Speculative Fiction: East/West

4.0 credits

In this course, we will undertake a wide-ranging survey of Western (primarily American) and Eastern European (primarily Soviet) science fiction, with targeted excursions into fantasy, Gothic literature, and social utopia. Our comparative study of Eastern and Western conceptualizations of the future will be organized around twelve thematic pillars: Utopia, Dystopia, Total War, The Robot, Human Transfiguration, Extraterrestrial Conquest of the Earth, Biological Experimentation, Global Pandemics, Time Travel, and Post-Mortality Society. At the conclusion of the course, we will collectively formulate the “ideal” contemporary speculative novel—a work that synthesizes the finest attributes of both the Eastern and Western traditions.