The 70 uncut stories in this collection comprise 36 writers from the United States and 34 from Europe and the Americas. It is an anthology which exemplifies the diversity of writers from the African diaspora.
Unlike many classic works of fiction, literature of the fantastic enjoys mass popularity. Because the fantastic is so much a part of popular culture, fantasy literature can represent or address the racial attitudes of its audience. Representations of race in the fantastic provide a measure of the concern the culture has for racial matters. If a work is racist, whether consciously or not, it may perpetuate racist attitudes unless it is carefully examined. At the same time, literature of the fantastic is able to present possible worlds rather than real ones. It is thus a literature of possibility, in which racial matters may be addressed and exposed, so that readers may become more conscious of the evils of racist attitudes. This volume explores the significance of race and color in the works of a wide range of authors, including Octavia Butler, Robert Heinlein, Stephen King, and Robert Silverberg.
Collings has selected the best of the conference proceedings reflecting the intent of the conference to discover aspects of the fantastic in every branch of the arts. The twelve essays commence with theoretical discussions of the fantastic as it relates to other genres and elements of life. The second section examines individual authors including Peter Beagle, French fantasists Alain Robbe-Grillet and Felix Labisse, and Spanish authors Amado Nervo and Jose Maria Merino. The third section discusses issues in contemporary science fiction as seen in the work of Samuel R. Delaney, Brian W. Aldiss, Ursula K. Le Guin, Frederik Pohl, and Gregory Shreve.
Dystopian literature is a potent vehicle for criticizing existing social conditions or political systems, and for warning against the potential negative consequences of utopian thought. This reference is a guide to dystopian theory and literature. It discusses the work of key theorists and summarizes several important utopian works to provide a background. The rest of the book summarizes and analyzes numerous dystopian novels, plays, and films.
Science fiction has evolved and diverged in many ways and moods. When World Views Collide is the third and final volume in a history of the genre that began with Foundations of Science Fiction and continued in Great Themes of Science Fiction. The conflicts in science fiction are conflicts about world views, which Pierce defines as fundamental beliefs about the nature of man, the universe, and man's place in the universe. Pierce presents each world view in science fiction on its own terms, as expressed in the works of its partisans. This final volume of the trilogy thus examines science fiction as a way of defining and delimiting humanity and human values, which may well be the most important aspect of the genre today.
Chronicling the autobiographical tradition in African American literature from the 18th century to the present, this volume features 66 authors from Maya Angelou to Malcolm X. Alphabetized entries, written by expert contributors, include concise biographies, overviews of autobiographical works and themes, reviews of critical receptions, and bibliographies.
During the last two decades, African American writers have emerged as a distinct and dominant force in world literature. This reference book offers lively, concise, and current information about the lives and imaginative works of 79 contemporary African American novelists. Each of the alphabetically arranged entries begins with a biographical sketch of the author, offers a judicious critical assessment of the author's major works, provides a representative sample of the critical responses the author's books have elicited, and concludes with a selected bibliography that lists the author's publications as well as useful secondary material. Included are entries for major figures, such as Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, James Baldwin, and Ralph Ellison, but many noteworthy young writers also receive the attention they deserve. Forty-one of the 79 writers discussed are women, and roughly a dozen of the novelists have identified themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Intended for students and advanced scholars alike, the volume is sophisticated yet accessible to a wide audience.