAREN HELLEKSON
PART 1. TEACHING
Introduction: Teaching with Science Fiction 7
—CRAIG B. JACOBSEN
1. Grokking Rhetoric through Science Fiction: A Practical Examination of Course Construction 13
—JEN GUNNELS
2. Incorporating Science Fiction into a Scientific Rhetoric Course 24
—MICHAEL J. KLEIN
3. Revealing Critical Theory’s Real-Life Potential to Our Students, the Digital Nomads 37
—JASON W. ELLIS
PART 2. READING AND WRITING
Introduction: Reading and Writing SF 53
—PATRICK B. SHARP
4. Reading/Writing Martians: Seeing Techne and Poiesis in The War of the Worlds 58
—CHARLES HARDING
5. The Creation of Heinlein’s “Solution Unsatisfactory” 74
—EDWARD WYSOCKI
6. Entropy, Entertainment, and Creative Energy in Ben Bova 87
—DONALD M. HASSLER
PART 3. MEDIA
Introduction: Media and Science Fiction 99
—KAREN HELLEKSON
7. Investigating the Postmodern Memory Crisis on the Small Screen 104
—SUSAN A. GEORGE
8. Text’s Resistance to Being Interpreted: Unconventional Relationship between Text and Reader in Watchmen 117
—HO-RIM SONG
9. “Breathe, baby, breathe!” Ecodystopia in Brazilian Science Fiction Film 130
—ALFREDO SUPPIA
PART 4. WOMEN
Introduction: Women and Writing 149
—LISA YASZEK
10. Hail the Conquering Campbellian S/Hero: Joanna Russ’s Alyx 154
—EILEEN DONALDSON
11. Essentialism and Constructionism in Octavia E. Butler’s Fledgling 168
—KRISTEN LILLVIS
12. Joanna Russ and the Murder of the Female Child: We Who Are About To... 183
—REBEKAH SHELDON
13. Learning to Listen, Listening to Learn: The Taoist Way in Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Telling 197
—JAMES H. THRALL
About the Contributors 213
Index 217
About the Author
Karen Hellekson is a freelance copy editor and independent scholar. She is coeditor of the open access journal Transformative Works and Cultures and of the quarterly SFRA Review. She lives in Maine. Craig B. Jacobsen teaches at Mesa Community College in Arizona. He is coeditor of the quarterly SFRA Review. Patrick B. Sharp is an associate professor at California State University, Los Angeles. He has written extensively on science fiction. Lisa Yaszek is associate professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her most recent work was on galactic suburbia.
Karen Hellekson is a freelance copy editor and independent scholar. She is coeditor of the open access journal Transformative Works and Cultures and of the quarterly SFRA Review. She lives in Maine. Craig B. Jacobsen teaches at Mesa Community College in Arizona. He is coeditor of the quarterly SFRA Review. Patrick B. Sharp is an associate professor at California State University, Los Angeles. He has written extensively on science fiction. Lisa Yaszek is associate professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her most recent work was on galactic suburbia.
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