Science Fiction Studies

Critical Reception

Italian Science Fiction (2019) and Ideologia e Rappresentazione (2020)

• [On Italian Science Fiction] “This is a groundbreaking book that names the right names and mirrors in its discontinuous structure the discontinuity of Italian sf itself, a literature (in its widest sense) whose history must necessarily be non-linear and fractured.” —Umberto Rossi, Science Fiction Studies 47.1 (2020): 120-125.

• “The strength of Brioni and Comberiati’s work is that it clarifies how the genre of science fiction is rooted in Italian culture, particularly in Italian cinema and literature. [...] their analysis presents an in-depth reading of how Italian science fiction is deeply connected to identity politics, and therefore reflects the historical and political changes that Italy endured as a nation.” Elisabetta Carraro, Quaderni d'italianistica 40. 2 (2019): 191-193.

• “Italian Science Fiction segna [...] un punto importante negli studi internazionali sulla fantascienza, non solo nostrana. [...] il fatto che il genere in questi anni non viva la sua epoca più fulgida sembra anche aver raffreddato un po’ la voglia degli accademici di riaprirne i confini teorici e ristudiarne le configurazioni estetiche.
  Magari questo volume potrebbe offrire una salutare scossa.” —Roy Menarini, Studi Culturali 1 (2020): 125-129.

• “Simone Brioni e Daniele Comberiati aggiungono una tappa significativa al percorso, ancora in divenire, di precisazione critica intorno alla fantascienza italiana. Accostando alla ricostruzione diacronica la disamina teorico-tematica per singole linee interpretative, i due studiosi discutono una diversificata fenomenologia e si inseriscono appieno nel clima di riscoperta critica del fantascientifico italiano.”— Carlotta Vacchelli, Simultanea 1.1. (2020). Online.

• “Questi due volumi hanno il merito di offrire interpretazioni originali di opere poco studiate e di non trattare la fantascienza come un genere isolato dal resto del panorama artistico italiano. […] Si spera che questi volumi, così ricchi di spunti di riflessione, possano indurre altri ad avventurarsi in questi spazi ancora così poco esplorati.” —Elio Baldi, Annali d’Italianistica 1 (2020): 530-531.

• “Suggerendo direzioni plurime per l’ampliamento degli studi sul fantascientifico, il libro di Brioni e Comberiati rilancia ancora una volta l’importanza di un genere spesso considerato minore, sottolineandone la crucialità per la comprensione della cultura italiana contemporanea.” —Alessandra Giro, Narrativa 42 (2021). Online

• “Brioni and Comberiati’s text is of great interest to both the scholar and the general reader who has more than a passing interest in Italian history and culture, postcolonial studies, and the effective use of science fiction to explore and uncover the important social and political issues to yield insights. […] The book itself is well-grounded in postcolonial theory and by the end readers have seen, as promised, just who “The Other” is via the prism of one nation’s contemporary science fiction and are well-equipped to apply what was learned to other subjects. The authors have provided a sound template to anyone who might do a similar study featuring sf works from another country or region on a particular topic, and they offer up to the scholar suggestions of authors and works for study and possible future translation.” —Sean Memolo, Science Fiction Research Association Review 51.3 (2021): 278-281.

•  [On Ideologia e rappresentazione] “each chapter manages to rediscover some old and/or forgotten Italian sf novel, film, graphic narrative, or TV series deserving renewed attention and research; the authors connect it in unexpected ways to more recent and famous parts of the Italian sf canon. We are in a pioneering phase of sf studies and the Italian scene. This book, […] is a pathfinder, tracing promising inroads for future research and younger scholars” —Umberto Rossi, Extrapolations 62.3 (2021): 230-234.

• [On Ideologia e rappresentazione] “Ideologia e rappresentazione de Brioni et Comberiati offre donc un point de vue innovant qui, en démontrant comment la science-fiction aborde des sujets fondamentaux liés à notre culture contemporaine, permet de réfléchir sur l’histoire italienne, son actualité et la construction de son identité nationale.” —Anna Chiara Palladino, Italies 25 (2021): 422-423.