Papers by Paul Graham Raven
A B S T R A C T Both scenario development and design practices incorporate elements of storytelli... more A B S T R A C T Both scenario development and design practices incorporate elements of storytelling, but this use remains undertheorised. This paper will draw upon literary theory, film theory and science fiction criticism to develop an analytical model of narrative structure and rhetorics which speaks to the concerns of scenario developers and designers when engaged in shaping the final outputs or deliverables of a futures project. After highlighting the differing role of telos in art and futures and defining the metacategory of " narratives of futurity " , this paper then defines the terms " story " , " narrative " , " narrator " and " world " in the literary context. It then shows how those concepts map onto futures practice, before going into detail regarding the variety of narrative strategies available across a range of different forms and media, and the qualitative effects that they can reproduce in audiences. There follows the construction of a 2 Â 2 matrix based on the critical concepts of narrative mode and narrative logic, within which narratives of futurity might be usefully catalogued and compared, and from which certain broad conclusions may be reached as regards the relation between choice of medium and rhetorical effect. The implications of this analysis are explored in detail.
Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2014
ABSTRACT The evolution of infrastructure is a long journey that requires the concomitant advancem... more ABSTRACT The evolution of infrastructure is a long journey that requires the concomitant advancement of associated sciences and technologies. Today’s disparate utility infrastructures could be the starting point for such a journey, from where future infrastructure may develop to a degree of perfection that will enable multifunctional use; thereby removing duplication, capital and operational cost and risk, improving sustainability. This paper presents a framework for a sustainability analysis of a futuristic idea, “City-Blood”, that proposes to distribute energy and water through a single infrastructure. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) has been used to analyse qualitative and quantitative data to determine the relative sustainability of several City-Blood implementations by comparing them against existing disparate electricity and water delivery systems. Each solution considers extreme economic, social, and environmental contexts that affect the need for the infrastructure and resource use.
Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2014
ABSTRACT In this paper I propose and demonstrate an experimental methodology for producing suites... more ABSTRACT In this paper I propose and demonstrate an experimental methodology for producing suites of complementary prototype stories with which to facilitate innovation and forecasting exercises in the global infrastructural sector. I construct a quadrant diagram in order to outline four possible near-future scenarios for 2025 based on the divergence of two high-level global trends. For each resulting quadrant, I select one or more “seed topics” related to the underlying suite-theme of global water stress and access scarcity, seeking in particular those topics which resonate with the scenario, and adding additional context where suited. I then present the four resulting prototype vignettes separately, introducing the seed topics and theoretical context, sketching out the “world” of the scenario in which it is set, presenting the prototypes themselves in synopsis form, and finally discussing the technological and social implications which emerge from each narrative, and their relationships with the scenarios from which they stem. Finally, I discuss the suitability of this methodology in the context of projects which focus on considering possibilities for infrastructural developments rather than evaluating discreet new technologies, and position it in the context of contemporary science fiction literature.
Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2014
ABSTRACT The evolution of infrastructure is a long journey that requires the concomitant advancem... more ABSTRACT The evolution of infrastructure is a long journey that requires the concomitant advancement of associated sciences and technologies. Today’s disparate utility infrastructures could be the starting point for such a journey, from where future infrastructure may develop to a degree of perfection that will enable multifunctional use; thereby removing duplication, capital and operational cost and risk, improving sustainability. This paper presents a framework for a sustainability analysis of a futuristic idea, “City-Blood”, that proposes to distribute energy and water through a single infrastructure. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) has been used to analyse qualitative and quantitative data to determine the relative sustainability of several City-Blood implementations by comparing them against existing disparate electricity and water delivery systems. Each solution considers extreme economic, social, and environmental contexts that affect the need for the infrastructure and resource use.
Books by Paul Graham Raven
Each chapter in this collection explores the challenge posed to science fiction, literary fiction... more Each chapter in this collection explores the challenge posed to science fiction, literary fiction and contemporary ideas through Roberts's novels. His use of the science fiction toolkit combined with his sharp and sometimes lyrical prose blurs the distinction that some would wish to maintain between science fiction and mainstream literature.
It's an excellent idea to gather a book of essays about the work of Adam Roberts. His novels are so various and brilliant that it's a pleasure to discuss them in depth, as it is with the work of any gifted artist following a singular path. This volume clarifies parts of Roberts' project while deepening mysteries elsewhere in it just what one wants from literary criticism. -- Kim Stanley Robinson
Adam Roberts has long been regarded as one of contemporary science fiction's most innovative, and overlooked, writers. Adam Roberts: Critical Essays makes an excellent intervention in addressing this critical lacuna, yielding productive insights into the startling inventiveness of his texts, their rich intertextuality, ludic playfulness, and, more recently, political response to a post-Occupy world. Roberts's novels and parodies themselves have much to teach us about the science fiction tradition, and these essays rightfully position his work as among the best of twenty-first-century writing in the speculative mode. --Dr Caroline Edwards, Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Literature, Birkbeck, University of London
Adam Roberts is at once the cleverest and wittiest of contemporary science fiction writers. This dazzling collection of essays shows how cleverness is his topic as well as his technique, and how his wit both mocks and accentuates the prodigious intelligence that marks every page of his work. I haven't read a more perceptive or entertaining tribute to a living author. --Dr Robert Maslen, Senior Lecturer in English Literature, University of Glasgow
When the history of 21st-century science fiction is written, Adam Roberts will be remembered as this era's H. G. Wells. --Damien Walter, Writer, Columnist for The Guardian, Writing teacher.
Adam Roberts's fiction gives us an education in sf's history and traditions while he merrily deconstructs them. Add to that the way his criticism is laced with humour, and it's only appropriate that a collection devoted to his work should tease its subject a little. Even as they open up the suggestion that Roberts is one of our most important writers, these essays amuse as well as inform. If sf is to survive it's going to need more people like Roberts, and this collection tells us why! --Andy Sawyer, Science Fiction Collections Librarian, Special Collections and Archives, University of Liverpool Library
Uploads
Papers by Paul Graham Raven
Books by Paul Graham Raven
It's an excellent idea to gather a book of essays about the work of Adam Roberts. His novels are so various and brilliant that it's a pleasure to discuss them in depth, as it is with the work of any gifted artist following a singular path. This volume clarifies parts of Roberts' project while deepening mysteries elsewhere in it just what one wants from literary criticism. -- Kim Stanley Robinson
Adam Roberts has long been regarded as one of contemporary science fiction's most innovative, and overlooked, writers. Adam Roberts: Critical Essays makes an excellent intervention in addressing this critical lacuna, yielding productive insights into the startling inventiveness of his texts, their rich intertextuality, ludic playfulness, and, more recently, political response to a post-Occupy world. Roberts's novels and parodies themselves have much to teach us about the science fiction tradition, and these essays rightfully position his work as among the best of twenty-first-century writing in the speculative mode. --Dr Caroline Edwards, Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Literature, Birkbeck, University of London
Adam Roberts is at once the cleverest and wittiest of contemporary science fiction writers. This dazzling collection of essays shows how cleverness is his topic as well as his technique, and how his wit both mocks and accentuates the prodigious intelligence that marks every page of his work. I haven't read a more perceptive or entertaining tribute to a living author. --Dr Robert Maslen, Senior Lecturer in English Literature, University of Glasgow
When the history of 21st-century science fiction is written, Adam Roberts will be remembered as this era's H. G. Wells. --Damien Walter, Writer, Columnist for The Guardian, Writing teacher.
Adam Roberts's fiction gives us an education in sf's history and traditions while he merrily deconstructs them. Add to that the way his criticism is laced with humour, and it's only appropriate that a collection devoted to his work should tease its subject a little. Even as they open up the suggestion that Roberts is one of our most important writers, these essays amuse as well as inform. If sf is to survive it's going to need more people like Roberts, and this collection tells us why! --Andy Sawyer, Science Fiction Collections Librarian, Special Collections and Archives, University of Liverpool Library
It's an excellent idea to gather a book of essays about the work of Adam Roberts. His novels are so various and brilliant that it's a pleasure to discuss them in depth, as it is with the work of any gifted artist following a singular path. This volume clarifies parts of Roberts' project while deepening mysteries elsewhere in it just what one wants from literary criticism. -- Kim Stanley Robinson
Adam Roberts has long been regarded as one of contemporary science fiction's most innovative, and overlooked, writers. Adam Roberts: Critical Essays makes an excellent intervention in addressing this critical lacuna, yielding productive insights into the startling inventiveness of his texts, their rich intertextuality, ludic playfulness, and, more recently, political response to a post-Occupy world. Roberts's novels and parodies themselves have much to teach us about the science fiction tradition, and these essays rightfully position his work as among the best of twenty-first-century writing in the speculative mode. --Dr Caroline Edwards, Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Literature, Birkbeck, University of London
Adam Roberts is at once the cleverest and wittiest of contemporary science fiction writers. This dazzling collection of essays shows how cleverness is his topic as well as his technique, and how his wit both mocks and accentuates the prodigious intelligence that marks every page of his work. I haven't read a more perceptive or entertaining tribute to a living author. --Dr Robert Maslen, Senior Lecturer in English Literature, University of Glasgow
When the history of 21st-century science fiction is written, Adam Roberts will be remembered as this era's H. G. Wells. --Damien Walter, Writer, Columnist for The Guardian, Writing teacher.
Adam Roberts's fiction gives us an education in sf's history and traditions while he merrily deconstructs them. Add to that the way his criticism is laced with humour, and it's only appropriate that a collection devoted to his work should tease its subject a little. Even as they open up the suggestion that Roberts is one of our most important writers, these essays amuse as well as inform. If sf is to survive it's going to need more people like Roberts, and this collection tells us why! --Andy Sawyer, Science Fiction Collections Librarian, Special Collections and Archives, University of Liverpool Library