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by Darko Suvin (Author), Hugh C. O'Connell (Editor)
For over 50 years, Darko Suvin has set the agenda for science fiction studies through his innovative linking of scifi to utopian studies, formalist and leftist critical theory, and his broader engagement with what he terms "political epistemology." Disputing the Deluge joins a rapidly growing renewal of critical interest in Suvin's work on scifi and utopianism by bringing together in a single volume 24 of Suvin's most significant interventions in the field from the 21st century, with an Introduction by editor Hugh O'Connell and a new preface by the author.
Beginning with writings from the early 2000s that investigate the function of literary genres and reconsider the relationship between science fiction and fantasy, the essays collected here--each a brilliant example of engaged thought--highlight the value of scifi for grappling with the key events and transformations of recent years. Suvin's interrogations show how speculative fiction has responded to 9/11, the global war on terror, the 2008 economic collapse, and the rise of conservative populism, along with contemporary critical utopian analyses of the Capitalocene, the climate crisis, COVID-19, and the decline of democracy. By bringing together Suvin's essays all in one place, this collection allows new generations of students and scholars to engage directly with his work and its continuing importance and timeliness.Author Biography
Darko Suvin is Emeritus Professor of English at McGill University, Canada, and has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences, since 1986. He is author of 25 books, including the foundational study in science fiction Metamorphoses of Science Fiction: On the Poetics and History of a Literary Genre (1979, 2016), Victorian Science Fiction in the U. K.: The Discourses of Knowledge and of Power (1983), Positions and Presuppositions in Science Fiction (1988), and In Leviathan's Belly: Essays for a Counter-Revolutionary Time (2012).
Hugh C. O'Connell is Assistant Professor of English at University of Massachusetts-Boston, USA. He is editor of Legacies of Blade Runner, special issue of Science Fiction Film and Television (2020; with Sarah Hamblin); Speculative Finance/Speculative Fiction, special issue of CR: The New Centennial Review (2019; with David M. Higgins); and The British SF Boom, special issue of CR: The New Centennial Review (2013).
