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Chapter One: Imaginary Worlds in a Comparative Framework.-Chapter Two: Steampunk as Stealth Politics.- Chapter Three: The Perils of Belief – Fantasy Fiction as Narrative Theology.- Chapter Four: Androids as Slaves – Lessons from the Science Fiction of Philip K. Dick.- Chapter Five: Imaginary Worlds and Contemporary Alienation<div><p><b></b></p></div>

<b>Wayne&nbsp;Fife</b>&nbsp;is Professor of Anthropology at Memorial University, Canada and the author of&nbsp;<i>Doing Fieldwork</i>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<i>Counting as a Qualitative Method</i>, as well as many journal articles on heritage and eco-tourism, economic inequality and education, play as politics, social alienation, ethnographic research methods, and implicit forms of religion.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>

In this work, the author contends that we should create a comparative framework for the study of imaginary worlds in the&nbsp;social sciences. Making use of extended examples from both science fiction and fantasy fiction, as well as the living&nbsp;movement of steampunk, the reader is invited to an argument about how best to define imaginary worlds and approach them&nbsp;as social locations for qualitative research. It is suggested in this volume that increasing economic and existential&nbsp;forms of alienation fuel the contemporary surge of participation in imaginary worlds (from gaming worlds to young adult&nbsp;novels) and impel a search for more humane forms of social and cultural organization. Suggestions are made about the&nbsp;usefulness of imaginary worlds to social scientists as places for both testing out theoretical formulations and as tools for teaching in our classrooms.<div><br></div><div><br></div><div><b>Wayne&nbsp;Fife</b>&nbsp;is Professor of Anthropology at MemorialUniversity, Canada and the author of&nbsp;<i>Doing Fieldwork</i>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<i>Counting as a Qualitative Method</i>, as well as many journal articles on heritage and eco-tourism, economic inequality and education, play as politics, social alienation, ethnographic research methods, and implicit forms of religion.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br></div>

Paves the way for the cross-disciplinary comparison of imaginary worlds Combines insights from anthropology and literature studies Explores why imaginary worlds have become so popular in the contemporary period

<p><i>“Imaginary Worlds</i>&nbsp;is a pioneering work in anthropology that recognizes the important&nbsp;poetic and political work the imagination performs&nbsp;in the realm of culture. Fife shows that imaginary worlds matter in anthropology and beyond because they resonate in deep ways with existential conditions of abjection and alienation. In looking at literature and cultural practices of gaming Fife also breaks new ground in the study of imagination by bringing inquiries from the fields of anthropology, literature, critical theory and cultural studies into sustained dialogue and relations. As a teacher I will employ<i>&nbsp;</i><i>Imaginary Worlds&nbsp;</i>in my teaching, and as an analyst and reader I will draw on this book for insights and inspiration.” (Petra Rethmann,&nbsp;Professor, Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Canada)</p>