Overview

Since the dawn of the Space Age, when the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite and sent the first human into the cosmos, science fiction literature and cinema from Russia has fascinated fans, critics, and scholars from around the world. Informed perspectives on the surprisingly long and incredibly rich tradition of Russian science fiction, however, are hard to come by in accessible form. This critical reader aims to provide precisely such a resource for students, scholars, and the merely curious who wish to delve deeper into landmarks of the genre, discover innumerable lesser-known gems in the process, and understand why science fiction came to play such a crucial role in Russian society, politics, technology, and culture for more than a century. Contributors include: Mark B. Adams, Anindita Banerjee, Lynn Barker, Eliot Borenstein, Aleksandr Chantsev, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Stephen Dalton, Dominic Esler, Elana Gomel, Andrew Horton, Yvonne Howell, Asif A. Siddiqi, Robert Skotak, Michael G. Smith, Vlad Strukov, Darko Suvin

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9781618117236

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Reviews

A decidedly scholarly work attempting to reconcile Soviet-era space race Sci-Fi with Cinema - also politics, technology and society - though one which remains particularly valuable given the paucity of any consistent accounts to date. It's a comprehensive, and even exhaustive, read featuring a host of contributors and which, to varying extents, likely will appeal not just to those wanting a handle on the Sci-Fi/Cinema connection, but perhaps to Russophiles across-the-board, too.--Screentrade Magazine This collection of scholarly articles related to the chronological history and development of Russian science fiction in film and literature is a valuable contribution to a little-studied genre.--Ayse Dietrich, Middle East Technical University, International Journal of Russian Studies Issue no. 6, Jan 2017 International Journal of Russian Studies

A decidedly scholarly work attempting to reconcile Soviet-era space race Sci-Fi with Cinema - also politics, technology and society - though one which remains particularly valuable given the paucity of any consistent accounts to date. It's a comprehensive, and even exhaustive, read featuring a host of contributors and which, to varying extents, likely will appeal not just to those wanting a handle on the Sci-Fi/Cinema connection, but perhaps to Russophiles across-the-board, too.--Screentrade Magazine This Critical Reader is a pioneering achievement, not least because it brings together, for the first time, important English-language essays on Russian and Soviet science fiction. ... On the whole ... the Reader does achieve Banerjee's stated goal, to 'highlight the treasure trove' of Russian SF and its critical literature. Let's hope this volume will stimulate many further studies in this still largely unexplored field of research. --Matthias Schwartz, Zentrum f r Literatur- und Kulturforschung, Berlin, BASEES Newsletter --Matthias Schwartz Russian Science Fiction Literature and Cinema ... offers a compelling investigation of the genre whose development was significantly reshaped in the second half of the 20th century. ... [The book] presents science fiction not only in terms of aesthetic inspirations and experimentations, but also in terms of political contestations and existential crises. --Nataliya Shpylova-Saeed, New Books Network--Nataliya Shpylova-Saeed, New Books Network, 23 February 2017 New Books Network This collection of scholarly articles related to the chronological history and development of Russian science fiction in film and literature is a valuable contribution to a little-studied genre.--Ayse Dietrich, Middle East Technical University, International Journal of Russian Studies Issue no. 6, Jan 2017 International Journal of Russian Studies

A decidedly scholarly work attempting to reconcile Soviet-era space race Sci-Fi with Cinema - also politics, technology and society - though one which remains particularly valuable given the paucity of any consistent accounts to date. It's a comprehensive, and even exhaustive, read featuring a host of contributors and which, to varying extents, likely will appeal not just to those wanting a handle on the Sci-Fi/Cinema connection, but perhaps to Russophiles across-the-board, too.--Screentrade Magazine

A decidedly scholarly work attempting to reconcile Soviet-era space race Sci-Fi with Cinema - also politics, technology and society - though one which remains particularly valuable given the paucity of any consistent accounts to date. It's a comprehensive, and even exhaustive, read featuring a host of contributors and which, to varying extents, likely will appeal not just to those wanting a handle on the Sci-Fi/Cinema connection, but perhaps to Russophiles across-the-board, too.--Screentrade Magazine Russian Science Fiction Literature and Cinema ... offers a compelling investigation of the genre whose development was significantly reshaped in the second half of the 20th century. ... [The book] presents science fiction not only in terms of aesthetic inspirations and experimentations, but also in terms of political contestations and existential crises. --Nataliya Shpylova-Saeed, New Books Network--Nataliya Shpylova-Saeed, New Books Network, 23 February 2017 New Books Network This collection of scholarly articles related to the chronological history and development of Russian science fiction in film and literature is a valuable contribution to a little-studied genre.--Ayse Dietrich, Middle East Technical University, International Journal of Russian Studies Issue no. 6, Jan 2017 International Journal of Russian Studies

Author Information

Banerjee is an Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and a Faculty Fellow at the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future at Cornell University. She is the author of ""We Modern People: Science Fiction and the Making of Russian Modernity"" (Wesleyan University Press, 2013), winner of the Science Fiction and Technoculture Studies Book Prize.

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