Science Fiction as Desublimation. The Case of the Anti-Dystopian City Cover Image

Science Fiction as Desublimation. The Case of the Anti-Dystopian City
Science Fiction as Desublimation. The Case of the Anti-Dystopian City

Author(s): Alexander Popov
Subject(s): Philosophy, Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Aesthetics, Philology, Theory of Literature, Sociology of Literature
Published by: Институт за литература - БАН
Keywords: science fiction; metaphor; ideology; anti-dystopia; urban life

Summary/Abstract: The article formulates an attempt to combine several theoretical models of the genre of science fiction (SF), making it possible to account for the seemingly contradictory tendencies of SF to be read both literally and metaphorically. The model ultimately ties SF to the practice of “desublimating” ideological fantasies and rendering them cognitively graspable. A central element in this operation is the SF chronotope and its dialogue with empirical reality and its texts. Finally, the model is applied to three contemporary SF literary works with similar chronotopes, еxamples of “the anti-dystopian cities.”

  • Issue Year: 69/2026
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 16-34
  • Page Count: 18
  • Language: English
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