Observing the Future: Systems Theory Meets Science Fiction

Description

This special issue bridges systems theory and science fiction criticism to analyze speculative narratives as models of complex social systems. The editors argue that while science fiction commonly receives sociological interpretation, systematic application of Niklas Luhmann's theory and second-order cybernetics to the genre remains underexplored. The collection seeks to demonstrate how science fiction uniquely simulates social dynamics, including autopoiesis, operational closure, and functional differentiation, addressing contemporary concerns around artificial intelligence, fragmented discourse, and interconnected systems.

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Potential topics

• Investigations into the 'hypertrophy' of social subsystems (e.g., totalitarization of politics, economization of life) and dedifferentiation in utopian and dystopian literature
• The emergence of non-human communicative systems, including Artificial Intelligence and alien consciousness, and their structural coupling with human society
• Science fiction as a specific function of the art system, allowing society to observe its own evolution, paradoxes, and latent possibilities
• Systems-theoretic readings of ecological crisis, the environment, and global interdependencies in speculative fiction
• Examining the fragmentation of public discourse, 'echo chambers,' and the breakdown of communication through the lens of SF narratives