We are proud to present the fourth and last issue of Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research in the year 2015! This issue demonstrates some of the major influences and angles of speculative fiction, such as classic Science Fiction, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. At the same time, the issue is clearly multidisciplinary: the frameworks vary from ecocriticism to gender studies and from colonial thematics to mythical journeys. We are also proud to present lectio praecursoria on the constructive mythopoetics in Tolkien’s works. In addition to this, the issue includes three literary reviews and a report from the seminar “Reconfiguring Human and Non-Human: Texts,…

We are proud to present the third issue of Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research in the year 2015! This issue celebrates posthumously the lifework and accomplishments of two beloved writers of science fiction and fantasy: the great Sir Terence “Terry” Pratchett and the renowned Michael Crichton. The legacy of Prachett’s work is discussed in a special obituary, while the sole research article of this issue studies the relationship between fan and merchant in the Wincanton Hogswatch celebration. The issue also includes an overview studying the significance and scope of Crichton’s too often neglected fictional works, which present his concern for societal issues regarding science and technology. The rest of…

We are proud to present the second issue of Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research in the year 2015! Interesting texts and topics are abundant in the newest issue. The articles examine female protagonists in self-insertion fan fiction texts based on Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight novels and concentrate on the central role of water in the poetics of Rikki Ducornet’s novel The Fountains of Neptune. We are also proud to present the first lectio praecursoria in the history of Fafnir, one investigating the so called human question in science fiction television. The issue also contains a report of the 36th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts and…

We are proud to present the first issue of Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research in the year 2015! This first issue of Fafnir’s second year is multilingual and focuses mainly on the works of science fiction. We are happy to publish our first peer reviewed article in Finnish, discussing The Quantum Thief, the debut novel by Finnish writer Hannu Rajaniemi. The other article included in this issue uses the tools of posthumanism and posthumanist studies to discuss the changes in the world influenced by technology. These articles are fruits of the annual Finfar seminar, which was held in Jyväskylä, Finland, in July 2014. The issue…

What: Workshop for Science Fiction and Fantasy Scholars When: June 25, 2015 Where: On a Cruise Ship from Turku to Mariehamn, en route to Archipelacon The deadline for submitting abstracts is 15 April, 2015 (at 23:59).   This summer Archipelacon – The Nordic Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention in Mariehamn brings together a wide range of scholarly perspectives on the speculative and the fantastic during its Academic Track. Presentations of papers span over three days, participating in the discussion on the many ways which genres such as fantasy, science fiction, and horror take its readers, users, and consumers beyond the boundaries of the actual. The Archipelacon Academic Track takes the…

We are proud to present the fourth and final issue of Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research in the year 2014! The fourth issue displays the wide spectrum of speculative fiction and the never-ending imaginativeness of the researchers in the field of science fiction and fantasy research. The texts are closely connected with genuine problems of our world and contextual fields of experience, as the topics move from female gender roles in the society to the intersection of state-induced infertility. Fafnir also celebrates the 100th birthday of jazz musician Sun Ra, one of the first Afrofuturists, and presents a report from Helsinki Summer School Course “Science Fiction…

In 2015, the place of our regular Finfar-seminar will be taken by an academic conference organised at Archipelacon in Mariehamn, 25-28 June – see the Call for Papers for details! Call for Papers for Academic Track at Archipelacon Beyond the Borders of the Mundane June 25-28, 2015 Alandica Culture & Congress Centre, Mariehamn, Åland The deadline for submitting proposals is *January 1, 2015* (at 23:59). Guest Scholar: Gary K. Wolfe (Roosevelt University, USA) Over the past decades, the speculative genres, such as science fiction, horror, and fantasy, have decisively spread out from literature to thrive in a multitude of new media. Readers have become users, taking part in the creation…

Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research invites authors to submit papers for the upcoming edition 2/2015. Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research is a peer-reviewed academic journal which is published in electronic format four times a year. Fafnir is published by FINFAR Society (Suomen science fiction- ja fantasiatutkimuksen seura ry) from 2013 onwards. Now Fafnir invites authors to submit papers for its edition 2/2015. Fafnir publishes various texts ranging from peer-reviewed research articles to short overviews and book reviews in the field of science fiction and fantasy research. The submissions must be original work, and written in English (or in Finnish or…