In 15 all-new essays, this volume explores how science fiction and fantasy draw on materials from ancient Greece and Rome, ‘displacing’ them from their original settings—in time and space, in points ...of origins and genre—and encouraging readers to consider similar ‘displacements’ in the modern world. Modern examples from a wide range of media and genres—including Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials and the novels of Helen Oyeyemi, the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, and the role-playing games Dungeons and Dragons and Warhammer 40K—are brought alongside episodes from ancient myth, important moments from history, and more. All together, these multifaceted studies add to our understanding of how science fiction and fantasy form important areas of classical reception, not only transmitting but also transmuting images of antiquity. The volume concludes with an inspiring personal reflection from the New York Times-bestselling author of speculative fiction, Catherynne M. Valente, offering her perspective on the limitless potential of the classical world to resonate with experience today.
Transnationalism and American Serial Fiction explores the vibrant tradition of serial fiction published in U.S. minority periodicals. Beloved by readers, these serial novels helped sustain the ...periodicals and communities in which they circulated. With essays on serial fiction published from the 1820s through the 1960s written in ten different languages-English, French, Spanish, German, Swedish, Italian, Polish, Norwegian, Yiddish, and Chinese-this collection reflects the rich multilingual history of American literature and periodicals.
One of this book's central claims is that this serial fiction was produced and read within an intensely transnational context: the periodicals often circulated widely, the narratives themselves favored transnational plots and themes, and the contents surrounding the fiction encouraged readers to identify with a community dispersed throughout the United States and often the world. Thus, Okker focuses on the circulation of ideas, periodicals, literary conventions, and people across various borders, focusing particularly on the ways that this fiction reflects the larger transnational realities of these minority communities.
