Martine Gjermundsen Ræstad - NTNU

Research

AI – American Icon: The Figure of the AI in 20th Century American SF

This project is a retrospective study of fictional depictions of AI in American science fiction of the third industrial revolution (ca. 1935-2001).

Publications

The Mechanics of Marginality: Making Vampires from Video Game Players in V Rising

Chapter 8 in "Disability, Illness, and the Vampire in Literature and Culture" (Routledge, Dec 2025)

The Gilded Gothic Cages: Corruption, Judgment, and Moral Development in Ravenloft’s Domains of Dread

Chapter 10 in "Theology, Religion and Dungeons and Dragons: Explorations of the Sacred Through Fantasy Worlds" (Lexington/Fortress, Feb 2025)

The Future Burning Brightly: The Dual Impact of Energy in Star Trek’s Post-Scarcity Universe

Chapter 8 in "Star Trek: Essays Exploring the Final Frontier" (Vernon Press, Apr 2023)

To English and Back Again: Preserving the Complexities of Fantastic Creatures on the Journey Between Languages

"Mapping the Impossible: Journal for Fantasy Research", vol.1, no.1. (2022)

Outreach

One With the Silent People: Queerness, Fantasy and Fairy Fruit in Hope Mirrlees’ Lud-in-the-Mist

Paper for "GIFCon 2025: Queering the Fantastic", presented May 7th 2025.

By Any Other Name: SF and the Evolving Faces of Mythology

Paper for panel "Myths of Evolution" with Billie Gavurin, Will Tattersdill and Ane B. Ruiz-Lejarcegui. Presented Nov 8th 2024 at "Tartalo VIII: International Conference on Myth in the Arts".

When Nature Speaks: Fictional AI as Folkloric Creatures of the Technological Age

Paper for "GIFCon 2024: Conjuring Creatures and Worlds", presented May 15th 2024.

Women at Warp - Episode 234: How Does the Federation Economy Work?

"In Star Trek’s post-scarcity vision of the future, how does their economy work? (...) We’re joined by experts Martine G. Ræstad and Manu Saadia (author of Trekonomics) to discuss the technological and social forces shaping Star Trek’s economic utopia."

To English and Back Again: Preserving the Complexities of Fantastic Creatures on the Journey Between Languages

Paper for "GIFCon 2020-21: Beyond the Anglocentric Fantastic", presented April 30th 2021. This presentation would later be the basis for an article for Mapping the Impossible vol.1 no.1.