The Influence of Imagination - by Lee Easton & Randy Schroeder (Paperback)

About the Book

This collection of qualitative essays explores the potential connections between speculative narrative in fictional works and actual social change. Through a variety of approaches and methodologies, the contributors explore whether consumers of science fiction and fantasy narratives can experience a real shift in their worldviews or ideologies as a result of that consumption.

Book Synopsis

This collection of essays examines the potential connections between speculative fiction and actual social change. Through a variety of approaches, the contributors explore whether consumers of science fiction and fantasy narratives can experience a real shift in their worldviews as a result of that consumption. Topics include the utopian vision of California in Ursula K. LeGuin's Always Coming Home, the changing role of women in science fiction pulp magazines, and the representation of progress and social change in popular graphic novels.

Review Quotes

"excellent...a significant contribution...a fine contribution to any serious SF critic's research library"-SFRA Review; "a worthwhile critical collection that approaches questions about sf's social importance with admirable clarity...provides its reader with many hours of thoughtful, multifaceted, and excellent sf criticism"-Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts.

About the Author

Lee Easton is an English professor at Mount Royal College in Alberta, Canada. Randy Schroeder, an active writer of fantasy and speculative poetry, is an English professor at Mount Royal College.