• addresses a large gap in the marketplace by engaging with European iterations of science fiction
• links the EU-a body born of utopian ideals in response to the dystopian realities of WWII-with science fiction-a genre that thrives upon depicting such extremes
• places particular emphasis on the genre's propensity to reflect, exploit and comment upon popular political and cultural anxieties

Autorentext

Aidan Power is an Irish Research Council Government of Ireland Scholar based in University College Cork, Ireland.

Klappentext

*Contemporary European Science Fiction Cinemas *charts the evolution of European science fiction cinema in the 21st century, a period in which Europe itself has faced myriad crises. Key to this study is an exploration of how European science fiction responds to prevalent issues such as the financial crisis, political extremism and violence, large-scale migration and indeed the potential breakup of the European Union itself. What futures does science fiction cinema envision for Europe? Is it capable of moving beyond dystopian visions of a continent beset by seemingly omnipresent turbulence? Emphasising science fiction's unique ability to estrange, exploit and reflect upon popular concerns, this book directly engages with such questions, accounting for ongoing mutations in the very nature of the European project as it does so.

Zusammenfassung

Contemporary European Science Fiction Cinemas charts the evolution of European science fiction cinema in the 21st century, a period in which Europe itself has faced myriad crises. Key to this study is an exploration of how European science fiction responds to prevalent issues such as the financial crisis, political extremism and violence, large-scale migration and indeed the potential breakup of the European Union itself. What futures does science fiction cinema envision for Europe? Is it capable of moving beyond dystopian visions of a continent beset by seemingly omnipresent turbulence? Emphasising science fiction's unique ability to estrange, exploit and reflect upon popular concerns, this book directly engages with such questions, accounting for ongoing mutations in the very nature of the European project as it does so.

Inhalt

Part I: Where is Europe? National and European Science Fiction.- 1. Introduction: A Dream Called Rome.- 2. Shaping a European Narrative: Eurimages, SF and the Auteur.- 3. Science Fiction in the EU's Newest Member States.- Part II: Contagion! Responding to the Financial Crisis.- 4. PIIGS to the Slaughter.- 5. PIIGS to the Slaughter II.- Part III: Shut the Gates! Scorched Earth, Fortress Continent.- 6. Climate Change, The Anthropocene, and European SF.- 7. Multiculturalism and the Changing Face of Europe.- Part IV: Another Planet: Hollywood SF Production in Europe.- 8. European SF and Hollywood.- Part V: Beyond Europe?.- 9. Conclusions and Roads Ahead.