Speculative comics are graphic narratives with a touch of science fiction and fantasy, but what makes them speculative are the questions they ask about our present world.
How do speculative comics take familiar cultural myths and folklore from the past and combine them in ways that are strange and surprising? How might these combinations help us think differently about the past and present, or imagine possible futures?
In this cosy lecture and Q&A, Professor of English Gui Weihsin explores how comics can be portals into reimagined realities.Take a trip with him into the fantastical worlds of Difference Engine comics such as Afterlife: The Boy Next Realm and Work-Life Balance: Malevolent Managers and Folkloric Freelancers and you might just step out of it with a strange but renewed sense of the world around you.
Comics will also be available for sale.
VENUE: Sing Lit Station
ADDRESS: 22 Dickson Road, #02-01, Singapore, 209506
REGISTER: Here
DATE AND TIME
31 Aug 2024, 3.30pm-4.30pm
ABOUT GUI WEIHSIN
Gui Weihsin is Professor of English at the University of California at Riverside. He is affiliated with UCR’s Southeast Asian Studies and Speculative Fiction and Cultures of Science programs. His scholarly monograph, National Consciousness and Literary Cosmopolitics, was published in 2013. He has also published numerous journal articles and book chapters on Anglophone literature from Singapore and Southeast Asia.
ABOUT DIFFERENCE ENGINE
Difference Engine is an independent comics publisher based in Singapore. We are inspired by stories from Asia, and we are committed to publishing diverse, well-written, and beautifully illustrated comics of all genres and for all ages. We collaborate closely with Southeast Asian creators, both new and experienced, with genuine and thought-provoking ideas to share. In addition to our main publishing line, Difference Engine also publishes DE Shorts, an imprint focused on self-contained stories on a wide range of social issues.