Kneale, James;
(2024)
Outer Space.
In:
The Routledge Handbook of Literary Geographies.
(pp. 303-312).
Routledge: Abingdon, UK.
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Text (Chapter 28)
28. James Kneale accepted.pdf - Accepted Version Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 10 February 2026. Download (248kB) |
Abstract
This chapter explores literary geographies of outer space in Anglophone science fiction (sf). It draws on two key ideas: Fredric Jameson’s argument that sf is a ‘spatial genre,’ characterised by a ‘dialectic of inside and outside,’ and Mikhail Bakhtin’s chronotopes (time-space representational conventions). Reading these ideas together, the chapter explores two common representations of outer space. The first focuses on the emptiness of space, which can be estranging, lethal, sublime, or transformative, but which can also be thought of as examples of Bakhtin’s chronotope of ‘adventure time.’ The second follows recent human geographical work that sees space as topological, emphasising ‘gates,’ ‘wormholes,’ and other points of connection in empty space, which can be read as spatialised ‘points of crisis’ with potentially transformative consequences. The chapter discusses a number of examples drawn from the fictions of E.E. Smith, Ann Leckie, Iain M. Banks, and Frederik Pohl, amongst others.
| Type: | Book chapter |
|---|---|
| Title: | Outer Space |
| ISBN: | 0367564335 |
| ISBN-13: | 9780367564339 |
| DOI: | 10.4324/9781003097761 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003097761 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Geography |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10196287 |
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