The monstrous and the wondrous often co-exist in speculative fiction and science fiction – related genres and storytelling practices that allow for imagining otherwise. Working with the speculative, then, raises questions of what and how to imagine, and how things can be told, and from which location or position. What happens if stories are told from a non-human perspective, or from a different timeline? What kinds of monsters are invoked, and what is their significance? Whose world is at stake in the apocalypse? How might speculative and science fiction differ as the mainstream is increasingly challenged and exciting writing emerges from Black, Indigenous and people of colour authors? In this podcast we discuss the power of speculative and science fiction, and what it offers to our thinking. In conversation: Dr Donna McCormack (University of Surrey), Dr Line Henriksen (IT University of Copenhagen), Dr Ingvil Hellstrand (University of Stavanger) and the Unruly Fire Alarm, all members of the Monster Network.
Monster Talks is a podcast series that explores the figure of the monster and the concept of the monstrous as important thinking tools for addressing dynamics of power, inclusion and exclusion, discrimination and violence. The podcast is made possible by the support of Nordic Culture Point and produced by The Monster Network in collaboration with Network for Gender Studies at UiS. All episodes are available from the podcast’s website at UiS.
Artwork by Joanne Teresa Taylor, NettOp, University of Stavanger.
The Monster Network 