Science Fiction I: Terrorism, Totalitarianism, and Urban Topography
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The Epistemological and Environmental Dominant in Wanuri Kahiu’s Pumzi. Ritch Calvin, SUNY Stony Brook
In her 2009 film, Pumzi (Breath), the Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu illustrates the ways in which environmental devastation can lead to totalitarian control. The film also demonstrates the ways in which access to knowledge under that regime is both difficult and necessary.
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China Miéville's The City& ytiC ehT: From Ontological Mystery to Metaphysical Detective Story. Patricia Merivale, University of British Columbia
Miéville's The City & ytiC ehT (2009) postulates two cities occupying the same physical space, develops the psycho-social subjectivities required of their inhabitants, and turns a Chandleresque murder investigation into a genre-bending ontological mystery which segues into a metaphysical detective story.
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Topologies of the Virtual: Envisioning the Megalopolis as a Narrative Network. Jeremiah Axelrod, Occidental College
The metropolis of the twentieth century was supposed to be concentric, hierarchical, and legible, with map-like clarity. Before long, though, they looked more like communications networks. This paper will trace some of the topologies, topographies, and tropologies of the postmodern, postsuburban megalopolis.
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