[csaa-forum] The Multiverse as Theory in Postmodern Speculative Fictional Narratives" (Routledge, 2024)

[cato.ang at gmail.com]

We are pleased to announce the publication of the new book: “The Multiverse
as Theory in Postmodern Speculative Fictional Narratives” 

published by Routledge. (ISBN 9781032699752 / 196 Pages 4 B/W Illustrations
/ November 15, 2024).

 

Edited by:

Angélica Cabrera Torrecilla (Osaka University)

Francisco Sáez de Adana (University of Alcalá) 

 

Available at:
https://www.routledge.com/The-Multiverse-as-Theory-in-Postmodern-Speculative
-Fictional-Narratives/CabreraTorrecilla-SaezdeAdana/p/book/9781032699752  /
<https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781032699776/multiverse-t
heory-postmodern-speculative-fictional-narratives-ang%C3%A9lica-cabrera-torr
ecilla-francisco-s%C3%A1ez-de-adana>
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781032699776/multiverse-th
eory-postmodern-speculative-fictional-narratives-ang%C3%A9lica-cabrera-torre
cilla-francisco-s%C3%A1ez-de-adana

 

 

The Multiverse as Theory in Postmodern Speculative Fictional Narratives
considers the concept of the multiverse beyond the immediacy of being merely
an excuse or scenario for the development of stories, instead positioning
the multiverse as a theoretical method in which speculative fiction
narratives can explore diverse issues to bridge ideas across cultural,
social, and philosophical analysis.

Taking a cross-cultural approach, the book centres around the critical
engagements that literary and media texts have with the representations of
the multiverse, beyond considering this subject as a mere rhetorical
flourish or a passing fad. A diverse and international team of authors
engage with the multiverse from the point of view of “other worlds,”
understanding it not as the appearance of another independent world, but as
the collision of two or more different worlds into one of them. From this
key finding, the multiverse encourages us to pay attention to the influence
that fiction exerts on narratives and world-building, providing possible
frameworks to rethink critical aspects of temporality, space, self, society,
and culture in contemporary times.

This pioneering work will interest students and scholars working in the
areas of media and cultural studies, comparative literature, popular culture
studies, speculative fiction, and transmedia studies.

 

Contents:

 

1. Introduction

The Multiverse as Fictional Formation

Angélica Cabrera Torrecilla and Francisco Sáez de Adana 

 

2. Towards the Multiverse as a Theory for Speculative Fictions, a Proposal

Angélica Cabrera Torrecilla

 

PART I The Multiverse as Theoretical Method for Written-Visual Fictions

 

3 The Quest for Reality as Lost Paradise: Philip K. Dick’s “False Worlds”
Series

Alejo Steimberg

 

4 “Traveling through a Dimension Other than Space:” Multidimensional
Consciousness in Molly Cochran’s The Third Magic

Radhia Flah Gaiech

 

5 The Multiverse as Ontological Catalyst in Sheri S. Tepper’s The Margarets 

Stephanie Studzinski

 

6 Parallel Universes in Superhero Comics

Francisco Sáez de Adana

 

7 Thursday Next Series: Transmedia Fiction as a “Multi-Media” Multiverse

Carmen Hidalgo-Varo

 

8 Fighting across Reality: Otherworlds, Parallel Dimensions, and the
Multiverse in Martial Arts Fiction

Eduardo González de la Fuente

 

PART II The Multiverse as Theoretical Method for Audio-Visual Fictions

 

9 From Representation to Simulation: Narrative Inconsistencies in
Cyberspatial Otherworlds

Anna Batori

 

10 Bridging Multiverse and Media/Video Game Studies: Nobunaga’s Ambition as
a Multiverse

Yasuhito Abe

 

11 The Invisible Affects the Visible: A Socio-Cultural Perspective on the
Portrayal of the Spirit and the Physical Worlds in Nigerian and Cameroonian
Video Films

Floribert Patrick C. Endong

 

12 “Okay, Which World do You Think is Real?” – Complex Shared
Dream-within-a-Dream Worlds in Doctor Who: “Amy’s Choice” (2010) and “Last
Christmas” (2014)

Kathrin Neis 

 

13 Black Mirror: Flat-line Multiverses and Mutations of the Possible

Iván Pintor Iranzo

 

14 Postface: a A Typology of Multiverse Narratives

Marie-Laure Ryan 

 

 

 

 

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