Existential Science Fiction

This book explores contemporary existential science fiction media, including film, television, and video games, and their influence on society’s conceptions of memory, identity, and humanity. Most poignantly, Ryan Lizardi argues, are the ways in which a recent cluster of science fiction media, including Gravity (2013), Interstellar (2014), Legion (2017-2019), Westworld (2016-present), Soma (2015), and Death Standing (2019), among others, present a vision of the future that is inextricably tied to an exploration of humanity that is more contemplative and comparative than traditional science fiction. The combination of the existential nature of this current trend in science fiction with the genre’s ability to manifest these abstract concepts in a generic environment that is historically focused on new frontiers and ideas creates a powerful set of media texts that ask audiences to contemplate what it means to exist, think, and connect as human beings. Scholars of media studies, film studies, television studies, genre studies, and philosophy will find this book particularly useful.

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Existential Science Fiction

This book explores contemporary existential science fiction media, including film, television, and video games, and their influence on society’s conceptions of memory, identity, and humanity. Most poignantly, Ryan Lizardi argues, are the ways in which a recent cluster of science fiction media, including Gravity (2013), Interstellar (2014), Legion (2017-2019), Westworld (2016-present), Soma (2015), and Death Standing (2019), among others, present a vision of the future that is inextricably tied to an exploration of humanity that is more contemplative and comparative than traditional science fiction. The combination of the existential nature of this current trend in science fiction with the genre’s ability to manifest these abstract concepts in a generic environment that is historically focused on new frontiers and ideas creates a powerful set of media texts that ask audiences to contemplate what it means to exist, think, and connect as human beings. Scholars of media studies, film studies, television studies, genre studies, and philosophy will find this book particularly useful.

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Existential Science Fiction

Existential Science Fiction

by Ryan Lizardi SUNY Polytechnic Institute
Existential Science Fiction

Existential Science Fiction

by Ryan Lizardi SUNY Polytechnic Institute

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Overview

This book explores contemporary existential science fiction media, including film, television, and video games, and their influence on society’s conceptions of memory, identity, and humanity. Most poignantly, Ryan Lizardi argues, are the ways in which a recent cluster of science fiction media, including Gravity (2013), Interstellar (2014), Legion (2017-2019), Westworld (2016-present), Soma (2015), and Death Standing (2019), among others, present a vision of the future that is inextricably tied to an exploration of humanity that is more contemplative and comparative than traditional science fiction. The combination of the existential nature of this current trend in science fiction with the genre’s ability to manifest these abstract concepts in a generic environment that is historically focused on new frontiers and ideas creates a powerful set of media texts that ask audiences to contemplate what it means to exist, think, and connect as human beings. Scholars of media studies, film studies, television studies, genre studies, and philosophy will find this book particularly useful.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781793647368
Publisher: Lexington Books
Publication date: 01/05/2022
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 170
File size: 4 MB

About the Author

Ryan Lizardi is associate professor of digital media and humanities at SUNY Polytechnic Institute.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Early Existential Science Fiction

Chapter 2: Modern Existential Science Fiction

Chapter 3: Gravity, Ad Astra, and Generational Connections

Chapter 4: Interstellar, Arrival, and Continuity of Identity

Chapter 5: Annihilation and Refraction of Identity

Chapter 6: Legion and Fractured Identity

Chapter 7: Westworld and the Embellished Remake

Chapter 8: Assassin’s Creed, Bioshock, and Alternative Histories

Chapter 9: Interactive Existential Science Fiction

Concluding Remarks

Bibliography

About the Author

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