Abigail Hockaday
Doctoral Student in Literature - Abigail’s thesis is entitled ‘Affected Fans, Affecting Communities, Affective Spaces: Genre and Feeling in British Science Fiction Magazines (1930-1960)'
Research Project Title:
Affected Fans, Affecting Communities, Affective Spaces: Genre and Feeling in British Science Fiction Magazines (1930-1960)
Supervisors:
Dr Stacy Gillis and Dr Kirsten MacLeod
Contact Details:
Email: a.hockaday@newcastle.ac.uk
Research Interests:
- Science Fiction
- Feminist Theory (particularly Cyberfeminism)
- Periodical Studies
- Affect Theory
- Science and Technology Studies
Brief Outline of Research Project:
My project traces how British science fiction (SF) magazines and their networks were established as affective spaces by the fan community. I interrogate how these affective spaces create and circulate intensities such as threat, hope, enchantment, and wonder - all key affects at play in SF within these magazines as demonstrated in the editorials and letters of comment (LOCs) - to explore issues of gender, sexuality, race, and disability. I mobilise theories of affect in two ways: in reading textually (fiction, non-fiction, letters, editorials) and reading materially (production, circulation, seriality, networks). The project re-constructs the early fandom of British SF through an understanding of the affective possibilities of the magazines and their fans.