Speculative fiction ahead of its time can reveal something new also about democracy
Speculative fiction, sometimes abbreviated as ‘spec-fic’/’spec fic’ or ‘specfic’, and in Finnish ‘spefi’, has been on the rise for some time. Doctoral Researcher Markus Laukkanen says that the spefi has shifted from a marginal phenomenon to an increasingly central and more inclusive one:
“Game of Thrones, say, is a good example of this is, as it got a huge number of people by the screens,” he mentions.
According to Postdoctoral Researcher Elise Kraatila also contemporary research on speculative fiction is very visible, and current themes such as climate change, war, gender diversity and the crisis of democracy are highlighted in the topics under study. Her current research project relates to world-historical, cosmic and geological time continuums and the ability of speculative narratives to describe them.
Literature can also play a role in democracy
Elise Kraatila, Markus Laukkanen and Postdoctoral Research Fellow Hanna-Riikka Roine are members of the Narrare Centre for Interdisciplinary Narrative Studies. Roine currently leads the Imagine, Democracy! project on narrative literature focusing on the imagination of democracy in different ways.
The central research question of the project, funded by the Kone Foundation, is how and what kind of democracy is imagined, especially in Finnish 21st century contemporary literature. Roine says that there is very little previous research on the imagination of democracy:
“The role of imagination has only really emerged in the study of democracy and politics in the last ten to twenty years. It was thought earlier that people are rational actors and politics is rational action. Modern research already recognises the importance of imagination and the fact that imagination is not necessarily in any way opposed to rational action,” she notes.
Roine says she is interested in the role of literature and possible strategies of literature in democracy. Research may also open up the meaning of literature more broadly. In her view, it is important to consider how democracy could be imagined in a better and more diverse way in today’s society.
“To me the study of the imagination of democracy seems very meaningful in times like this, when all kinds of anti-democratic forces emerge in political debate, both in Finland and across Europe and around the world,” she mentions.
Sense of community is emphasised in science fiction world
Roine presented her project Imagine, democracy! also at the science fiction event Finncon, which was organised at Tampere University in July. Kraatila and Laukkanen arranged the Academic Track at Finncon, which is a conference on speculative fiction research organised annually by Finfar – the Finnish Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy Research. Both the annual event and research on speculative fiction emphasise the sense of community and working together for a common goal.
“The Finncon event serves as an excellent meeting place for science fiction fans and researchers. Through the academic programme, we bring to the public’s attention what is being done on the research side. It has been great to see that the atmosphere of the conference is open and collegiate rather than academically typical, and everyone from master’s student to professor is on the same page,” Kraatila and Laukkanen say.
“Thanks to also a culture of encouraging comments among spec-fic researchers, we feel that we are moving towards a common goal. This kind of community spirit I would wish for more in academic life,” Roine notes.
According to Laukkanen, a communal approach to literature has been present early on in fantasy and science fiction circles:
“Already from the beginning of the Internet, there is a lot of content related to the topics. Modern networking technologies and the mainstreaming of internet culture have changed the sense of community. Readers, viewers, and players alike as a community use science fiction texts differently than before. These are extremely interesting areas of study,” he says.
Further information:
Postdoctoral researcher Elise Kraatila, Tampere University, elise.kraatila [at] tuni.fi
Doctoral Researcher, coordinator Markus Laukkanen, Tampere University, markus.laukkanen [at] tuni.fi
Postdoctoral Research Fellow Hanna-Riikka Roine, Tampere University, hanna.roine [at] tuni.fi
