The Limits of Estrangement
When:
—
Venue:
Birkbeck 43 Gordon Square
No booking required
A panel discussion hosted by the Centre for Contemporary Literature, Birkbeck
What can literature do to confront an increasingly turbulent and unpredictable world? What strategies of narrative and representation can best orient us?
A long-standing argument for science fiction proposes that it offers a controlled estrangement of the real, permitting us to see the extremity of our reality more clearly and to extrapolate possible futures. But is it possible that reality is outrunning fiction? What is the role of dystopian narrative, when reality itself develops dystopian dimensions?
Such questions will be taken up by three lecturers from the Department of English & Humanities: Mark Blacklock, Caroline Edwards and Mpalive Msiska, in conversation with Joseph Brooker.