A VPFA Study Day
Hosted in the historic city of York
The ever-popular genre of science fiction can be traced back to ancient Greece, but as a developing and continuous tradition, its roots are in the mid to late nineteenth century. Victorian science fiction interrogates and informs contemporary cultural debates around science and technology, revealing both the hopes and fears of those witnessing the massive changes around them. Examinations of imperialism and socio-political concerns feature in much Victorian science fiction, concerns that still arise in science fiction today.
Papers for this study day, the first in SF hosted by the VPFA, are invited. Subjects can cover, but are not limited to:
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Space travel.
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Life on other worlds.
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Time travel.
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Futuristic fiction.
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Utopia.
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Future-war fiction.
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Reader reception.
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Publication history.
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Science fiction’s intersection with other Victorian genres, i.e. travelogues, fantastical, and occult fiction.
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How Victorian science fiction has been reworked across the twentieth century, i.e. the multiple film adaptations of Well’s The War of the Worlds, or the sub-genre of Steampunk.
Papers could interrogate how the chosen stories interact with the concerns and hopes of the contemporary world, such as imperialism, socio-economic, and political concerns, such as the New Woman, the rise of alternative political movements, the beginning of the challenge to the class system that otherwise dominated the nineteenth century.
Special consideration will be given to those papers that explore works by lesser-known authors, and under-explored texts by established writers such as Wells and Verne.
Ideally the stories covered should be published during the Victorian era, 1837-1901, but leeway is permitted to allow for works by writers active in and around the Victorian period.
Held in the historic city of York, with online participation available to those who cannot attend in person.
Expressions of interest in presenting and / or attending to baldwinadamw@gmail.com
