FYS 57 Imagining Other Worlds: Genre Fiction by Writers of Color
We are familiar with the genres of fantasy, science fiction and horror; recent accolades for books and films (and other forms of media) within these genres abound, from JCarmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties (2017) to Gus Moreno's This Thing Between Us (2021), from Stranger Things on Netflix and Lovecraft Country on HBO. Yet at the same time, these kinds of works are oftentimes considered to be "frivolous" and worth seriously studying. Why might this be? What knowledges emerge if we consider fantasy, science fiction and horror to be meaningful and productive literary and cultural fields that merit our careful attention? In particular, how have understudied writers -- and specifically writers of color -- historically and continuously utilized genre fiction to offer redefinitions of self-identity and literature, political possibilities and alternative visions of our world? In this First Year Seminar, we will investigate how the imaginative "other worlds" of fantasy, science fiction and horror actually hold radical possibilities for reimagining ours. Texts will include, but are not limited to, graphic novels, films and short stories. Students will be asked to complete a wide ranging of writing assignments as befitting the requirements of the First Year Seminar at Occidental College.