Texts in Contexts

Edited Volume (Centenary Collection)

Philip K. Dick at 100: Fiction, Philosophy, and Cultural Afterlives

Edited Volume (Centenary Collection)

Editor:
Assoc.Prof.Dr. Ercan Gürova
Ankara University, Turkey

“Under consideration for publication by a reputable international academic publisher.”

The year 2028 marks the centenary of the birth of Philip K. Dick (1928–1982), one of the most visionary, unsettling, and philosophically provocative figures in twentieth-century American literature. While long categorized primarily as a science fiction writer, Dick’s extensive body of work—44 novels, more than 120 short stories, essays, letters, and the posthumously published Exegesis—constitutes a sustained interrogation of reality, power, subjectivity, technology, capitalism, and belief.

This edited volume proposes a centenary reassessment of Philip K. Dick’s literary, philosophical, political, and cultural legacy. It brings together close textual analysis of his fiction and non-fiction with studies of his cultural afterlives in film, television, digital media, and contemporary technological imaginaries. By clearly distinguishing literary analysis from adaptation and reception studies, the collection aims to offer both critical depth and cultural breadth, positioning Dick as a key thinker of modernity whose relevance has only intensified in the age of artificial intelligence, surveillance capitalism, platform culture, and epistemic instability.

We invite original, unpublished chapter proposals that engage critically with Philip K. Dick’s work and its broader implications.

Proposed Structure and Chapter Outline

Introduction

Philip K. Dick at 100: Writing Reality in an Age of Uncertainty
(Editors)
An overview of Dick’s career, evolving critical reception, and centenary significance.

Part I – Novels and Ontological Experiments

Chapter 1

Worlds That Lie: Ontological Instability in Philip K. Dick’s Novels
(Ubik, Time Out of Joint, Martian Time-Slip)

Chapter 2

Alternate Histories and Political Anxiety
(The Man in the High Castle and counterfactual America)

Chapter 3

Late Capitalism and the Commodification of Reality
(The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Now Wait for Last Year)

Part II – Short Stories and the Architecture of Paranoia

Chapter 4

Short Fiction as Philosophical Laboratory
(The importance of Dick’s short stories)

Chapter 5

Androids, Copies, and Disposable Humans
(“Second Variety,” “Impostor,” “The Electric Ant”)

Chapter 6

Paranoia, Surveillance, and the Fragile Subject
(“The Minority Report,” “The Days of Perky Pat”)

Part III – Subjectivity, Mind, and the Posthuman

Chapter 7

What Is Human? Artificial Life and Moral Responsibility
(Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?)

Chapter 8

Drugs, Madness, and Fragmented Consciousness
(A Scanner Darkly and related texts)

Chapter 9

Memory, Identity, and the Multiplication of the Self
(We Can Build You, Clans of the Alphane Moon)

Part IV – Theology, Gnosis, and the Exegesis

Chapter 10

VALIS and the Crisis of Revelation
(The VALIS trilogy)

Chapter 11

Gnosticism, Time, and False Worlds
(Dick’s theological cosmology)

Chapter 12

The Exegesis as Literary and Philosophical Text
(Dick’s notebooks, letters, and speculative theology)

Part V – Politics, America, and Cold War Contexts

Chapter 13

Cold War America, Authority, and Ideological Control
(Dick’s political imagination)

Chapter 14

Empire, Resistance, and the Ethics of Suspicion
(Dick and American power)

Part VI – Adaptations and Cultural Afterlives

Chapter 15

From Page to Screen: Rewriting Dick in Film
(Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report)

Chapter 16

Seriality, Streaming, and Digital Dick
(The Man in the High Castle, Electric Dreams, games and AI culture)

Conclusion

Philip K. Dick After 2028: Why His Worlds Still Matter
(Editors)

Interdisciplinary approaches drawing from literary studies, philosophy, political theory, media studies, cultural studies, theology, and science and technology studies are especially welcome.

Submission Guidelines

Abstract length: 300–500 words

Bio: Short biobibliographical note (see details below)

The abstract should clearly indicate:

• Its relationship to the overall theme of the volume
• The theoretical and/or methodological framework
• The main argument and expected conclusions

The editors reserve the right to select the most relevant and coherent proposals for inclusion.

Eligibility Requirement

Contributors must hold a Ph.D. at the time of submission. Scholars who do not yet hold a Ph.D. are welcome to submit provided they co-author the chapter with a Ph.D. holder.

Biobibliographical Note (please include):

• Name and surname
• Academic degree (and discipline)
• Current institutional affiliation or employment
• Main research areas
• Two most important publications or artistic achievements (title and year)

Important Dates

• Abstract submission deadline: May 30, 2026
• Notification of acceptance: May 30, 2026
• Full chapter submission (6,000–8,000 words): December 30, 2026

All submissions will undergo double-blind peer review prior to publication.

• Anticipated publication date: Late 2027 or early 2028
• Style guide: MLA Handbook, 9th edition

Submission Address

Please send abstracts and bios to the editorial team: philipk.dickat100@gmail.com

Publication Status

This edited volume is currently under consideration for publication by a reputable international academic publisher.