Disability in Science Fiction: Representations of Technology as Cure

by K. Allan (Editor)

Overview

In this groundbreaking collection, twelve international scholars – with backgrounds in disability studies, English and world literature, classics, and history – discuss the representation of dis/ability, medical "cures," technology, and the body in science fiction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781137343437
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan
Publication date:	12/17/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	217
File size:	378 KB

About the Author

Kathryn Allan, Independent Scholar Donna Binns, Eastern Illinois University, USA. Robert W. Cape, Jr., Austin College, USA. Gerry Canavan, Marquette University, USA. António Fernando Cascais, New University of Lisbon, Portugal Ria Cheyne, Liverpool Hope University, UK. Brent Walter Cline, Spring Arbor University, USA. Ralph Covino, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA. Hioni Karamanos, Independent Scholar Netty Matar, National University of Singapore, Singapore. Leigha McReynolds, The George Washington University, USA. Howard Sklar, University of Helsinki, Finland. Christy Tidwell, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, USA. Joanne Woiak, University of Washington, USA.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Reading Disability in Science Fiction; Kathryn Allan PART I: THEORIZING DISABILITY IN SCIENCE FICTION 1. Tools to Help You Think: Intersections between Disability Studies and the Writings of Samuel R. Delany; Joanne Woiak and Hioni Karamanos 2. The Metamorphic Body in Science Fiction: From Prosthetic Correction to Utopian Enhancement; António Fernando Cascais 3. Freaks and Extraordinary Bodies: Disability as Generic Marker in John Varley's "Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo;" Ria Cheyne 4. The Many Voices of Charlie Gordon: On the Representation of Intellectual Disability in Daniel Keyes's Flowers for Algernon ; Howard Sklar PART II: HUMAN BOUNDARIES AND PROSTHETIC BODIES 5. Prosthetic Bodies: The Convergence of Disability, Technology and Capital in Peter Watts' Blindsight and Ian McDonald's River of Gods ; Netty Matar 6. The Bionic Woman : Machine or Human?; Donna Binns 7. Star Wars , Limb-loss, and What it Means to be Human; Ralph Covino 8. Animal and Alien Bodies as Prostheses: Reframing Disability in Avatar and How to Train Your Dragon ; Leigha McReynolds PART III: CURE NARRATIVES FOR THE (POST)HUMAN FUTURE 9. "Great Clumsy Dinosaurs": The Disabled Body in the Posthuman World; Brent Walter Cline 10. Disabled Hero, Sick Society: Sophocles' Philoctetes and Robert Silverberg's The Man in the Maze ; Robert W. Cape, Jr. 11. "Everything is always changing": Autism, Normalcy, and Progress in Elizabeth Moon's The Speed of Dark and Nancy Fulda's "Movement;" Christy Tidwell 12. Life without Hope? Huntington's Disease and Genetic Futurity; Gerry Canavan

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"It is hard to say enough good about Disability in Science Fiction. It is, quite simply, the single best resource for those interested in the intersection of SF and disability. Not only does it provide seed sk for future research in disability studies, but in the rich example of nexuses between disability and SF that it provides, it makes the case that no course in science fiction literature can afford to ignore a discussion of disability . . . While it may not be true that every reader is a science fiction fan, it would take someone with a great poverty of imagination to come away from Disability in Science Fiction without becoming excited by some idea it sparked." - Michael Northen, Editor of Wordgathering

"This is the first volume to recognize the link between science fiction and disability studies in doing the important work of concrete speculation about our embodiment. It opens an important conversation about the vital role of science fiction in disability studies." - Joan Gordon, editor of Science Fiction Studies and Humanimalia

Editorial Reviews

The essays in this collection provide insight for any reader interested in the spectrum of disability and the relationship between identity and the body. … The collection provides not only new and insightful ways of looking at disability, but also a helpful language through which to talk about it.” (Laura R. Kremmel, The Journal of the Fantastic in the Art, Vol. 29 (3), 2018)

“Disability in Science Fiction, an edited collection of twelve essays, focuses on the use of technology as cure for disability in science fiction. … This collection encourages us to think more creatively about disability and technologies, and challenges the reader to realize the future potential for the disabled body.” (Coreen McGuire, H-Disabilities, networks.h-net.org, July, 2017)

“This collection of essays undertakes the valuable task of placing science fiction texts … in dialogue with disability studies (DS).… Disability in Science Fiction is a groundbreaking text, offering an exciting and rigorous introduction to the mobilization of CDS alongside science fiction.” (Kayte Stokoe, Foundation, 2016)

"Disability in Science Fiction is an unusual collection of academic articles: it combines interesting scholarship with an remarkable degree of accessibility to the general reader . . . It is a very thought-provoking collection, and one I'm glad to have read." - Liz Bourke, Tor.com

"An anthology of thought-provoking essays . . . Disability in Science Fiction develops an innovative method to highlight how SF deals with disability as a fundamental part of identity." - Science Fiction Research Association

"Disability in Science Fiction seems to present a selection of possibilities rather than an overarching argument (a sort of critical buffet) - though these possibilities can feed off each other in exciting ways. Other works and collections will hopefully build on some of what ishere; Allan's collection is a good beginning." - Strange Horizons

From the Publisher