Fighting for the Future: Essays on Star Trek: Discovery

The first two seasons of Star Trek: Discovery, the newest instalment in the long-running and influential Star Trek franchise, received media and academic attention from the moment they arrived on screen.Discovery makes several key changes to Star Trek’s well-known narrative formulae, particularly the use of more serialized storytelling, appealing to audiences’ changed viewing habits in the streaming age - and yet the storylines, in their topical nature and the broad range of socio-political issues they engage with, continue in the political vein of the series’ megatext.

This volume brings together eighteen essays and one interview about the series, with contributions from a variety of disciplines including cultural studies, literary studies, media studies, fandom studies, history and political science. They explore representations of gender, sexuality and race, as well as topics such as shifts in storytelling and depictions of diplomacy. Examining Discovery alongside older entries into the Star Trek canon and tracing emerging continuities and changes, this volume will be an invaluable resource for all those interested in Star Trek and science fiction in the franchise era.

List of contributors: Sherryl Vint, Andrea Whiteacre, Torsten Kathke, John Andreas Fuchs, Ina Batzke, Sarah Böhlau, Will Tattersdill, Kerstin-Anja Münderlein, Diana Mafe, Whit Frazier Peterson, Henrik Schillinger, Arne Sönnichsen, Judith Rauscher, Amy C. Chambers, Mareike Spychala, Sabrina Mittermeier, Jennifer Volkmer, Si Sophie Pages Whybrew and Lisa Meinecke.

Sabrina Mittermeier is a lecturer and post-doctoral researcher at the University of Augsburg.

Mareike Spychala is a lecturer and research assistant in American Studies at the University of Bamberg.