
Under the Literary Microscope
Science and Society in the Contemporary Novel
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
Under the Literary Microscope
Science and Society in the Contemporary Novel
About this book
"Science in fiction," "geek novels," "lab-lit"âwhatever one calls them, a new generation of science novels has opened a space in which the reading public can experience and think about the powers of science to illuminate nature as well as to generate and mitigate social change and risks. Under the Literary Microscope examines the implications of the discourse taking place in and around this creative space.
Exploring works by authors as disparate as Barbara Kingsolver, Richard Powers, Ian McEwan, Ann Patchett, Margaret Atwood, and Michael Crichton, these essays address the economization of scientific institutions; ethics, risk, and gender disparity in scientific work; the reshaping of old stereotypes of scientists; science in an evolving sci-fi genre; and reader reception and potential contributions of the novels to public understandings of science.
Under the Literary Microscope illuminates the new ways in which fiction has been grappling with scientific issuesâfrom climate change and pandemics to artificial intelligence and genomicsâand makes a valuable addition to both contemporary literature and science studies courses.
In addition to the editors, the contributors include Anna Auguscik, Jay Clayton, Carol Colatrella, Sonja FĂźcker, Raymond Haynes, Luz MarĂa HernĂĄndez Nieto, Emanuel Herold, Karin Hoepker, Anton Kirchhofer, Antje Kley, Natalie Roxburgh, Uwe Schimank, Sherryl Vint, and Peter Weingart.
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Information
Table of contents
- COVER Front
- Copyright Page
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: Science and Society in Recent Fiction
- Chapter 2: From Individual to Collective Knowledge Production A Brief Nonfi ction History
- Chapter 3: Between Mad and Mundane Mixed Stereotypical and Realistic Portrayals of Science in Contemporary Fiction Media
- Chapter 4: Scientists at Risk
- Chapter 5: Speculative Fiction and the Signifi cance of Plausibility Dystopian Science in the Critical Responseto Margaret Atwoodâs Oryx and Crake
- Chapter 6: When the Scientist Is a Woman Novels and Feminist Science Studies
- Chapter 7: Economization of Science Insights from Science Novels
- Chapter 8: The Science Fiction of Technological Modernity Images of Science in Recent Science Fiction
- Chapter 9: Unruly Creatures, Obstinate Things Bio-Objects and Scientific Knowledge Production in Contemporary Science Fiction
- Chapter 10: A Fictional Risk Narrative and Its Potential for Social Resonance Reception of Barbara Kingsolverâs Flight Behavior in Reviews and Reading Groups
- Index