'Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations': The Multicultural Evolution of Star Trek

Since its first appearance on the small screen in 1966, the multimedia franchise Star Trek has attracted an unprecedented fan-following in the U.S. and beyond. For many viewers, it has been Star Trek's ostensible representation of a multicultural utopia that fascinated them. This book seeks to elucidate the semiotics of Star Trek's popular multiculturalism. Engaging Cultural Studies and American Studies theory, the book proceeds from a discussion of Star Trek's self-fashioning as a multicultural 'vision, ' to readings of its changing articulations of racial, ethnic, gender, and sexual difference, and concludes with case studies of two fan-communities' creative appropriations of Star Trek's promise of an egalitarian future.