Indian Science Fiction

Suparno Banerjee

Description

This study draws from postcolonial theory, science fiction criticism, utopian studies, genre theory, Western and Indian philosophy and history to propose that Indian science fiction functions at the intersection of Indian and Western cultures. The author deploys a diachronic and comparative approach in examining the multilingual science fiction traditions of India to trace the overarching generic evolutions, which he complements with an analysis of specific patterns of hybridity in the genre’s formal and thematic elements – time, space, characters and the epistemologies that build the worlds in Indian science fiction. The work explores the larger patterns and connections visible despite the linguistic and cultural diversities of Indian science fiction traditions.

Acknowledgements
Chronology
Introduction: To Mark or Not to Mark Territories
1. Genealogies: A Brief History of Indian SF
2. Cognitions and Estrangements: Epistemes and the World-Building in Indian Sf
3. Other Times: Alternative Histories, Imagining the Future and Non-Linear Temporalities
4. Other Spaces: Utopian Discourses and Non-Expansionist Journeys
5. The Others: Aliens, Robots, Cyborgs and Other Others
Conclusion: Close Encounters
Notes
Bibliography: Primary Texts
Bibliography: Secondary Texts

Sujets

• Literary Criticism
• Science Fiction
• India
• Fantasy

Informations

• Publié par: University of Wales Press
• Date de parution: 15 octobre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781786836670
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

New Dimensions in Science Fiction

Indian Science Fiction

New Dimensions in Science Fiction

Series Editors Professor Pawel Frelik University of Warsaw

Professor Patrick B. Sharp California State University, Los Angeles

Editorial Board Grace Dillon Portland State University

Tanya Krzywinska Falmouth University

Isiah Lavender III University of Georgia

Roger Luckhurst Birkbeck University of London

John Rieder University of Hawai‘i

Indian Science Fiction Patterns, History and Hybridity

Suparno Banerjee

UNIVERSITY OF WALES PRESS 2020

© Suparno Banerjee, 2020

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to theUniversity of Wales Press, University Registry, King Edward VII Avenue, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NS.

www.uwp.co.uk

British Library CIP Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN eISBN

978-1-78683-666-3 978-1-78683-667-0

The right of Suparno Banerjee to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 79 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Typeset by Marie Doherty Printed by CPI Antony Rowe, Melksham

For Irabati You are the future

Series Editors’ Preface

Science fiction (SF) is a global storytelling form of techno-scientific modernity which conveys distinct experiences with science, technol- ogy and society to a wide range of readers across centuries, continents and cultures. The New Dimensions in Science Fiction series aims to capture the dynamic, worldwide and media-spanning dimensions of SF storytelling and criticism by providing a venue for scholars from multiple disciplines to explore their ideas on the relations of science and society as expressed in SF.

Contents

Acknowledgements

A Brief Chronology of Indian Science Fiction

Introduction: To Mark or Not to Mark Territories Defining SF Defining ‘Indian’ The Trajectory

1

2

3

Genealogies: A Brief History of Indian SF 1835–1905: Revolutionary Futures, Scientific Education and Influence of Western SF 1905–47: Utopias, Popular Culture and Experimentations 1947–95: The Golden Age of SF in Indigenous Languages, Rebirth of Indian English SF and SF on Screen 1995–2019: The Rise of Indian English SF, Globalisation, SF Films and Web Mags Conclusion

Cognitions and Estrangements: Epistemes and World Building in Indian SF Knowledge, Science and Science Fiction Science and Fiction Vedic Science and Fiction Subaltern Science and Fiction SF and the Mythological Paradigm Reinterpreting Hindu Myths Indian SF and Non-Hindu Myths Conclusion

Other Times: Alternative Histories, Imagining the Future and Non-linear Temporalities Alternative Histories

xi

xiii

1 2 9 12

21 23

30 36

48

57

61

62 69 74 78 85 86 93 95

97

98