Shakespeare and Science Fiction: 71 (Liverpool Science Fiction Texts & Studies) - Softcover

Brown, Sarah Annes

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1835537766 ISBN 13: 9781835537763

Publisher: Liverpool University Press, 2024

Synopsis

In Shakespeare and Science Fiction Sarah Annes Brown investigates why so many science fiction writers have turned to Shakespeare when imagining humanity’s future. He and his works become a kind of touchstone for the species in much science fiction, both transcending and exemplifying what it means to be human. Writers have used Shakespeare in a range of often contradictory ways. He is associated with freedom and with tyranny, with optimistic visions of space exploration and with the complete destruction of the human race. His works have been invoked to justify the existence of humanity, but have also frequently been coopted for their own purposes by alien life forms or artificial intelligences.

Shakespeare and Science Fictionis the first extended study of Shakespeare’s influence on the genre.It draws on over a hundred works across different science fiction media, identifying recurring patterns – and telling contradictions – in the way science fiction engages with Shakespeare. It includes discussions of time travel, alternate history, dystopias, space opera, posthuman identity and post-apocalyptic fiction.

About this title

About the Author

Sarah Annes Brown is Professor of English Literature at Anglia Ruskin University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Liverpool University Press
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1835537766
• ISBN 13: 9781835537763
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224