Speculations of War

Late 19th century science fiction stories and utopian treatises related to morals and attitudes often focused on economic, sociological and, at times Marxist ideas. More than a century later, science fiction commonly depicts the inherent dangers of capitalism and imperialism. Examining a variety of conflicts from the Civil War through the post-9/11 era, this collection of new essays explores philosophical introspection and futuristic forecasting in science fiction, fantasy, utopian literature and film, with a focus on the warlike nature of humanity.

Annette M. Magid is a professor at SUNY Erie Community College in Buffalo, New York.

Edited by Annette M. Magid

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 253
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2021
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7279-3
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4082-2
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1
Introduction 5

Part I. Fomenting War
Ad Bellum Purificandum: Kenneth Burke’s Rhetoric of Fiction Between the Wars
AmyLea Clemons 10
Speculations on the Interconnectedness of Edward Bellamy, His Utopian Writing and the Civil War
Annette M. Magid 36
Clouds Over the Valley: Images of War and Peace in the Films of Hayao Miyazaki
Erin M. Roll 58

Part II. World Conflicts
Epistemological Warfare(s) in Dystopian Narrative: Zülfü Livaneli’s Son Ada and Anthony Burgess’ The Wanting Seed
Emrah Atasoy 82
Three Options and Three Science Fiction Novels Concerning the Algerian War of Independence
Ruy ­Burgos-Lovece 106
Napoleonic Conquest and Chinese Absorption: Dialectics of Territorial Expansion in Jack London’s “The Unparalleled Invasion”
Julie Hugonny 139

Part III. Cold War and Post–9/11
Waging Metaphorical Warfare in Feminist Dystopian and Utopian Writing
Naomi R. Mercer 162
A Call to Arms: Star Wars, Star Trek and the Science Fiction of the German Democratic Republic
Thomas P. David 190
Love and Death in Two Nuclear Defense Films
Doug Davis 214

About the Contributors 241
Index 243