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Science Fiction in Colonial India, 1835–1905

Five Stories of Speculation, Resistance and Rebellion

Mary Ellis Gibson editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Anthem Press

Published:30th Mar '19

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Science Fiction in Colonial India, 1835–1905 cover

Five fascinating tales of revolution, rebellion and utopia.

The five stories in ‘Science Fiction in Colonial India, 1835–1905’ speculate about utopian and dystopian futures. They represent the earliest Indian science fiction, imagining futures ranging from an end-of-the-world deluge to violent revolution to feminist utopia.

"Science Fiction in Colonial India, 1835–1905" shows, for the first time, how science fiction writing developed in India years before the writings of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells. The five stories presented in this collection, in their cultural and political contexts, help form a new picture of English language writing in India and a new understanding of the connections among science fiction, modernity and empire. [NP] Speculative fiction developed early in India in part because the intrinsic dysfunction and violence of colonialism encouraged writers there to project alternative futures, whether utopian or dystopic. The stories in "Science Fiction in Colonial India, 1835–1905," created by Indian and British writers, responded to the intellectual ferment and political instabilities of colonial India. They add an important dimension to our understanding of Victorian empire, science fiction and speculative fictional narratives. They provide new examples of the imperial and the anti-imperial imaginations at work.

ISBN: 9781783088638

Dimensions: 229mm x 153mm x 26mm

Weight: 454g

184 pages