Broschiertes Buch

The Speculative Route

Futures from South and Southwest Asia and North Africa

Herausgegeben: Tabur, Merve; Khan, Sami Ahmad

Beschreibung

The Speculative Route explores speculative traditions and science fictional modes across South and Southwest Asia and North Africa (SSWANA), examining their historical connections, inter- and intra-regional entanglements, overlaps, and differences. Conceptualizing science fiction and fantasy (SFF) as a mode rather than a genre, this volume challenges the putative boundaries between literary and genre fiction through critical studies and essays focusing on SFF from Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Iran, Pakistan, Palestine, Sri Lanka, and Turkey. It demonstrates the ways in which science fictional modes of thinking and imagination function as critical tools for addressing social, cultural, and political issues beyond genre conventions and expectations. Bringing together articles by leading scholars of SFF and think-pieces by acclaimed authors of contemporary SF, this volume focuses on central themes such as the relationship between aesthetics and politics, alterity, world-building, memory, trauma, colonialism and decolonization, ecology, gender, religion, and mythopoetics. It engages with the past, present, and future of speculative traditions in SSWANA, and compares the visions that emerge from these seemingly disparate--but historically connected--entities.

Part of the Studies in Global Genre Fiction series, this volume will be of great interest to academics, students, and practitioners in the fields of genre studies (notably, SF, SFF), comparative literature, media and popular culture, area studies, postcolonial studies, and future studies, as well as to readers who are interested in exploring SFF works from the Global South.

Autor

Merve Tabur is a Lecturer in Comparative Literature at Utrecht University, the Netherlands and a Researcher at CoFutures. Sami Ahmad Khan is a Writer, Academic, and Documentary Producer. He teaches at Jawaharlal Nehru University, India.

Produktdetails

• Studies in Global Genre Fiction
• Verlag: Taylor & Francis; Routledge India
• Seitenzahl: 272
• Erscheinungstermin: 29. August 2025
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 234mm x 156mm x 15mm
• Gewicht: 417g
• ISBN-13: 9781041097174
• ISBN-10: 1041097174
• Artikelnr.: 73873466

Rezensionen

'The Speculative Route is a wide-ranging exploration of science fiction from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean. It connects the marvelous literatures of countries like India, Iran and Egypt, while reaching deep into imagined pasts and possible futures. Merve Tabur and Sami Ahmad Khan will take you on a fantastic voyage across time and space, opening up exciting new worlds along the way.'
-Jörg Matthias Determann, Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar and author of Islam, Science Fiction and Extraterrestrial Life
'The Middle East and South Asia have been talking to each other since antiquity, a conversation expressed through trade, conflict, exchanges of knowledge and culture, and perhaps most importantly,

stories that express dreams of desired worlds. That conversation has been interrupted - but not shut down - by colonialism. Now, this volume creates a space for these two regions to resume the conversation in the realm of the utopic imagination, examining both similarity and difference across linguistic, nationalist and oppressed-oppressor boundaries, and opening the door to further cross-pollination. The speculative imagination of the Middle East and South Asia, as revealed through scholarly works and insightful think-pieces by writers from these regions, is polyphonic, kaleidoscopic and alive. An invaluable contribution to the literature on collective dreaming for a desired world.'
-Vandana Singh, speculative fiction writer and physicist.
'This anthology of essays, carefully edited by Merve Tabur and Sami Ahmad Khan, not only addresses spec-fic from much of Asia and Africa, it also spans a remarkable range of imaginative perspectives. It is a much-needed effort that will surely be of interest and benefit for both academics as well as thoughtful writers.'
-Anil Menon, author of The Coincidence Plot