We Modern People

"An erudite and thoughtful study of Soviet science fiction" (Science magazine) revealing a unique Russian vision of modernity distinct from Western models.

Science fiction emerged in Russia considerably earlier than its English version and instantly became the hallmark of Russian modernity. We Modern People investigates why science fiction appeared here, on the margins of Europe, before the genre had even been named, and what it meant for people who lived under conditions that Leon Trotsky famously described as "combined and uneven development."

Russian science fiction was embraced not only in literary circles and popular culture, but also by scientists, engineers, philosophers, and political visionaries. Anindita Banerjee explores the handful of well-known early practitioners, such as Briusov, Bogdanov, and Zamyatin, within a much larger continuum of archival material comprised of journalism, scientific papers, popular science texts, advertisements, and independent manifestos on social transformation.

In documenting the unusual relationship between Russian science fiction and Russian modernity, this book offers a critical perspective on the relationship between science, technology, the fictional imagination, and the consciousness of being modern.

"We Modern People uses a breathtaking variety of sources . . . to expand not only the concept of science fiction itself but also its role in the evolution of modern social and political thought." —Los Angeles Review of Books

"Inspires us to consider the potential of today's literary genres to mediate between scientific advancement and the global cultures that must articulate the purpose of this advancement in constructing our collective future." —Times Higher Education supplement