Reality Unbound: New Departures in Science Fiction Cinema

This book engages with some of the most pressing arguments shaping science fiction studies as we move deeper into an often-turbulent new millennium. Consisting of four distinct sections containing eleven original essays by some of the leading experts in SF studies, Reality Unbound grapples with a diffuse, yet interrelated cluster of topics. Moreover, it does so by essaying prominent themes from early cinematic iterations of the genre, through arthouse films of the 1960s, to Hollywood blockbusters of the present day. Charting SF cinema’s response to seismic historical events, as well as social and political trends, this collection tackles key SF concerns such as responses to governmental repression, the possibilities and wonder of outer space, the future of the human race and the double-edged ramifications of technological advancement.

Delia González de Reufels is a professor of Latin American History at Universität Bremen. Her research interests include Latin American population history and the history of the welfare state in Latin America, Latin American military history and the history of migration in the 19th and 20th century. Rasmus Greiner is a assistant professor in Film Studies and Latin American History at Universität Bremen. He is also managing editor of the e-journal www.nachdemfilm.de. He was awarded a doctoral degree with a thesis on asymmetrical military conflicts in feature films since the late 90s. Winfried Pauleit is a professor at Universität Bremen, where he works in the areas of film studies and media aesthetics. Aidan Power is an Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at University College Cork, Ireland.