In September 2019, the open-access peer-reviewed journal Open Library of Humanities published this special collection of academic articles discussing the depiction of energy resources in various works of science fiction and fantasy. The collection features seven scholarly essays exploring a range of futuristic fictional worlds where energy concerns loom large, "demonstrat[ing] that novel and alternative energy imaginaries - involving both 'powered-up' and 'powered-down' visions of the future - proliferate across the histories and genres of [science fiction and fantasy]." For example, one essay offers an analysis of solarpunk literature, a subgenre of science fiction "broadly characterized by imagining sustainable futures after energy transition." Another essay examines how the entanglements between food and energy systems have been explored in three works of science fiction: Robert A. Heinlein's 1966 novel The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Paolo Bacigalupi's 2009 novel The Windup Girl, and "the British post-apocalyptic TV show Survivors (1975-7)." All the articles in the collection are published under a Creative Commons license and can be read online and downloaded for free. This collection was edited by Dr. Graeme Macdonald, a professor at the University of Warwick, and by Dr. Caroline Edwards, a senior lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London.
Comments