Hard Reading: Learning from Science Fiction
фев. 2016 г. · Liverpool University Press
Е-книга
352
Страници
reportОцените и рецензиите не се потврдени Дознајте повеќе
За е-книгава
An Open Access edition of this book is available on the Liverpool University Press website and the OAPEN library.
The fifteen essays collected in Hard Reading argue, first, that science fiction has its own internal rhetoric, relying on devices such as neologism, dialogism, semantic shifts, the use of unreliable narrators. It is a “high-information” genre which does not follow the Flaubertian ideal of le mot juste, “the right word”, preferring le mot imprévisible, “the unpredictable word”. Both ideals shun the facilior lectio, the “easy reading”, but for different reasons and with different effects.
The essays argue further that science fiction derives much of its energy from engagement with vital intellectual issues in the “soft sciences”, especially history, anthropology, the study of different cultures, with a strong bearing on politics. Both the rhetoric and the issues deserve to be taken much more seriously than they have been in academia, and in the wider world. Each essay is further prefaced by an autobiographical introduction. These explain how the essays came to be written and in what ways they (often) proved controversial. They, and the autobiographical introduction to the whole book, create between them a memoir of what it was like to be a committed fan, from teenage years, and also an academic struggling to find a place, at a time when a declared interest in science fiction and fantasy was the kiss of death for a career in the humanities.
The fifteen essays collected in Hard Reading argue, first, that science fiction has its own internal rhetoric, relying on devices such as neologism, dialogism, semantic shifts, the use of unreliable narrators. It is a “high-information” genre which does not follow the Flaubertian ideal of le mot juste, “the right word”, preferring le mot imprévisible, “the unpredictable word”. Both ideals shun the facilior lectio, the “easy reading”, but for different reasons and with different effects.
The essays argue further that science fiction derives much of its energy from engagement with vital intellectual issues in the “soft sciences”, especially history, anthropology, the study of different cultures, with a strong bearing on politics. Both the rhetoric and the issues deserve to be taken much more seriously than they have been in academia, and in the wider world. Each essay is further prefaced by an autobiographical introduction. These explain how the essays came to be written and in what ways they (often) proved controversial. They, and the autobiographical introduction to the whole book, create between them a memoir of what it was like to be a committed fan, from teenage years, and also an academic struggling to find a place, at a time when a declared interest in science fiction and fantasy was the kiss of death for a career in the humanities.
За авторот
Tom Shippey is Professor Emeritus at Saint Louis University and has published widely, especially on J. R. R. Tolkien. He was special academic advisor to director Peter Jackson for the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit films.
Оценете ја е-книгава
Кажете ни што мислите.
Информации за читање
Паметни телефони и таблети
Инсталирајте ја апликацијата Google Play Books за Android и iPad/iPhone. Автоматски се синхронизира со сметката и ви овозможува да читате онлајн или офлајн каде и да сте.
Лаптопи и компјутери
Може да слушате аудиокниги купени од Google Play со користење на веб-прелистувачот на компјутерот.
Е-читачи и други уреди
За да читате на уреди со е-мастило, како што се е-читачите Kobo, ќе треба да преземете датотека и да ја префрлите на уредот. Следете ги деталните упатства во Центарот за помош за префрлање на датотеките на поддржани е-читачи.
