Novels by Aliens

Weird Tales and the Twenty-First Century

By Kate Marshall | Publisher: University of Chicago Press

About the book

A wide-ranging account of the twenty-first century’s fascination with the weird.
 
Twenty-first-century fiction and theory have taken a decidedly weird turn. They both show a marked interest in the nonhuman and in the preternatural moods that the nonhuman often evokes. Writers of fiction and criticism are avidly experimenting with strange, even alien perspectives and protagonists. Kate Marshall’s Novels by Aliens explores this development broadly while focusing on problems of genre fiction. She identifies three key generic hybrids that harness a longing for the nonhuman: the old weird, an alternative tradition within naturalism and modernism for the twenty-first century’s cowboys and aliens; cosmic realism, the reach for words legible only from space in otherwise terrestrial narratives; and pseudoscience fiction, which imagines speculative futures beyond human life on earth. Offering sharp and surprising insights about a breathtaking range of authors, from Edgar Rice Burroughs to Kazuo Ishiguro, Willa Cather to Maggie Nelson, Novels by Aliens tells the story of how genre became mood in the twenty-first century.

Editions of Novels by Aliens

Hardcover
ISBN 9780226827827
Paperback
ISBN 9780226827834
EBook
ISBN 9780226827841

Read an Excerpt

A wide-ranging account of the twenty-first century’s fascination with the weird.
 
Twenty-first-century fiction and theory have taken a decidedly weird turn. They both show a marked interest in the nonhuman and in the preternatural moods that the nonhuman often evokes. Writers of fiction and criticism are avidly experimenting with strange, even alien perspectives and protagonists. Kate Marshall’s Novels by Aliens explores this development broadly while focusing on problems of genre fiction. She identifies three key generic hybrids that harness a longing for the nonhuman: the old weird, an alternative tradition within naturalism and modernism for the twenty-first century’s cowboys and aliens; cosmic realism, the reach for words legible only from space in otherwise terrestrial narratives; and pseudoscience fiction, which imagines speculative futures beyond human life on earth. Offering sharp and surprising insights about a breathtaking range of authors, from Edgar Rice Burroughs to Kazuo Ishiguro, Willa Cather to Maggie Nelson, Novels by Aliens tells the story of how genre became mood in the twenty-first century.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Novels by Aliens about?

A wide-ranging account of the twenty-first century’s fascination with the weird.
 
Twenty-first-century fiction and theory have taken a decidedly weird turn. They both show a marked interest in the nonhuman and in the preternatural moods that the nonhuman often evokes. Writers of fiction and criticism are avidly experimenting with strange, even alien perspectives and protagonists. Kate Marshall’s Novels by Aliens explores this development broadly while focusing on problems of genre fiction. She identifies three key generic hybrids that harness a longing for the nonhuman: the old weird, an alternative tradition within naturalism and modernism for the twenty-first century’s cowboys and aliens; cosmic realism, the reach for words legible only from space in otherwise terrestrial narratives; and pseudoscience fiction, which imagines speculative futures beyond human life on earth. Offering sharp and surprising insights about a breathtaking range of authors, from Edgar Rice Burroughs to Kazuo Ishiguro, Willa Cather to Maggie Nelson, Novels by Aliens tells the story of how genre became mood in the twenty-first century.

What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in Novels by Aliens?

Biography, Literature and Literary studies > Literature: history and criticism

Where can I read a sample of Novels by Aliens?

You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9780226827827

How long is Novels by Aliens and how many pages does it have?

Novels by Aliens has 240 page(s)

Who is/are the Author/s of the book Novels by Aliens?

Kate Marshall

Who is the Publisher of the book Novels by Aliens?

University of Chicago Press

What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?

Novels by Aliens is available as hardcover(ISBN 9780226827827) and paperback(ISBN 9780226827834) and ebook(ISBN 9780226827841)