Science Fiction, New Space Opera, and Neoliberal Globalism
Nostalgia for Infinity
Author(s) Jerome Winter
Language: English
Genre(s): Literary Criticism
Series: New Dimensions in Science Fiction
- November 2016 · 256 pages ·216x138mm
- · Hardback - 9781783169443
- · eBook - pdf - 9781783169450
- · eBook - epub - 9781783169467
About The Book
One of the few points critics and readers can agree upon when discussing the fiction popularly known as New Space Opera – a recent subgenre movement of science fiction – is its canny engagement with contemporary cultural politics in the age of globalisation. This book avers that the complex political allegories of New Space Opera respond to the recent cultural phenomenon known as neoliberalism, which entails the championing of the deregulation and privatisation of social services and programmes in the service of global free-market expansion. Providing close readings of the evolving New Space Opera canon and cultural histories and theoretical contexts of neoliberalism as a regnant ideology of our times, this book conceptualises a means to appreciate this thriving movement of popular literature.
Endorsements
‘This first book-length study of the “Space Opera Renaissance” in contemporary SF is a superb contribution to the field. Deeply researched, with an impressive command of cutting-edge theories of globalisation and cosmopolitanism, Winter’s book offers incisive critical analyses of a wide range of American, British and Caribbean space operas, focusing on issues of race, gender, class and neo/postcolonialism. Winter’s readings are unfailingly exciting, conveying both the genre’s galaxy-spanning “sense of wonder” and its potent engagement with crucial issues of political and social moment.’
-Professor Rob Latham, Editor of The Oxford Handbook of Science Fiction
‘An important intervention in our understanding of science fiction in the context of globalisation and popular culture, Science Fiction, New Space Opera and Neoliberal Globalism offers a provocative framework for thinking through the interpenetration of colonial ideology and popular culture through the lens of transnational postcolonial theory. An essential read for those interested in the history and futures of SF.’
-Professor Sherryl Vint, University of California Riverside
'Given its multiple lines of inquiry, his study transcends the limited scope of space opera and should be read by scholars interested in postcolonial and feminist sf, globalization studies and political economy, and the literary history of sf more generally.'
- SFRA Review, Hugh C. O’Connell