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Weird Fiction: A Genre Study presents a comprehensive, contemporary analysis of the genre of weird fiction by identifying the concepts that influence and produce it. Focusing on the sources of narrative content-how the content is produced and what makes something weird-Michael Cisco engages with theories from Deleuze and Guattari to explain how genres work and to understand the relationship between identity and the ordinary. Cisco also uses these theories to examine the supernatural not merely as a horde of tropes, but as a recognition of the infinity of experience in defiance of limiting norms. The book also traces the sociopolitical implications of weird fiction, studying the differentiation of major and minor literatures. Through an articulated theoretical model and close textual analysis, readers will learn not only what weird fiction is, but how and why it is produced.
List of contents
Chapter 1: Genre and Judgement.- Chapter 2: The Supernatural.- Chapter 3: The Bizarre.- Chapter 4: Destiny.- Chapter 5: Case Studies.
About the author
Michael Cisco is Associate Professor of English at Hostos Community College, USA. His scholarly work has appeared in Lovecraft Studies, The Weird Fiction Review, Iranian Studies, Lovecraft and Influence, The Lovecraftian Poe, and New Directions in Supernatural Horror Literature (Palgrave 2019). He is the author of the novels The Divinity Student, The Golem, The Traitor, The Tyrant, The Great Lover, The Narrator, CELEBRANT, MEMBER, ANIMAL MONEY, and UNLANGUAGE, a short story collection called Secret Hours, and a novella called THE KNIFE DANCE.
Summary
Weird Fiction: A Genre Study presents a comprehensive, contemporary analysis of the genre of weird fiction by identifying the concepts that influence and produce it. Focusing on the sources of narrative content—how the content is produced and what makes something weird—Michael Cisco engages with theories from Deleuze and Guattari to explain how genres work and to understand the relationship between identity and the ordinary. Cisco also uses these theories to examine the supernatural not merely as a horde of tropes, but as a recognition of the infinity of experience in defiance of limiting norms. The book also traces the sociopolitical implications of weird fiction, studying the differentiation of major and minor literatures. Through an articulated theoretical model and close textual analysis, readers will learn not only what weird fiction is, but how and why it is produced.
