Expert contributors discuss the marginalization of science fiction by literary critics and the tendency to exclude science fiction from the canon.
Science fiction occupies a peculiar place in the academic study of literature. At a time when the canon is being consciously expanded and diversified, and when there is growing scholarly interest in technology and popular culture, works of science fiction are nonetheless marginalized by the academy. So too, many works of science fiction engage recognized canonical texts such as the Odyssey, yet traditionalists within the academy have largely shunned the serious study of science fiction. In this book, expert contributors examine the traditional and continuing tendency to exclude science fiction from the literary canon. In exploring this topic, the book addresses many broader issues, such as the nature of canon formation, the role of journals in legitimizing academic inquiry, and the cultural politics of academic gatekeeping.
Academic critics of science fiction find in the genre fertile ground for examining the continuing processes of literary canonization and marginalization, because its legitimacy has long been contentious in academia but its canon has developed strongly among readers. They look at science fiction and the academy, mechanisms of canonization, and case studies of marginalization. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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Expert contributors discuss the marginalization of science fiction by literary critics and the tendency to exclude science fiction from the canon.
Acknowledgments vii Introduction: Masters of the Literary Universe 1(6) Gary Westfahl Part I. Overviews: Science Fiction and the Academy Literary Gatekeepers and the Fabril Tradition 7(18) Tom Shippey Seven Types of Chopped Liver: My Adventures in the Genre Wars 25(12) Frank McConnell The Things Women Dont Say 37(14) Susan Kray Why the Academy Is Afraid of Dragons: The Suppression of the Marvelous in Theories of the Fantastic 51(16) Jonathan Langford Part II. Mechanisms of Canonization The Arthur C. Clarke Award and Its Reception in Britain 67(12) Edward James Popes or Tropes: Defining the Grails of Science Fiction 79(10) Joseph D. Miller Science Fiction Eye and the Rebellion against Recursion 89(6) Stephen P. Brown Authorities, Canons, and Scholarship: The Role of Academic Journals 95(8) Arthur B. Evans Part III. Case Studies in Marginalization Multiculturalism and the Cultural Dynamics of Classic American Science Fiction 103(16) George Slusser Science Fiction in the Academies of History and Literature; Or, History and the Use of Science Fiction 119(8) Farah Mendlesohn (E)raced Visions: Women of Color and Science Fiction in the United States 127(12) Elyce Rae Helford Hard Magic, Soft Science: The Marginalization of Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beasons Assemblers of Infinity and Bruce Bostons Stained Glass Rain 139(12) Howard V. Hendrix White Men Cant . . .: (De)centering Authority and Jacking into Phallic Economies in William Gibsons Count Zero 151(10) Joseph Childers Townsend Carr Regna Meenk Bibliography of Works Related to Science Fiction, Canonization, and Marginalization 161(10) Index 171(10) About the Contributors 181
Gary Westfahl is adjunct professor at the University of La Verne, CA. His previous books include No Cure for the Future (2002), Unearthly Visions (2002), Worlds Enough and Time (2002), Science Fiction, Canonization, Marginalization, and the Academy (2002), Science Fiction, Children's Literature, and Popular Culture (2000), Space and Beyond (2000), and Cosmic Engineers (1996), all available from Greenwood Press.
George Slusser is professor of comparative literature at the University of California, Riverside. He has written several books about science fiction authors and coedited numerous scholarly studies.
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