Lingua Cosmica: Science Fiction from around the World consists of eleven scholarly essays on contemporary authors (born 1950 or later) of science fiction who publish in languages other than English, or who publish from the English-speaking “periphery”: i.e., outside the United States, the United Kingdom, and Anglophone Canada. Each essay examines one author, making a case for their importance internationally and contextualizing their work within the science-fictional traditions of their own culture and those of the genre globally (themes, tropes, tendencies, subgenres, etc.). Each also offers ... More

Lingua Cosmica: Science Fiction from around the World consists of eleven scholarly essays on contemporary authors (born 1950 or later) of science fiction who publish in languages other than English, or who publish from the English-speaking “periphery”: i.e., outside the United States, the United Kingdom, and Anglophone Canada. Each essay examines one author, making a case for their importance internationally and contextualizing their work within the science-fictional traditions of their own culture and those of the genre globally (themes, tropes, tendencies, subgenres, etc.). Each also offers an in-depth analysis of a major work or works. The book thus identifies major contemporary authors of science fiction outside the “center” of the English-speaking world and presents them to students and scholars in the Anglophone world. The scholars respond to questions such as: Who are these authors, and why are they important? What innovative thematic material or formal elements do they offer? What unique elements from their culture do they bring to the genre? How do they dialogue with the history of the genre, and how do they fit into the contemporary SF scene? The authors studied are Angélica Gorodischer from Argentina, Yves Meynard and Jean-Louis Trudel writing collaboratively as Laurent McAllister (Francophone Canada), Liu Cixin (China), Daína Chaviano (Cuba), Johanna Sinisalo (Finland), Jean-Claude Dunyach (France), Andreas Eschbach (Germany), Sakyo Komatsu (Japan), Olatunde Osunsanmi (Nigerian American), Jacek Dukaj (Poland), and Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky (Russia/USSR).