Demand the Impossible
Science Fiction and the Utopian Imagination
Abstract
Although published in 1986, Demand the Impossible was written from inside the oppositional political culture of the 1970s. Reading works by Joanna Russ, Ursula K. Le Guin, Marge Piercy, and Samuel R. Delany as indicative texts in the intertext of utopian science fiction, Tom Moylan originated the concept of the «critical utopia» as both a periodizing and conceptual tool for capturing the creative and critical capabilities of the utopian imagination and utopian agency. This Ralahine Classics edition includes the original text along with a new essay by Moylan (on Aldous Huxley’s Island) and a set of reflections on the book by leading utopian and science fiction scholars.
Keywords
agency;Baccolini;critical utopia;Demand;Fiction;Fischer;Griffin;Imagination;Impossible;Joachim;Michael;Moylan;political culture;Raffaella;Science;UtopianDOI
10.3726/978-3-0353-0610-1ISBN
9783035399684, 9783035399691, 9783034307529, 9783035306101Publisher website
https://www.peterlang.com/Publication date and place
Bern, 2014Series
Ralahine Utopian Studies, 14Classification
Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000
Literary studies: from c 2000
Cultural studies
Gender studies: women and girls
Sociology and anthropology
Politics and government