Practices of Speculation

This volume offers innovative ways to think about speculation at a time when anticipation of catastrophe in an apocalyptic mode is the order of the day and shapes public discourse on a global scale. It maps an interdisciplinary field of investigation: the chapters interrogate hegemonic ways of shaping the present through investments in the future, while also looking at speculative practices that reveal transformative potential. The twelve contributions explore concrete instances of envisioning the open unknown and affirmative speculative potentials in history, literature, comics, computer games, mold research, ecosystem science and artistic practice.

Jeanne Cortiel is Professor of American Studies at Bayreuth University. Her research interests include American science fiction, post-apocalyptic film, and global catastrophic risk in fiction. Christine Hanke is Chair of Digital and Audiovisual Media at Bayreuth University and conducts research in the fields of media resistance, postcolonial studies, and image theory. Jan Simon Hutta is Assistant Professor in the Cultural Geography Research Group at Bayreuth University. His research focuses on formations of power, affect and citizenship in Brazil, sexual and transgender politics, urban governmentality, and relations of subjectivity, movement and space. Colin Milburn is Gary Snyder Chair in Science and the Humanities and Professor of English, Science and Technology Studies, as well as Cinema and Digital Media at the University of California, Davis. His research focuses on the intersections of science, literature, and media technologies.