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Full Description
Speculative modernists--that is, British and American writers of science fiction, fantasy and horror during the late 19th and early 20th centuries--successfully grappled with the same forces that would drive their better-known literary counterparts to existential despair. Building on the ideas of the 19th-century Gothic and utopian movements, these speculative writers anticipated literary Modernism and blazed alternative literary trails in science, religion, ecology and sociology. Such authors as H.G. Wells and H.P. Lovecraft gained widespread recognition--budding from them, other speculative authors published fascinating tales of individuals trapped in dystopias, of anti-society attitudes, post-apocalyptic worlds and the rapidly expanding knowledge of the limitless universe. This book documents the Gothic and utopian roots of speculative fiction and explores how these authors played a crucial role in shaping the culture of the new century with their darker, more evolved themes.
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
1. Utocalypse
All Will Be Well: The Utopian Roots of Speculative Modernism
The Screw Turns: Bleak Reality Murders Optimism
Anti-Utopians: The Individual Versus Society
Conclusion
2. Shadows at the Turn
Gothic Origins of Speculative Modernism
Gothic Extensions: Doppelgängers to Vampires
Ghosts and the Unexplained
Conclusion
3. This Island Earth: Nature vs. Speculative Modernists
Science Will Bend Nature to Serve Humanity: The Utopian Perspective
There Are Things We Can Never Know: The Purple Cloud and the Limits of Science
Beyond This Place and Time: The Natural World Will Outlast Us
Weaponizing Nature: Understanding the Non-Human World in Order to Destroy It
Conclusion
4. Worlds Beyond
What Do We Really Have to Offer?
They Want What We Want
"We're Down; We're Beat": Humanity's Defeat
Conclusion
5. Machinocracy
A Species in Distress: Machines Will Save Humanity
Sand in the Gears: Machines Can't Save Us
Building the Perfect Gun: Machines Will Kill Us All
Conclusion
6. Divine Secrets
The Benevolent Universe: Spiritual Rewards for the Speculative Modernist
Cruel Reality: Monsters Lurking Beyond the Veil
The Neutral Universe: Our Truth Lies Within Ourselves
Conclusion
7. We Are Fortunately Flawed
Sherlock Holmes: Ego and Ultra-Rationalism
Tarzan: Natural Law and the Laws of Man
Buck Rogers: Future Perfect
King Kull: Governing by Axe
Conan the Cimmerian: Blood on Steel
Jirel of Joiry: Darkness and Light
Conclusion
Epilogue
The Editorial Tastemakers
The Book Publishers Who Made the Old New Again
Conan as Chronicle
Chapter Notes
Works Cited
Index
