Salvaging the Contemporary with Speculative Science Fiction

10.6153/EXP.202406_(51).0003

Dongshin Yi

speculative realism ； object-oriented ontology ； science fiction ； anthropocene ； literary periodization

Ex-position

51期（2024 / 06 / 01）

27 - 43

英文

This essay proposes speculative science fiction as a genre that helps contemporary literature to address the problem of literary periodization and deal with the ecological crisis properly, that is, as a contemporary issue. The essay further offers garbage as the major problematic that this new genre should focus on, since it is not only the constant reminder of the contemporary ecological crisis but also the potential resource for living in/with that crisis. Garbage tells the story of previous eras' destructive behaviors, but it also helps invent a story of a different present and future when what has been discarded or disparaged might be salvage, thus creating a timeline unforeseen in the previous eras. Drawing upon speculative realism and object-oriented ontology (OOO) in particular, the essay imagines what such a salvaging and creative story looks like and calls it the genre of speculative science fiction.