Utopia is sold separately : the politics of the science fiction genre in fan reception (as illustrated by Star Trek)

The subject of Agnieszka Urbańczyk’s monograph is fan reception of political content in works of science fiction and the way of shaping subsequent texts in official circulation by the reception. Since the discussed genre presents - just like utopias do - the possibility of a change and exposes elements which are conditioned and arbitrary in our social reality, theoreticians have often described it as political by definition. The formalist tradition of science fiction studies treats the genre as counter-hegemonic and sometimes leftist by nature. The monograph focuses on the popular, politically engaged and utopian Star Trek series, which has been a carrier of socially progressive content since the 1960s and - at least since 1980s - anticapitalist messages. In the centre of the author’s argument, there are political metaphors. Each of them requires interpretation, but they have been established via elements named and described on the literal level of the text and thus they may be completely missed by the audience. In her analysis of the text itself, conducted from the perspective of transmedia narratology, biopolitics and political theology, the author stresses points where the literal level opens to interpretation incompatible with the intent of series creators, facilitating the recuperation of potentially subversive messages. The multi-billion dollar franchise, albeit critical towards capitalism, functions thanks to capitalism and, by engaging fans, facilitates its growth.