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Beyond Tomorrow
German Science Fiction and Utopian Thought in the 20th and 21st Centuries
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Ingo Cornils
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2020
About this book
Shows German Science Fiction's connections with utopian thought, and how it attempts Zukunftsbewältigung: coping with an uncertain but also unwritten future.
Since its beginnings, German Science Fiction (or SF) has engaged with social change and technological progress, often drawing from utopian thought. The writer Kurd Laßwitz challenged the authoritarian Wilhelmine order; later, filmdirector Fritz Lang provided a searing critique of Weimar society. Meanwhile utopian thinkers like Ernst Bloch and Herbert Marcuse insisted on the possibility of hope, even in the face of totalitarianism. During the Cold War, German utopian writing and filmmaking were vital both as a warning and as a creative imagining of possible futures. More recently, as rapid scientific and technological advances have continued, literary and cinematic responses have become increasingly dystopian in outlook, reflecting fears connected with globalization, advances in artificial intelligence and genetic engineering, and persistent challenges like climate change, hunger, migration, and terrorism.
This book explores German SF's responses to the question how humanity can match technological advances with social, ethical, and moral progress. It surveys German utopian thought and the German SF tradition-both literary andcinematic-providing close readings of selected works that paradoxically reflect boundless optimism for the possibility of change and increasing pessimism in its likelihood. English translations are provided throughout. Building onits rich tradition but now confidently entering the mainstream, German SF attempts Zukunftsbewältigung: coping with an uncertain but also unwritten future.
Ingo Cornils is Professor of German Studies at the University of Leeds.
Since its beginnings, German Science Fiction (or SF) has engaged with social change and technological progress, often drawing from utopian thought. The writer Kurd Laßwitz challenged the authoritarian Wilhelmine order; later, filmdirector Fritz Lang provided a searing critique of Weimar society. Meanwhile utopian thinkers like Ernst Bloch and Herbert Marcuse insisted on the possibility of hope, even in the face of totalitarianism. During the Cold War, German utopian writing and filmmaking were vital both as a warning and as a creative imagining of possible futures. More recently, as rapid scientific and technological advances have continued, literary and cinematic responses have become increasingly dystopian in outlook, reflecting fears connected with globalization, advances in artificial intelligence and genetic engineering, and persistent challenges like climate change, hunger, migration, and terrorism.
This book explores German SF's responses to the question how humanity can match technological advances with social, ethical, and moral progress. It surveys German utopian thought and the German SF tradition-both literary andcinematic-providing close readings of selected works that paradoxically reflect boundless optimism for the possibility of change and increasing pessimism in its likelihood. English translations are provided throughout. Building onits rich tradition but now confidently entering the mainstream, German SF attempts Zukunftsbewältigung: coping with an uncertain but also unwritten future.
Ingo Cornils is Professor of German Studies at the University of Leeds.
Author / Editor information
Contributor: Ingo Cornils
INGO CORNILS is Professor of German Studies at the University of Leeds.
Topics
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Frontmatter
i -
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Contents
v -
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Acknowledgments
vii -
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Note on the Translations
ix -
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Introduction
1 - Part I. The Great Discourse on the Future
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1: Utopians and Utopian Thought
17 -
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2: Futurists and Futures Studies
33 -
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3: Utopian/Dystopian Writers and Utopian/Dystopian Fiction
46 -
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4: Science Fiction: The Nexus of Utopianism, Futurism, and Utopian Fiction
61 - Part II. German Science Fiction in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
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5: Some Preliminary Thoughts on German Science Fiction
77 -
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6: First Contact: Martians, Sentient Plants, and Swarm Intelligences
84 -
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7: The Shock of the New: Mega Cities, Machines, and Rockets
104 -
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8: Utopian Experiments: Island Idylls, Glass Beads, and Eugenic Nightmares
110 -
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9: To the Stars! Cosmic Supermen and Bauhaus in Space
122 -
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10: Visions of the End: Catastrophism and Moral Entropy
133 -
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11: Virtual Realities: Caught in the Matrix
149 -
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12: Alternative Histories: Into the Heart of Darkness
157 -
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13: Big Brother Is Watching Us: Who Is Watching Big Brother?
170 -
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14: Artificial Intelligences: The Rise of the Thinking Machines
178 -
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15: Eternal Life: At What Cost?
188 -
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16: Social Satires: Of Empty Slogans and Empty Hearts
193 -
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17: Critical Posthumanism: Twilight of the Species or a New Dawn?
207 -
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18: High Concept: Time, the Universe, and Everything
215 -
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Conclusion
229 -
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Appendix 1: Chronological List of German SF Novels—A Selection
237 -
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Appendix 2: Chronological List of German SF Films—A Selection
239 -
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Notes
241 -
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Bibliography
275 -
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Index
315
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
February 28, 2024
eBook ISBN:
9781787447974
Original publisher:
Camden House
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9781787447974
Keywords for this book
German Science Fiction; utopian thought; future speculation; literature and technology; dystopian outlook; German literary tradition; social change; speculative fiction
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
