Fan Fiction vs. Tie-In Fiction: A Framework
Every once in a while, fandom is beset upon by a series of somewhat aggressive arguments about the function of accuracy in film/tv adaptations. The best of these follow my own path, which involves assessing the work on its own terms before going back to look at how it functions as an adaptation. The worst […]
Academic Spotlight: Afrofuturism — The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture by Ytasha L. Womack
This isn’t an explicitly academic book, but I’m sure the academically-minded will find as much value in Ytasha Womack’s upcoming Afrofuturism as anyone else who has an interest in the cultural movements within the SF/F field. I first learned about the concept of Afrofuturism in an American Studies course on African American SF at the University […]
Academic Spotlight: Disability in Science Fiction: Representations of Technology as Cure edited by Kathryn Allan
(The title for this post is insanely long…) While perusing Amazon.com earlier this morning, I came across this interesting edited collection. There isn’t a lot of information currently available about the collection, except this brief blurb: In science fiction, technology often modifies, supports, and attempts to “make normal” the disabled body. In this groundbreaking collection, […]
ICFA (Are You Going?) and Disappeared Shaun (Temporary!)
Two things: I am presenting at this year’s ICFA (International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts). That means I will be rather busy this week with, well, paper stuff, conference stuff, and stuff stuff. However, if you are attending ICFA and would like to get together, send me an email or leave a message […]
Academic Spotlight: With Both Feet in the Clouds — Fantasy in Israeli Literature edited by Danielle Gurevitch
A new feature around these parts! The Academic Spotlight’s purpose will be to draw attention to the wide range of new and old scholarship on genre fiction floating about on the net, from special issues of academic journals, to essay collections, to books, and so on and so forth. In some cases, I’ll offer some […]
Adventures in Academia: Critical Theory Invades My Mailbox
I’m amused. I didn’t ask for them, but Oxford University Press sent me two books on critical theory and interpreting literature. They are: How to Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies by Robert Dale Parker(A fairly small book containing sections exploring the major fields of criticism — structuralism, postcolonialism, deconstruction, etc.) Critical […]