Global Science Fiction

Making a theoretical case linking genre trajectory with artistic legitimation struggles, this paper seeks to explain the development of the American science fiction magazine. Across the fifty-plus years analyzed, science fiction emerged from its lowbrow pulp fiction origins into a highly successful, critically acclaimed genre across multiple mediums. This empirical trend is then modeled using predictors adopted from theories of cultural legitmation, which conceptualize the process as both movement induced and historically shaped. Employing standard time-series regression techniques, the results suggest a sequential story underlying the trajectory of American science fiction magazines: popular science initially created a legitimate discursive space for the nascent genre, while growing cohesive networks among science fiction authors sustained the cultural form in the post-war period. The paper, then, contributes significantly to the growing study of the dynamics of classificatory sche...

To be edited by Sümeyra Buran and Jiré Emine Gözen. Knowledge and culture are medially conditioned, crystalised, and perpetuated by narratives in science, art, and literature. Orientalism represents one of these narratives and has constructed the perceptions in which the distinction between the Occident and the Orient culminates. Orientalism has thus created the "other": identities, politics, culture, media, art, literature, and the perceptions that the Occident destabilized. Orientalism has also taken a different shape after Edward Said's Orientalism (1979) 40 years ago, and current perspectives increasingly ask for counter-models. However, these counter-models cannot demand the simple abandonment of universalisms, nor can the discourse on these counter-models be a soliloquy of the Western or the non-Western.

In this essay, I explore the Eymerich series written by Valerio Evangelisti. In the first part, I examine the complex universe that underlies Evangelisti's novels. I show that the series is characterized by gothic atmospheres in conjunction with notions of parallel universes and time relativity that are reminiscent of the sci-fi genre. His plots all travel on different time planes, being set in a continuous line that ties together past, present and future. In this context we can find not only a historically accurate reconstruction of life in the middle ages, but also an intriguing theory of how certain patterns seem to recur history because they are actual appearances of the same entities in different points in time. Furthermore, starting from a traditional literary genre such as historical fiction, Evangelisti has developed it exploiting other popular narratives such as crime-, horror-, thriller, spy-, and adventure-novels. The result is a series of hybrid novels that finds a striking balance between the complexity of the universe depicted, historical accuracy and the construction of a compelling, if dark, character. In the second part, I analyze the figure of Nicolas Eymerich, pinpointing its relation with the historical figure of Nicolau Eymerich, the Inquisitor General of Aragon, lived in Spain in the 14th century. In particular, I will focus on how Eymerich shows similarities with his author, being the projection of the writer's weaknesses. Eymerich is also built in a way that resembles other popular dark heroes, leading to the formation of a thriving fandom.

parte di "Ora il futuro arriva da oriente"
con Francesco Verso, Giulia Iannuzzi

Il fenomeno della fantascienza cinese, tra sovvenzioni statali, investimenti privati e la nascita di una generazione di scrittori - chiamata “balinghou” - che vive già nel futuro.

Aspects of science fiction since the 1980s: China, Italy, Japan, Korea is a research project on science fiction in East Asia and in the West. It involves essays on cultural studies, literary criticism, creative writing, and translation. The project originated in Ireland in 2014, was created and co-ordinated by Roberto Bertoni, and included the participation of colleagues from China, Italy, Japan, and Korea. This led to the publication of three volumes, a conference, and two book launches (one in Ireland and one in Italy).
One volume, published in 2015 by Trauben (Turin) and the Italian Department at Trinity College Dublin, has the same title as the whole project, and includes essays, interviews, and short stories, by Lorenzo Andolfatto, Chiaki Asai, Roberto Bertoni, Chen Qiufan, Giulia Iannuzzi, Ilgu Kim, Massimo Soumaré, and Wang Yao.
A second volume, published in Italy by Trauben (Turin) in 2015, is Roberto Bertoni’s Two stories from Parlomino (translated from Italian into English by Maria Tirelli).
A one-day conference, held at Hannam University (Daejeon, South Korea), was co-ordinated by Ilgu Kim. The Proceedings were published by Hannam University (2014) under the title East/West Science Fiction.
The Western/Asian project does not intend to study the problem expressed in its title in a systematic way, yet it is hoped that it may contribute to the general picture.
Warm thanks go to all authors and to all who participated in the research, as well as to Trinity College Officers Olivia Waters (International Marketing Manager) and Jenny Lu (Country Advisor for China) for their help in contacting Chinese writers.
Institutions participating in the book launch: Global Office (TCD), Italian Cultural Institute (Dublin), School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies (TCD), Trinity Centre for Asian Studies, Trinity Long Room Hub.
Contact: rbertoni@tcd.ie.

In the Anglo-American field of science fiction studies, there has been increasing attention in recent years to non-English traditions as well as to the idea of global or world science fiction...
It is evident that translations have a critical role to play in shaping the idea we (“we” as readers, scholars, or authors) have of the trans-national science fiction production (leaving aside for the moment the thorny question of the “canon”).

This is part of the "Virtual Introduction to Science Fiction. Online Toolkit for Teaching SF", an international collaborative website aimed for teachers who want to prepare courses on SF. This lecture is an overview of Argentinean SF for those interested on the topic and approaching it for the first time. Instructions on how to use the website are provided on the home page.

El volumen analiza el lugar de la ciencia- ficción dentro de la cultura argentina contemporánea y explora en qué medida problemas de recepción (de público y crítica) han contribuido a su (imaginaria) marginalización. Aquí se analizan las operaciones, lecturas, y apropiaciones culturales de la modalidad a través de una selección historietas, revistas y novelas seminales. El libro analiza en qué consisten las problemáticas de la ciencia- ficción argentina, por qué es posible que exista tal cosa como una ciencia- ficción nacional, y cómo opera una modalidad que, desde los ochenta en adelante, no sólo ha alcanzado indiscutible éxito de mercado sino que además ha sido apropiada por las literaturas canónicas como parte central de su discurso. La ilusión persistente es una apuesta en favor de formas-otras de entender la cultura argentina.


This volume examines the place of science fiction within contemporary Argentine culture and analyzes to what extent problems of reception (of public and critics) have contributed to its (imaginary) marginalization. Here the operations, readings, and cultural appropriations of the modality are explored through a selection of comics, magazines and seminal novels. The book analyzes what Argentine science fiction issues are, why it is possible to say that there is such a thing as a national science fiction, and how the modality operates, since it has not only achieved indisputable market  success but has also became naturalized within canonical writing. The persistent illusion is a bet in favor of a differenciated way to understand Argentine culture.