LFU:online

In this course, students develop a solid understanding of questions related to genre and classification through engagement with science fiction. By analyzing selected theoretical and literary texts, they reflect on the possibilities and limitations of common genre definitions. Students learn to identify and describe characteristic features of science fiction texts. Furthermore, they recognize the genre’s critical capacity to imagine alternative worlds and possibilities and to question both the present and the past.

SF, Science Fiction, Sci-Fi, Speculative Fiction? In this course, we engage with key questions and definitions of science fiction as a literary genre. By reading theoretical texts, we develop a foundational understanding of genre characteristics and discuss their scope and limitations. Drawing on selected literary examples from the 17th to the 21st century, we analyze how specific themes, motifs, and aesthetic strategies characterize science fiction. A particular focus is placed on the genre’s critical potential: To what extent, and in what ways, does science fiction, by imagining alternative worlds and possibilities, invite reflection on both the present and the past?

Reading of research literature and primary texts, discussions, short presentations by the lecturer and students, group work

Reading of the proposed texts, short impulses in groups, short work assignments, active participation in the discussions during the course, term paper

A complete bibliography for the course will be provided during the first session.