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Endangering Science Fiction Film explores the ways in which science fiction film is a dangerous and endangering genre. The collection argues that science fiction's cinematic power rests in its ability to imagine 'Other' worlds that challenge and disturb the lived conditions of the 'real' world, as it is presently known to us. From classic films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Solaris to modern blockbusters including World War Z and Gravity, and directors from David Cronenberg to Alfonso Cuarón, contributors comment on the way science fiction film engages with dangerous encounters, liminal experiences, sublime aesthetics, and untethers space and time to question the very nature of human existence. With the analysis of a diverse range of films from Europe, Asia, North and South America, Endangering Science Fiction Film offers a uniquely interdisciplinary view of the evolving and dangerous sentiments and sensibility of this genre.
List of contents
1. Introduction: Endangering Science Fiction Film Sean Redmond and Leon Marvell Section One: The Philosophy of Science Fiction Endangerment 2. Section Introduction Sean Redmond 3. Kubrick's 2001 and the Dangers of Techno-Dystopia Doug Kellner 4. Eye Tracking the Sublime in Spectacular Moments of Science Fiction Film Sean Redmond 5. Hope in Children of Men and Firefly/Serenity: Nihilism, Waste and the Dialectics of the Sublime Sean Cubitt 6. Biopolitics and the War on Terror in World War Z and Monsters Sherryl Vint Section Two: Dangerous Aesthetics 7. Section Introduction Leon Marvell 8. Narrative, Aesthetics and Cultural Imperatives in Recent Science Fiction Films Deborah Knight and George McKnight 9. Adventures in Perception: Endangering the Spectator in Science Fiction Cinema Barry Keith Grant 10. Sleeping/Waking: Politicizing the Sublime in Science Fiction Film Special Effects Andrew M. Butler 11. Tarkovsky’s Solaris and the (Im)possibility of a Science Fiction Cinema Leon Marvell Section Three: Spectacular Space and the Annihilation of Time 12. Section Introduction Sean Redmond 13. Subversive topologies: space, time and dystopia in the films of Gustavo Mosquera Mariano Paz 14. Escape from the Dialectic of Enlightenment and Disaster? Authenticity, Agency, and Alien Space Alan Woolfolk 15. Science Fiction: What’s Wrong? The Sounds of Danger Versus Hearing Dangerously Darrin Verhagen Section Four: Bodily Extinctions and Bodily Becomings 16. Section Introduction Leon Marvell 17. Robots, Androids, Aliens and Others: the Erotics and Politics of Science Fiction Film Anne Cranny-Francis 18. The Persistence of the Robot J. P. Telotte 19. A Danger to Self and Others: The Cinema of David Cronenberg Scott Wilson
About the author
Sean Redmond is Associate Professor in Media and Communication, School of Communication and Creative Arts at Deakin University.
Leon Marvell is Associate Professor of Film and Digital Media in the School of Communication and Creative Arts at Deakin University.
