Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research https://fafnir.journal.fi/ <p><em><span lang="EN-US">Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research</span></em><span lang="EN-US"> is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary academic journal published online twice yearly by the <a href="http://finfar.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Finnish Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy Research</a> (Suomen science fiction- ja fantasiatutkimuksen seura ry) beginning in 2014. </span></p> en-US <p><span lang="EN-US">Content in <em>Fafnir </em>is licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 3.0 Unported License</a> (CC BY-NC 3.0).</span></p> <p><span lang="EN">Beginning in November 2019, authors retain full copyright without restrictions. By publishing with <em>Fafnir</em>, authors grant a non-exclusive license to <em>Fafnir</em> to distribute the publisher’s version of the work, and give <em>Fafnir</em> permission to grant reprint and/or translation requests in accordance with our open-access policy and our Creative Commons license.</span></p> <p><span lang="EN">Prior to November 2019, copyright for all published material is held by <em>Fafnir</em>, but authors have full permission to use their work as they wish (i.e., self-archiving, reprint requests, using for other projects, etc.).</span></p> <p><span lang="EN">In both cases, re-use or re-posting of material published in <em>Fafnir </em>must acknowledge original publication and include a link to the publisher version.</span></p> submissions@finfar.org (Fafnir Editors-in-Chief) eero.suoranta@helsinki.fi (Eero Suoranta) Tue, 21 Jan 2025 23:11:58 +0200 OJS 3.2.1.4 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 Interview with Nicolas Lietzau https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155825 <p>Interview with game developer and writer Nicolas Lietzau.</p> Evgenia Amey, Garrett “Wereyoi” Moore Copyright (c) 2024 Evgenia Amey, Garrett “Wereyoi” Moore https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155825 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 Technonaturalist Speculative Fiction and Literary Affordance https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155865 <p><em>Lectio praecursoria</em>: Technonaturalist Speculative Fiction and Literary Affordance</p> Esko Suoranta Copyright (c) 2024 Esko Suoranta https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155865 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 Call for Papers: Fafnir 2/2025 https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/156057 <p>Call for papers for <em>Fafnir</em> issue 2/2025</p> Fafnir Copyright (c) 2024 Fafnir https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/156057 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 Science Fiction, The Future, and Now https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/156305 <p>Prefatory by Susan Mandala.</p> Susan Mandala Copyright (c) 2024 Susan Mandala https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/156305 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 Conference Report: SFRA 2024 https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155817 <p>Report on the SFRA 2024: Transitions conference.</p> Essi Varis Copyright (c) 2024 Essi Varis https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155817 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 Ant Similes in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings – an Analysis of Literary Technologies https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155861 <p>This article investigates the use of similes in J.R.R. Tolkien’s writing as literary-technological design that partakes in traditional means for narrative meaning-making repurposed for his fantasy in <em>The Lord of the Rings</em>. I argue that by focusing intensely on these features in Tolkien’s textual design, it is possible to support ongoing scholarship on the literary influences and sources of Tolkien’s legendarium with a less directly comparative method. This approach can illuminate, on one hand, Tolkien’s strategies in deploying traditional literary technologies, and on the other hand, the purposive redesign of these technologies for the specific storytelling needs of his fantasy writing. My analysis focuses on a series of similes in <em>The Lord of the Rings</em> that compare orcs to ants, showing that the similes are applied with a consistent overall strategy that highlights an important thematic strand in Tolkien’s legendarium. Through this analysis, I demonstrate how the adaptive use of similes exemplifies the idea of purposive design. On a more interpretive level, I explore the functional envelope of the simile as a narrative technology, and its implications for meaning-making within Tolkien’s storyworld and beyond.</p> Juha-Pekka Alarauhio Copyright (c) 2024 Juha-Pekka Alarauhio https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155861 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 SF Estrangement in Literary Translation https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155675 <p>This study analyzes the translation of neologies in the literary translation of the science fiction (SF) novel <em>Dune</em> (1965). As one of the most important linguistic elements in SF, neologies contribute to the worldbuilding of SF and create the estrangement from reality that is characteristic of the SF genre. Evaluating the translation of neologies is hence used as a tool to evaluate the transfer of the source text’s (ST) estranging properties to the target text (TT). When the ST’s neological estrangement is retained as a genre-specific feature of SF in the TT, the ST estrangement becomes accessible also for the TT reader. The study reveals that the translation has predominantly retained neologies, thus retaining the neological estrangement of the ST in the TT. The material of the study consists of the neologies in Frank Herbert’s <em>Dune</em> and its Finnish translation <em>Dyyni</em> (2021 [1982]), which were analyzed to determine whether they retain or recreate SF estrangement.</p> Suvi Korpi Copyright (c) 2024 Suvi Korpi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155675 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 Ice and Ecotrauma in Isaac Asimov’s “The Martian Way” https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/156064 <p class="Abstract"><span lang="EN-US">This article examines Isaac Asimov’s novella “The Martian Way” (1952) as a work that exposes the entanglements of the trauma of the environment with the ecological trauma of the humans. The narrative re-envisions the Cold War energy crisis for a future era and visualizes the pursuit of hydropower as the appropriation of one of the ice fragments of Saturn’s rings. In doing so, it problematizes space mining and the traumatization of the environment. I examine the infliction of varied forms of violence on ice in “The Martian Way” and underscore human blindness to nonliving or inorganic matter. This analysis of the novella also focuses on how human characters suffer the consequences of their own violence on the environment they transform. Mobilizing the concept of ecotrauma, I demonstrate that the ice in “The Martian’s Way” agentially responds to anthropogenic violence. This article contributes to ecocritical discussions on the ethical mattering of inorganic matter such as water. My analysis encourages thinking beyond a singular species and necessitates a critical environmental perspective that includes nonliving entities within the domain of ethical mattering and thus moves beyond life-centered environmental worldviews.</span></p> Faeze Rezaii Copyright (c) 2024 Faeze Rezaii https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/156064 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 Editorial 1–2/2024 https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155979 <p>Editorial for issue 1–2/2024.</p> Elizabeth Oakes, Merve Tabur, Elise Kraatila, Jari Käkelä Copyright (c) 2024 Elizabeth Oakes, Merve Tabur, Elise Kraatila, Jari Käkelä https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155979 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 Review of Space(s) of the Fantastic – A 21st Century Manifesto https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155595 <p>Punter, David and C. Bruna Mancini, editors. <em data-stringify-type="italic">Space(s) of the Fantastic – A 21st Century Manifesto</em>. Routledge Press, 2021. ISBN: 9780367681692.</p> Karl Bell Copyright (c) 2024 Karl Bell https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155595 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 Review of Uneven Futures: Strategies for Community Survival from Speculative Fiction https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155596 <p>Yoshinaga, Ida, Sean Guynes, and Gerry Canavan, editors. <em>Uneven Futures: Strategies for Community Survival from Speculative Fiction</em>. The MIT Press, 2022. ISBN: 978-0262543941.</p> Jeremy Brett Copyright (c) 2024 Jeremy Brett https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155596 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 Review of The Evolution of African Fantasy and Science Fiction https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155597 <p>Barbini, Francesca T., editor. <em>The Evolution of African Fantasy and Science Fiction</em>. Luna Press Publishing, 2018. ISBN- 978-1-911143-51-2.</p> Ananya Buragohain, Lakshminath Kagyung Copyright (c) 2024 Ananya Buragohain, Lakshminath Kagyung https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155597 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 Review of The Rise of the Cyberzines https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155598 <p>Ashley, Mike. <em>The Rise of the Cyberzines: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1991 to 2020</em>. The History of the Science-Fiction Magazines Volume V. 2022. 444 pages. ISBN 978-180085648.</p> Sabina Fazli Copyright (c) 2024 Sabina Fazli https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155598 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 Review of Tolkien, Enchantment, and Loss: Steps on the Developmental Journey https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155738 <p>Rosegrant, John. <em>Tolkien, Enchantment, and Loss: Steps on the Developmental Journey</em>. The Kent State UP, 2022. ISBN 978-1-60635-435-3.</p> Carol Franko Copyright (c) 2024 Carol Franko https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155738 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 Review of Science Fiction Cinema in the Twenty-First Century https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155599 <p>Gómez-Muñoz, Pablo. <em>Science Fiction Cinema in the Twenty-First Century: Transnational Futures, Cosmopolitan Concerns</em>. Routledge, 2023. ISBN: 9780367759063.</p> Aino-Kaisa Koistinen Copyright (c) 2024 Aino-Kaisa Koistinen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155599 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 Review of Gendered Defenders: Marvel’s Heroines in Transmedia Spaces https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155600 <p>Carr, Bryan J. and Meta G. Carstarphen, editors. <em>Gendered Defenders: Marvel’s Heroines in Transmedia Spaces</em>. Ohio State University Press, 2022. ISBN: 978-0-8142-5852-1.</p> C. Palmer-Patel Copyright (c) 2024 C. Palmer-Patel https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155600 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 Review of Vision, Technology, and Subjectivity in Mexican Cyberpunk Literature https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155813 <p>Tobin, Stephen C. <em>Vision, Technology, and Subjectivity in Mexican Cyberpunk Literature</em>. Palgrave Macmillan, 2023. ISBN 978-3-031-31155-0.</p> Michael Pitts Copyright (c) 2024 Michael Pitts https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155813 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 Review of Ancient Greece and Rome in Modern Science Fiction: Amazing Antiquity https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155601 <p>Clare, Ross. <em>Ancient Greece and Rome in Modern Science Fiction: Amazing Antiquity</em>. Liverpool UP, 2022. ISBN: 978-180085-631-8.</p> Noah Slowik Copyright (c) 2024 Noah Slowik https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155601 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 Review of Self-Reflective Fiction and 4E Cognition https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155605 <p>Polvinen, Merja. <em>Self-Reflective Fiction and 4E Cognition</em>. Routledge, 2023. ISBN 9781032263748.</p> Essi Varis Copyright (c) 2024 Essi Varis https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155605 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200 From Middle-earth to Duckburg, Worlds of Fantastic Mythmaking and Mythbreaking https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155824 <p class="Abstract"><span lang="EN-US">Guest of Honour Speech, Finncon 2024. Jyväskylä, Finland. July 6, 2024. Keynote to Finncon Academic Track: “Worlds”.</span></p> Jyrki Korpua Copyright (c) 2024 Jyrki Korpua https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ https://fafnir.journal.fi/article/view/155824 Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0200