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 Boehlau, Will Tattersdill, Kerstin-Anja Munderlein, Diana Mafe, Whit Frazier Peterson, Henrik Schillinger, Arne Soennichsen, Judith Rauscher, Amy C. Chambers, Mareike Spychala, Sabrina Mittermeier, Jennifer Volkmer, Si Sophie Pages Whybrew and Lisa Meinecke.

About the Author
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.

Reviews
'From the philosophy of time travel and alternate dimensions to the fraught politics of representation in contemporary film and television, Fighting for the Future sets scholarly coordinates for the series that has redefined Star Trek for the twenty-first century.'
Gerry Canavan, Marquette University
'This volume is a solid addition to the literature of Star Trek. As Discovery continues to chart its course alongside the other CBS productions... Scholars will reach for this book as the first collection of analyses of the new era, which had meaningfully differentiated itself from previous entries in the franchise.'
Cait Coker, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts
'The editors achieve a remarkable feat in this collection by providing a comprehensive look at a series still in development. ... Mittermeier and Spychala end their text confident that the series has left the past in the past, while holding on to the franchise's belief in a positive future.'
Justice Hagan, Science Fiction Film and Television
'Fighting for the Future is an interesting and engaging collection of essays that examines Star Trek: Discovery as a piece of media in and of itself, as well as a piece of a much larger cultural legacy. Like other essay collections of its type, it draws on scholars from diverse disciplines who put their own spin and flavor on their scholarship.'
Jessica Seymour, Ancillary Review of Books
'Fighting for the Future: Essays on Star Trek: Discovery is full of interesting, engaging, well-argued, and well-written chapters, and it should be considered an effective work of scholarship from which the fields of media, English, and American studies should get considerable worth.'
Graham Minenor-Matheson, Fafnir: Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research



Book Information
ISBN 9781802077834
Author Sabrina Mittermeier
Format Paperback
Page Count 424
Imprint Liverpool University Press
Publisher Liverpool University Press