Speculative fictions should be engaged constructively rather than untangled

Evidence

Instead, we must engage the recondite fictions of our time with the same resolve as if we were entering a labyrinth. Faced with repeated crossroads, we cannot know in advance whether they will lead us to an exit, but that does not mean we wander in vain. The labyrinth’s pathways may be puzzling, but they are the outcome of our own digging; their twists and turns are not the whims of “a trickster,” to use Teju Cole’s words. By digging the proverbial labyrinth, speculative communities give form to chaos and create a world that allows them to endure collectively the vicissitudes of financialized everyday life. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 365

Categorization

• DEFINE: The labyrinth metaphor crystallizes the author’s normative stance toward speculative fiction — engage and repurpose rather than debunk.
• XREF: The ‘give form to chaos’ move echoes the reader’s interest in whether counter-speculation reclaims imagination, and links to chaos-to-cosmos framings.