Call for Book Chapters: Class Conflict in 21st Century Science Fiction Film

CFP CLOSED! - THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST!

Under Strong Interest by McFarland’s Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy series

Editors’ Introduction

Science fiction cinema is about a new idea or novum (Suvin) and the impact of technology on our lives, and although it often looks into the future, it is also about the present, reflecting the problems of our time (Schlobin). These visions and phantasmas and their realism bring science fiction into intense interaction with other genres, from comedy to horror, from fantasy to thriller. As in every major genre, science fiction has a great power in visualizing social structure (Cornea). The forms of interaction between people, or between people and other things, are also of a social nature, and class relations are in one way or another at the center of every situation in which science fiction depicts possibilities (Roberts).

In the 19th century, the phenomenon of class conflict, which manifested itself in all aspects of life with industrialization, capitalism, and modernization (Dahrendorf) also finds its place in the stories of science fiction as a genre that examines the search for the novum, or the effects of the new on our lives. Science fiction, as a genre primarily oriented towards the future, inevitably depicts ideal or uncomfortable situations related to social life in the stories it describes. Like every social structure, the societies that are the subject of science fiction narratives are at the center of various production and sharing relations. Thus, it becomes necessary to consider the individual within his/her social relations. Although Marxist theory has conducted the most intense debates on this subject, since the 19th century, different views within and against Marxism (Freeden) have addressed social relations and thus class conflicts with new dimensions. Class conflicts, hegemony relations, the production of consent, imperialism, the influence of the ideological apparatuses of the state, the changing structure of classes and identity debates reveal a wide network of theoretical relations in this regard. In this respect, the book aims to bring together theoretical perspectives that evaluate the way science fiction imagines societies in a multidimensional way.

Social classes, their changing structures, stratification and its consequences and class relations are widely discussed topics in the literature. In this book, we intend to continue this debate in a different context. Contributors to the book are expected to present chapters with different theoretical perspectives centered on class conflict.

The chapters will be written in an argumentative rather than a descriptive style, so that each chapter will come up with its own unique results/findings. The purpose of this book is not to describe class conflict in SF films, but rather to discuss class struggle from a wide spectrum of theoretical arguments.

The edited volume is planned to be published within the "Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy" series of McFarland books. McFarland, an international and influential publishing company, that has a strong reputation and influence in this field for many years.

Each chapter will consist of comprehensive essays of at least 5,000 - 6,000 words, including footnotes and references.

The chapters will be written in MLA 9 format.

Please select one of the proposed chapters below send an abstract of at least 300 words (with five references that will guide the chapter) and a short author biography (150 words) to scificinemanadclassstruggle@gmail.com

Contributors are expected to hold a PhD and have institutional affiliation. (PhD candidates may contact the editors)

The editors have framed the chapters as follows, but we also welcome proposals that are creative and address different topics in this context.

PS: All Alternative Proposals must be relevant to "Class Conflict" in their critical analysis.

Preface

Editors’ Introduction: Class Conflict in Science Fiction Film

Cenk Tan & Mikail Boz

Part I: Social Stratification

1) The Platform 1-2, 2019-2024, Dir. Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia - (Accepted)

2) In Time, 2011, Dir. Andrew Niccol - (Accepted)

Part II: Otherness / Identity

3) Matrix Resurrections, 2021, Dir. Lana Wachowski - (Accepted)

4) Blade Runner 2049, 2017, Dir. Denis Villeneuve - (Accepted)

Part III: Resistance to Oppression

5) Snowpiercer, 2013, Dir. Bong Joon Ho - (Accepted)

6) Cloud Atlas, 2012, Dir. Tom Tykwer, Lana & Lilly Wachowski - (Accepted)

Part IV: Migration & Refugees

7) Children of Men, 2006, Dir. Alfonso Cuarón - (Accepted)

8) Dune, 2021-2024, Dir. Denis Villeneuve - (Accepted)

Part V: The Society of the Spectacle

9) Ready Player One, 2018, Dir. Steven Spielberg - (Accepted)

10) The Stepford Wives, 2004, Dir. Frank Oz - (Accepted)

Part VI:  The Quest for Hope & Equality

11) Interstellar, 2014, Dir. Christopher Nolan - (Accepted)

12) Mad Max Fury Road, 2015, Dir. George Miller - (Accepted)

Key Dates:

Deadline for abstract submission: 31 August 2024

Deadline for chapter submission:  3 November 2024

Anticipated publication date:        Summer of 2025

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have further questions.

Editors: Cenk Tan & Mikail Boz

scificinemanadclassstruggle@gmail.com

References

Cornea, Christine. Science Fiction Cinema Between Fantasy and Reality. Edinburg University Press, 2007.

Dahrendorf, Ralf. Class and Class Conflict in Industrial Society. Stanford University Press, 1959.

Freeden, Michael. Ideology and Political Theory. Oxford University Press, 2006.

Roberts, Adam. Science Fiction. Routledge, 2006.

Schlobin, Roger C. “Definitions of Science Fiction and Fantasy.” The Science Fiction Reference Book, edited by Marshall B. Tymn, Starmont House., 1981, pp. 496–511.

Suvin, Darko. Metamorphoses of Science Fiction. Yale University Press, 1979.