Abstract
Since the 1970s, Darko Suvin's “cognitive estrangement” has been widely considered the starting point of science fiction (sf) studies. It argues that the “estranged” narratives of sf need to be validated by empirical, positivist “cognition”, thereby justifying the novum and the sense of newness in sf stories. This article, however, denies the “neutral” status of cognition, as it can only produce the politicised knowledge endorsed by a certain authority. Through a close interrogation of an emerging literary genre termed “the New Weird” — one that combines both science fictional and fantastic characteristics and thus questions the ideological bias of cognition — I will draw upon Quentin Meillassoux's speculative materialism and Gilles Deleuze's conceptualisation of becoming and nomad, proposing a post-humanist epistemology that opens itself to contingency and may transcend any territory constrained by binary logics.
Keywords
science fiction, cognitive estrangement, Darko Suvin, New Weird, Quentin Meillassoux, Gilles Deleuze
First Page
184
Last Page
193
Recommended Citation
Lyu, Guangzhao. 2024. "Deconstructing “Cognitive Estrangement”: Contingency and the Line of Flight in New Weird Fiction." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 43, (5): pp.184-193. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol43/iss5/19
