This course focuses on East European, Russian, and Soviet science fiction and fantasy, with readings drawn from the nineteenth century through the present. We will discuss these works as both anchored in their particular cultural-historical circumstances and also for their contribution to the development of sci-fi and fantasy as world genres. The course will survey major writers and their works in the Czech, Polish, and Russian/Soviet contexts; most of the readings are less known in the US but are nevertheless fundamental to the genre. Written in a time of growing authoritarianism and nationalism throughout Europe and in the wake of various traumas (WWI, the Bolshevik Revolution, the Stalinist Terror, WW2, etc.) these works register the seismic upheavals in human consciousness and society as they question accepted ideas of logic, time, reason, self-identity, the nature of “the other”, communication, and fundamental questions of truth and morality, as well as the possibility of constructing literary narratives in trying circumstances. Through our analysis of a variety of works (in translation) from Eastern Europe, we will come to better understand human behavior and compare how broader cultural and societal concerns – progress, imperialism, gender relations, the role of technology, etc. – are expressed through the fantastic and science fiction to test the limits of knowledge as humanity pushes further into the unknown.
Students should plan to read the assigned texts before class. Class time will be devoted to brief lectures about the author and historical context, followed by group discussions to analyze key points, themes, and broader questions raised by the text.
