It is difficult to give thought to the stars when the ground is swallowing you up. (Becky Chambers, To Be Taught, If Fortunate ) This paper analyzes the science fiction subgenre hopepunk and its academic potential, specifically when considered as a form of low theory in the sense that Jack Halberstam describes in The Queer Art of Failure . I argue that considering hopepunk as low theory represents a discursive way out of the theoretical dispute between queer futurity and the queer death drive. After establishing hopepunk as a low theory of queer temporality, I examine the way that affect functions in the subgenre as a sort of ‘empathy trojan horse.’ Throughout this essay I refer to To Be Taught, If Fortunate and The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, whose work is considered the epitome of hopepunk. In referencing Chambers I hope to demonstrate that this work is in fact theory (even if it must be considered the low sort), despite its intention for a non-academic audience.
Alex Prong (Tue,) studied this question.