Course aims:

The main objective of this course is to open towards a better undestanding of the world through literature, mainly through parallels between a possible perception of the social imaginary and science-fiction
Science-fiction and its main speculative "objectives" open paths towards "serious" knowledge.
Science-fiction's reflections on the social imaginary lead to a better integration of the human being in society.

Course Entry Requirements:

There is no compulsory work placement in the course unit.

Course contents:

Starting from the obvious connection existing between science-fiction and our contemporary world, oriented towards dystopian approaches (George Orwell’s 1984, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 Suzanne Collins’ trilogy The Hunger Games (2008-2010) as well as towards the perception of the relationship between the human being and the artificial intelligence in a society dominated by very advanced technologies, the course is meant to offer a pertinent image of our level of reality. A level of reality connected with other levels of reality, in an attempt to adapt the transdisciplinary theories to a philological subject of study. It asks from the student a certain encyclopaedic knowledge meant to introduce him in the imaginary of different epochs with an impact on the evolution of mentalities. The course also implies the definition of science-fiction with its subgenres as well as its connections with comparative literature, with mythology, with history and geography, with science and philosophy.

Teaching methods:

Instruction is a combination of lectures, seminars, groupwork and individual work.

Learning outcomes:

Science-fiction seen as a literary genre offers an adequate description of the contemporary world where the place of the imaginary is so important. The publicity and the market economy lead towards a “colonization of the imaginary”, towards its manipulation. Certain science-fiction texts belonging especially to speculative fiction create a bridge between the past and the future. As a type of literature centered on the imaginary, it has the power to increase the inventiveness against this type of aggressiveness. The comparison with important literary texts of different epochs as well as the reduction of distances created between humanistic and

Learning outcomes verification and assessment criteria:

Combined oral and written examination (50% + 50% of the final grade)

Recommended reading:

Aldiss, Brian W. & Wingrove, David, Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction, House of Stratus, -, 2002, -.
Le Guin, Ursula, The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction, Harper Collins Publishers, -, 1992, -.
Taylor, Charles, Modern Social Imaginaries, Duke University Press, -, 2004, -.