The Fantastic in the Arts: Theory

BOOKS ON SALE

All books below are 40% off using code MN88900. Code expires May 15, 2022.

BROWSE BOOKS:

POSTHUMANISM     //     ENVIRONMENT AND THE ANTHROPOCENE

SCIENCE FICTION STUDIES AND LITERARY CRITICISM     //    FICTION AND SCI-FI LITERATURE

PHILOSOPHY     //    THEORY    //    ANIMATION    //    VIDEOGAMES AND GAMING

PHOTOGRAPHY     //    FILM    //    ZOMBIES

BACK TO ALL BOOKS ON SALE

Art and Posthumanism: Essays, Encounters, Conversations Art and Posthumanism Essays, Encounters, Conversations Cary Wolfe 2021 Fall
A sustained engagement between contemporary art and philosophy relating to our place in, and responsibility to, the nonhuman world
The World Is Gone: Philosophy in Light of the Pandemic The World Is Gone Philosophy in Light of the Pandemic Gregg Lambert 2022 Spring
Exploring the existential implications of the Covid-19 crisis through meditations
Scale Theory: A Nondisciplinary Inquiry Scale Theory A Nondisciplinary Inquiry Joshua DiCaglio 2021 Fall
A pioneering call for a new understanding of scale across the humanities
Anime's Identity: Performativity and Form beyond Japan Anime's Identity Performativity and Form beyond Japan 2021 Fall
A formal approach to anime rethinks globalization and transnationality under neoliberalism
Young-Girls in Echoland: #Theorizing Tiqqun Young-Girls in Echoland #Theorizing Tiqqun Heather Warren-Crow and Andrea Jonsson 2022 Spring
Who’s worse, the Young-Girl or the Man-Child?
Ambivalent Childhoods: Speculative Futures and the Psychic Life of the Child Ambivalent Childhoods Speculative Futures and the Psychic Life of the Child Jacob Breslow 2021 Spring
Explores childhood in relation to blackness, transfeminism, queerness, and deportability to interrogate what “the child” makes possible
The Dance of the Arabian Babbler: Birth of an Ethological Theory The Dance of the Arabian Babbler Birth of an Ethological Theory Vinciane Despret 2021 Spring
A groundbreaking reflection on the process by which one arrives at an ethological theory
Fates of the Performative: From the Linguistic Turn to the New Materialism Fates of the Performative From the Linguistic Turn to the New Materialism Jeffrey T. Nealon 2021 Spring
A powerful new examination of the performative that asks “what’s next?” for this well-worn concept
Curiosity and Power: The Politics of Inquiry Curiosity and Power The Politics of Inquiry Perry Zurn 2021 Spring
A trailblazing exploration of the political stakes of curiosity
Pulses of Abstraction: Episodes from a History of Animation Pulses of Abstraction Episodes from a History of Animation Andrew R. Johnston 2020 Fall
Reshapes the history of abstract animation and its importance to computer imagery and cinema
Gaian Systems: Lynn Margulis, Neocybernetics, and the End of the Anthropocene Gaian Systems Lynn Margulis, Neocybernetics, and the End of the Anthropocene Bruce Clarke 2020 Fall
A groundbreaking look at Gaia theory’s intersections with neocybernetic systems theory
Invoking Hope: Theory and Utopia in Dark Times Invoking Hope Theory and Utopia in Dark Times Phillip E. Wegner 2020 Spring
An appeal for the importance of theory, utopia, and close consideration of our contemporary dark times
Curiosity Studies: A New Ecology of Knowledge Curiosity Studies A New Ecology of Knowledge Perry Zurn and Arjun Shankar, Editors 2020 Spring
The first English-language collection to establish curiosity studies as a unique field
The Monster Theory Reader The Monster Theory Reader Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock, Editor 2020 Spring
A collection of scholarship on monsters and their meaning—across genres, disciplines, methodologies, and time—from foundational texts to the most recent contributions
Asemic: The Art of Writing Asemic The Art of Writing Peter Schwenger 2019 Fall
The first critical study of writing without language
How Not to Make a Human: Pets, Feral Children, Worms, Sky Burial, Oysters How Not to Make a Human Pets, Feral Children, Worms, Sky Burial, Oysters Karl Steel 2019 Fall
From pet keeping to sky burials, a posthuman and ecocritical interrogation of and challenge to human particularity in medieval texts
An Ecotopian Lexicon An Ecotopian Lexicon Matthew Schneider-Mayerson and Brent Ryan Bellamy, Editors 2019 Fall
Presents thirty novel terms that do not yet exist in English to envision ways of responding to the environmental challenges of our generation
Homesickness: Of Trauma and the Longing for Place in a Changing Environment Homesickness Of Trauma and the Longing for Place in a Changing Environment Ryan Hediger 2019 Fall
Introducing a posthumanist concept of nostalgia to analyze steadily widening themes of animality, home, travel, slavery, shopping, and war in U.S. literature after 1945
Theory for the World to Come: Speculative Fiction and Apocalyptic Anthropology Theory for the World to Come Speculative Fiction and Apocalyptic Anthropology Matthew J. Wolf-Meyer 2019 Spring
Can social theories forge new paths into an uncertain future?
Metaphysical Experiments: Physics and the Invention of the Universe Metaphysical Experiments Physics and the Invention of the Universe Bjørn Ekeberg 2019 Spring
An engaging critique of the science and metaphysics behind our understanding of the universe
Cyberwar and Revolution: Digital Subterfuge in Global Capitalism Cyberwar and Revolution Digital Subterfuge in Global Capitalism Nick Dyer-Witheford and Svitlana Matviyenko 2019 Spring
Uncovering the class conflicts, geopolitical dynamics, and aggressive capitalism propelling the militarization of the internet
Zoological Surrealism: The Nonhuman Cinema of Jean Painlevé Zoological Surrealism The Nonhuman Cinema of Jean Painlevé James Leo Cahill 2019 Spring
An archive-based, in-depth analysis of the surreal nature and science movies of the pioneering French filmmaker Jean Painlevé
Anthropocene Poetics: Deep Time, Sacrifice Zones, and Extinction Anthropocene Poetics Deep Time, Sacrifice Zones, and Extinction David Farrier 2019 Spring
How poetry can help us think about and live in the Anthropocene by reframing our intimate relationship with geological time
Information Fantasies: Precarious Mediation in Postsocialist China Information Fantasies Precarious Mediation in Postsocialist China Xiao Liu 2019 Spring
A groundbreaking, alternate history of information technology and information discourses
Bad Environmentalism: Irony and Irreverence in the Ecological Age Bad Environmentalism Irony and Irreverence in the Ecological Age Nicole Seymour 2018 Fall
Traces a tradition of ironic and irreverent environmentalism, asking us to rethink the movement’s reputation for gloom and doom
Outsider Theory: Intellectual Histories of Unorthodox Ideas Outsider Theory Intellectual Histories of Unorthodox Ideas Jonathan P. Eburne 2018 Fall
A vital and timely reminder that modern life owes as much to outlandish thinking as to dominant ideologies
99 Theses on the Revaluation of Value: A Postcapitalist Manifesto 99 Theses on the Revaluation of Value A Postcapitalist Manifesto Brian Massumi 2018 Fall
A speculative exploration of value, emphasizing practical experimentation in its future forms
The User Unconscious: On Affect, Media, and Measure The User Unconscious On Affect, Media, and Measure Patricia Ticineto Clough 2018 Spring
Wide-ranging essays and experimental prose forcefully demonstrate how digital media and computational technologies have redefined what it is to be human
After Extinction After Extinction Richard Grusin, Editor 2018 Spring
A multidisciplinary exploration of extinction and what comes next
The End of Man: A Feminist Counterapocalypse The End of Man A Feminist Counterapocalypse Joanna Zylinska 2018 Spring
Debugging the Anthropocene’s insistence on apocalyptic tropes
Archaeologies of Touch: Interfacing with Haptics from Electricity to Computing Archaeologies of Touch Interfacing with Haptics from Electricity to Computing David Parisi 2018 Spring
A material history of haptics technology that raises new questions about the relationship between touch and media
A Capsule Aesthetic: Feminist Materialisms in New Media Art A Capsule Aesthetic Feminist Materialisms in New Media Art Kate Mondloch 2018 Spring
How new media art informed by feminism yields important and original insights about interacting with technologies
Spectacle of Property: The House in American Film Spectacle of Property The House in American Film John David Rhodes 2017 Fall
A fascinating and unprecedented look at our relationship with the house in cinema
Fictionalizing Anthropology: Encounters and Fabulations at the Edges of the Human Fictionalizing Anthropology Encounters and Fabulations at the Edges of the Human Stuart McLean 2017 Fall
On anthropology, creativity, and becoming other
Zombie Theory: A Reader Zombie Theory A Reader Sarah Juliet Lauro, Editor 2017 Fall
An interdisciplinary collection of the best international scholarship on zombies as the embodiment of anxieties, critiques, and desires
Transhumanism: Evolutionary Futurism and the Human Technologies of Utopia Transhumanism Evolutionary Futurism and the Human Technologies of Utopia Andrew Pilsch 2017 Fall
Exploring the rich history and utopian potential of transhumanism’s belief that humanity is on the cusp of radical evolutionary transformation
For All Waters: Finding Ourselves in Early Modern Wetscapes For All Waters Finding Ourselves in Early Modern Wetscapes Lowell Duckert 2017 Spring
The Shakespearean era’s wet writers guide our eco-way today
Queer Game Studies Queer Game Studies Bonnie Ruberg and Adrienne Shaw, Editors 2017 Spring
A landmark anthology opens video game studies to queer culture
From Light to Dark: Daylight, Illumination, and Gloom From Light to Dark Daylight, Illumination, and Gloom Tim Edensor 2017 Spring
A fascinating and unprecedented look at how illumination and darkness shape our experiences across history and space
Anthropocene Feminism Anthropocene Feminism Richard Grusin, Editor 2017 Spring
A stunning experiment in thinking of the Anthropocene through feminism and queer theory
Against Purity: Living Ethically in Compromised Times Against Purity Living Ethically in Compromised Times Alexis Shotwell 2016 Fall
Why contamination and compromise might be a starting point for doing something, instead of a reason to give up
Object-Oriented Feminism Object-Oriented Feminism Katherine Behar, Editor 2016 Fall
A discipline-expanding book that explores the political and ethical potential of being an object
The Child to Come: Life after the Human Catastrophe The Child to Come Life after the Human Catastrophe Rebekah Sheldon 2016 Fall
A bold new reading of the child for the twenty-first century, with implications for contemporary environmentalism
Fuel: A Speculative Dictionary Fuel A Speculative Dictionary Karen Pinkus 2016 Fall
Undoing the dream of free, clean power from A to Z
What Would Animals Say If We Asked the Right Questions? What Would Animals Say If We Asked the Right Questions? Vinciane Despret 2016 Spring
A provocative challenge to the marginalization of “humanlike” aspects of animal life
Manifestly Haraway Manifestly Haraway Donna J. Haraway 2016 Spring
Breaking down the binaries: two manifestos and a conversation on dogs and cyborgs, the implosion of technology, and human and nonhuman beings
Ambient Media: Japanese Atmospheres of Self Ambient Media Japanese Atmospheres of Self Paul Roquet 2016 Spring
How atmospheric media have come to shape urban Japan
Dead Matter: The Meaning of Iconic Corpses Dead Matter The Meaning of Iconic Corpses Margaret Schwartz 2015 Fall
A corpse is much more than a dead body
All Thoughts Are Equal: Laruelle and Nonhuman Philosophy All Thoughts Are Equal Laruelle and Nonhuman Philosophy John Ó Maoilearca 2015 Fall
A much-needed illumination of the “non-philosophy” of François Laruelle
Necromedia Necromedia Marcel O’Gorman 2015 Spring
An unusual answer to a common question: Why does technology play such a powerful role in our culture?
A Geology of Media A Geology of Media Jussi Parikka 2015 Spring
A sweeping new ecological take on technology
The Nonhuman Turn The Nonhuman Turn Richard Grusin, Editor 2015 Spring
A groundbreaking work introducing a new series in twenty-first-century studies
The Forbidden Worlds of Haruki Murakami The Forbidden Worlds of Haruki Murakami Matthew Carl Strecher 2014 Fall
A journey through the mysterious metaphysical realm where Haruki Murakami’s strangest characters lurk, bizarre scenes unfold, and dark secrets emerge
Gestures Gestures Vilém Flusser 2014 Spring
An analysis of gestures great and small, from a renowned media theorist—available in English for the first time
Summa Technologiae Summa Technologiae Stanisław Lem 2014 Spring
From the acclaimed author of the science fiction novel Solaris, a pre-Dawkins exposition of evolution as a blind and chaotic watchmaker
Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World Hyperobjects Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World Timothy Morton 2013 Fall
The world as we know it has already come to an end
Hikikomori: Adolescence without End Hikikomori Adolescence without End Saito Tamaki 2013 Spring
A best-selling work of Japanese psychology that brought attention to the widespread problem of acute social withdrawal
Body Drift: Butler, Hayles, Haraway Body Drift Butler, Hayles, Haraway Arthur Kroker 2012 Fall
Brings three major feminist theorists into critical dialogue for the first time
Inhuman Citizenship: Traumatic Enjoyment and Asian American Literature Inhuman Citizenship Traumatic Enjoyment and Asian American Literature Juliana Chang 2012 Fall
Explores the complicated relationships between those who suffer and their tormenters
Vampyroteuthis Infernalis: A Treatise, with a Report by the Institut Scientifique de Recherche Paranaturaliste Vampyroteuthis Infernalis A Treatise, with a Report by the Institut Scientifique de Recherche Paranaturaliste Vilém Flusser and Louis Bec 2012 Fall
Pondering the human condition while examining the vampire squid from hell
Alien Phenomenology, or What It’s Like to Be a Thing Alien Phenomenology, or What It’s Like to Be a Thing Ian Bogost 2012 Spring
A bold new metaphysics that explores how all things—from atoms to green chiles, cotton to computers—interact with, perceive, and experience one another
Gameplay Mode: War, Simulation, and Technoculture Gameplay Mode War, Simulation, and Technoculture Patrick Crogan 2011 Fall
Understanding the military logics that created and continue to inform computer games
Freud in Oz: At the Intersections of Psychoanalysis and Children’s Literature Freud in Oz At the Intersections of Psychoanalysis and Children’s Literature Kenneth B. Kidd 2011 Fall
Shows how the acceptance of psychoanalysis owes a notable debt to the rise of “kid lit”
Vilém Flusser: An Introduction Vilém Flusser An Introduction Anke Finger, Rainer Guldin and Gustavo Bernardo 2011 Spring
The first introduction to a key thinker in twentieth-century media philosophy and cultural theory
I Think I Am: Philip K. Dick I Think I Am Philip K. Dick Laurence A. Rickels 2010 Spring
Sounds out the philosophical and psychoanalytic significance of Philip K. Dick’s influential fiction
From Utopia to Apocalypse: Science Fiction and the Politics of Catastrophe From Utopia to Apocalypse Science Fiction and the Politics of Catastrophe Peter Y. Paik 2010 Spring
The pitfalls and limitations of utopian politics as revealed by science fiction
What Is Posthumanism? What Is Posthumanism? Cary Wolfe 2009 Fall
Beyond humanism and anthropocentrism
Games of Empire: Global Capitalism and Video Games Games of Empire Global Capitalism and Video Games Nick Dyer-Witheford and Greig de Peuter 2009 Fall
Analyzes video games and their links with capitalism, militarism, and social control
The Dada Cyborg: Visions of the New Human in Weimar Berlin The Dada Cyborg Visions of the New Human in Weimar Berlin Matthew Biro 2009 Spring
Finding the cyborg in early twentieth-century German art
Tactical Media Tactical Media Rita Raley 2009 Spring
The first book to focus exclusively on the tactics and goals of new media art activists
Otaku: Japan’s Database Animals Otaku Japan’s Database Animals Hiroki Azuma 2009 Spring
A publishing event—the highly influential best seller in Japan translated into English
Embodied: Victorian Literature and the Senses Embodied Victorian Literature and the Senses William A. Cohen 2008 Fall
Making sense of the body in Victorian literature
The Devil Notebooks The Devil Notebooks Laurence A. Rickels 2008 Fall
This sequel to The Vampire Lectures takes on the Devil
Dorsality: Thinking Back through Technology and Politics Dorsality Thinking Back through Technology and Politics David Wills 2008 Spring
An ambitious investigation of what lurks behind our humanity and our technology
The Souls of Cyberfolk: Posthumanism as Vernacular Theory The Souls of Cyberfolk Posthumanism as Vernacular Theory Thomas Foster 2005 Spring
Considers the construction of race, gender, and sexuality in virtual reality
Monster Theory: Reading Culture Monster Theory Reading Culture Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, Editor 1996 Fall
Explores concepts of monstrosity in Western civilization from Beowulf to Jurassic Park.