ENG 1150 - WORLD SCIENCE FICTION AND GLOBALIZATION

credits: 3.0
Course offers a historical study of the science fiction genre in a global context. It looks at the genre as a unique form of imaginative writing that draws on science and various literary modes to examine the global impact of modernity, out of which it was born. It presents a variety of international writers who form an interconnected global community concerned with examining and critiquing global issues through the medium of science fiction. Such issues cut across international boundaries and are typically the results of the scientific and technological revolutions of the modern age and of the related political and economic developments they have facilitated. Broadly speaking, they are the result of the global impact of the process of modernization since the Industrial Revolution. Such issues include imperialism, multinational capitalism, mass media, posthumanism, environmentalism, and the Anthropocene. The focus of the course is on evaluating science fiction’s effectiveness and relevance in identifying, diagnosing and communicating global issues and concerns. The course includes film as well as fiction, and students will read international works in translation. Objectives: A) Knowledge of selected major global issues in world science fiction; B) Ability to examine and critique world science fiction for information and argument related to substantive issues that have a global dimension; C) A knowledge of some major world science fiction literary techniques, styles, and movements; D) Knowledge of the defining features of world science fiction as a genre; E) Knowledge of selected biographical, social, historical and/or cultural contexts; F) Ability to write critically about world science fiction. Method of Instruction: Lecture, Class Discussion, Classroom activities, and Video. Method of Evaluation: Essays, Reading, and Quizzes. Meets *GLP Distribution Requirement.