ABSTRACT
This chapter describes in detail the Rant, that is, how speculative satire mixes elements of satire, science fiction, and monstrosity. The key satiric element of the Rant is a bleak forewarning against dangerous false orthodoxy. Such a warning has its roots in the ancient genre known as Menippean satire. Rants take the form of longer narratives, such as novels, feature films, or multiple-episode series on new media. These narratives feature fantastical settings, situations, and characters, often of a dystopian quality. With regard to science fiction, as a genre, it has a history and disposition remarkably similar to satire. In particular, sociological sci-fi—also known as speculative fiction—works to trigger in audiences an initial cultural disorientation followed by a subsequent critical reexamination of their own social circumstances. The Rant combines the social critique of speculative fiction with the bleak forewarnings of Menippean satire. As for monstrosity, monsters function in Rants as symbols and cultural constructs that disturb categories of “normal” and disrupt perceptions of “reality.” In this way, monsters blend readily with the overall aim of speculative satire: to stimulate a radical reexamination of the status quo. Finally, Rants are driven by the social justice agenda of post-Marxist theory.
