Science fiction, generally speaking, is a form of speculative fiction which deals principally with the impact of imagined science and/or technology upon society or individuals. There are, perhaps, exceptions to (or at least, some very unusual examples of) this general definition.

Contents

1 Scope 2 Term 3 Types of science fiction 3.1 Hard science fiction 3.2 Soft science fiction 3.3 Other types 3.3.1 Exceptions and unique examples 4 Fandom 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Scope

When we speak of the impact of science and/or technology upon society or individuals within the context of imaginative fiction there are a few variables.

It is possible to apply the creative imagination to different areas of the above idea, for example:

• the impact of imagined science
• the imagined impact of actual science
• imagined technology based upon actual science
• imagined technology based upon imagined science
• the impact of science and/or technology upon imagined societies
• the impact of science and/or technology upon imagined individuals

etc. etc.

Therefore a story could describe an extremely unusual society (such as an extraterrestrial civilisation or a parallel or alternate dimension of spacetime) and their unusual reactions to a scientific discovery which, to us, is fairly simple, straightforward knowledge. An example of this type of story would be Nightfall by Isaac Asimov.

Alternatively, the society might be fairly ordinary and human but the individual might be a highly unusual person (such as a physical mutant or a telepath) who responds in an exceptional way to otherwise ordinary events.

The "individual" might be an artificial intelligence and the story might be partly concerned with the Turing test.

The society and individual characters in the story might be perfectly ordinary but faced with bizarre circumstances such as the invention of teleportation or the scientific discovery of a new chemical element with unusual properties (such as Cavorite in The First Men In The Moon).

If the society, the individual, the technology and the scientific knowledge base in the story are all standard and realistic, drawn from observation of the real world without much extrapolation of any of these literary components the story would be classed as mainstream contemporary fiction rather than science fiction but if the characters' psychological feelings about the laws of the universe, time, reality and human inventions are unusual and tending toward an existential re-interpretation of the meaning of life in relation to the technological world then it would be classed a modernist work of literature which overlaps with the themes of science fiction.

Some fiction sits fair and square on the borderline between science fiction and other categories and some writing defies categorisation. In some cases the term "science fiction" is more generally used to refer to any literary fantasy that includes a scientific factor as an essential orienting component. It is sometimes applied more generally to any fantasy at all (as is generally the case in US bookstores), but the larger category of speculative fiction is more inclusive in that case. Such literature may consist of a careful and informed extrapolation of scientific facts and principles, or it may range into far-fetched areas flatly contradictory of such facts and principles. In the former case, plausibility based on science is a requisite, while in the latter the requirement is less to do with plausibility and more to do with a love of scientific ideas.

Precursors of the genre, such as Mary Shelley's Gothic novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus (1818) and Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) are plainly science fiction, whereas Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897), based purely on the supernatural, is not. In fact Mary Shelley's and R. L. Stevenson's books are both early examples of a science fiction standard theme: The obsessed scientist whose discoveries lead from bad to worse. Science fiction has always been concerned not only with the great hopes people place in science but also with our fears concerning the downside of technological development.

One type of science fiction which has developed into a large subgenre is the alternative history tale, in which a change is imagined at some crucial point in history, causing events to take a different turn and, eventually, a different world to result. Ward Moore's Bring the Jubilee has the Confederacy winning the American Civil War and then extrapolates what sort of 20th century would result from that. Phillip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle has the allies losing World War II. Kingsley Amis' The Alteration has the Roman Catholics keeping control of Europe (no protestantism). The broader category of speculative fiction includes both science fiction and alternative histories (which often have no particular scientific or futuristic component).

Sometimes utopic and dystopic literature is also regarded as science fiction, which is accurate insofar as sociology also is a science. In this sense many satirical novels would qualify if they include some speculative component that distinguishes the "scene" from the present or the past in some way.

Fiction which is concerned with science has been repeatedly diluted and dumbed down for the mass audience of radio and television. Ironically, this dumbing down process has been so effective that the television version of sci-fi has come to be used as a format for dumbing down other scripts which would have been tossed out as "too cerebral". This happened with the satirical dystopian novel It Can't Happen Here which was transformed into the science fiction series V in order to dilute it down to a level the TV company considered appropriate for a television audience.

Term

The earliest known usage of the term "science fiction" is in 1851 (in Chapter 10 of William Wilson's A Little Earnest Book upon a Great Old Subject), in which he writes: "Science-Fiction, in which the revealed truths of Science may be given interwoven with a pleasing story which may itself be poetical and true."

However this appears to be an isolated usage and the term appears to have been recoined in the 1920s where it appeared in Amazing Stories.

Science fiction is often abbreviated as SF or sci-fi. However, SF is not unambigous (see under Other types, below), and sci-fi is seen by some as having derogatory overtones (though such an attitude appears to have no logical foundation and is perhaps a very limited social phenomenon). A short lived synonym was scientifiction.

Types of science fiction

Hard science fiction

Main article: Hard science fiction

Hard science fiction, or hard SF, is a subgenre of science fiction characterised by the copious use of science and technology, and a focus thereupon. Hard SF stories focus on the natural sciences and technological developments. Some authors scrupulously eschew such implausibilities as faster-than-light travel, while others accept such plot devices but nonetheless show a concern with a seemingly (though often times not) realistic depiction of the worlds that such a technology might make accessible. Character development is sometimes secondary to explorations of astronomical or physical phenomena, but other times authors make the human condition forefront in the story. However a common theme of hard SF has the resolution of the plot often hinging upon a technological point. Writers attempt to have their stories consistent with known science at the time of publication.

Soft science fiction

Main article: Soft science fiction

Soft science fiction is the subgenre where plots and themes tend to focus on philosophy, psychology, politics and sociology while de-emphasizing the details of technological hardware and physical laws. It is so-called 'soft' science fiction, because these subjects are grouped together as the soft sciences or humanities. For instance, in Dune, Frank Herbert uses the plot device of a universe which has rejected conscious machines and has reverted to a feudal society. Consequently Herbert uses the Dune saga to comment about the human condition and make direct parallels to current socio-political realities. Soft science fiction may explore the reactions of societies or individuals to problems posed by natural phenomena or technological developments, but the technology will be a means to an end, not an end itself.

Other types

There are, of course, many borderline cases of works using outer-space settings and futuristic-looking technology as little more than window-dressing for tales of adventure, romance, and other typical dramatic themes; examples include Star Wars (which is considered by some diehards to be not science fiction but fantasy) and many Hollywood space operas, such as Star Trek. Some fans of hard science fiction would regard such films as fantasy, whereas the general public would probably place them squarely in the science fiction category. It has been suggested as a method of resolving this confusion that SF come to stand for speculative fiction and thus encompass fantasy and horror fiction as well as science fiction genres. During the 1980s another new type emerged: Cyberpunk. Cyberpunk was probably first written and conceived by William Gibson through his work Neuromancer.

Exceptions and unique examples

One novel which defines its own unique form of science fiction is Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (1884) by A. Square (Edwin Abbott Abbott). Flatland is the world seen from the point of view of a 2-dimensional being.

Then there's Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino which is divided into a series of short stories, each one taking a scientific fact and spinning a fantastic tale around that fact.

Another unique style is seen in We Can Build You (1972) by Philip K. Dick in which Dick describes imitation humans called simulacra which are supposed to be almost indistinguishable from the genuine article. However, when a character looks inside one of them he sees crude cogwheels and mechanical parts. From the ease with which the character accepts this reality without question the reader is able to tell that this isn't the usual naturalistic story but must have one foot in Magic realism.

The Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake is in the Fantasy category for the first two volumes and then suddenly changes in volume three when we get to see the wider world outside the Gormenghast environment. That wider world turns out to be more technologically advanced than our own world was at the time the book was written. The BBC have done two adaptations of the Gormenghast books, the first as a radio play and the second as a television drama. Significantly, in both adaptations they spurned the third volume and dramatised only volumes one and two, thus disguising the trilogy's true direction and meaning.

Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco plays strange mind games with the reader. The technique suggests the idea of a conspiracy theory and an unusual technology but then raises doubts and allows the readers to figure out for themselves what's real and what's madness. This type of story is unusual but not quite unique, being preceded by Philip K. Dick's Confessions of a Crap Artist .

Fandom

One of the unique features of the science fiction genre is its strong fan community, of which many authors are a firm part. Many people interested in science fiction wish to interact with others who share the same interests; over time an entire culture of science fiction fandom has evolved. Local fan groups exist in most of the English-speaking world, as well as in Japan, Europe, and elsewhere; these groups often publish their own works. Also, fans (or 'fen', in the argot of the topic) were the originator of science fiction conventions, which gave them a way of getting together to discuss their mutual interest. The original and largest convention is the Worldcon.

Many fanzines ("fan magazines") (and a few professional ones) exist that are dedicated solely to informing the science fiction fan on all aspects of the genre. The premiere awards of science fiction, the Hugo Awards, are awarded by members of the annual Worldcon, which is almost entirely volunteer-run by fans. The other principal science fiction award is the Nebula.

Science fiction fandom often overlaps with other similar interests, such as fantasy, role-playing games and the Society for Creative Anachronism. The largest annual multi-genre science fiction convention is Dragon Con, held annually in Atlanta, Georgia.

The fans of science fiction have, of course, embraced the internet whole-heartedly. There are fan fiction sites which include additional fan-created stories involving characters from the books, movies, and television shows of the genre. Although these may be technically illegal under copyright law, they are often permitted where no profit is made from them and there is a clear understanding that the copyright remains the property of the characters' original creators. There are fan sites devoted to Frank Herbert's Dune, Michael Moorcock's Multiverse etc. and to television shows like Star Trek.

In 2002, when a popular television show Farscape wasn't renewed for a fifth season, the fans launched an internet campaign to get the show picked up again. The campaign was so successful, mobilising so many individuals to contact the TV companies and ask for Farscape, that there is now a Farscape mini-series continuing the storyline where it appeared to be finished. It is clear that a very large number of people feel very strongly about good science fiction, and that the fans are now becoming more vocal and empowered than at anytime before.

See also

• History of science fiction
• Science fiction magazines
• Science fiction film
• Genres, subcategories and related topics to science fiction
• Timeline of the future in forecasts
• Famous predictions
• Science fiction authors

References

• Brian W. Aldiss with David Wingrove , Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction (Atheneum, 1986) ISBN 0-689-11839-2
• Thomas M. Disch, The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of (Touchstone, 1998) ISBN 0-864-82405-1
• Jutta Weldes , ed., To Seek Out New Worlds: Science Fiction and Politics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003) ISBN 0-312-29557-X

External links

• Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America website: http://www.sfwa.org/
• Internet Speculative Fiction Database http://isfdb.tamu.edu/
• Science Fiction Guide http://www.nvcc.edu/home/ataormina/scifi/default.htm
• 'Free Sci-Fi Classics' A website providing archives of full text, non-copyright science fiction by Voltaire, Mary Shelley, Mark Twain, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Rudyard Kipling and others http://wondersmith.com/scifi/index.htm
• Online Sci-Fi at Litrix reading room, Authors: Richard Jefferies, Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. G. Wells, George Allan England, Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) Shelley, Philip José Farmer, A. Merritt, Jules Verne, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mallory Clontz, David Lindsay http://www.litrix.com/sec8.htm
• Infinity Plus: Online new works in science fiction, fantasy and horror http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/index.htm
• Great Science-Fiction & Fantasy Works http://greatsfandf.com/ : an attempt to extract the more literate authors and works from the morass.
• Science Fiction and Fantasy Portal http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/ - Sci-Fi news and article portal.
• Science Fiction literature http://www.chronicles-network.com/
• Science Fiction discussion forum http://www.chronicles-network.net/forum/index.php/
• Science Fiction and Fantasy Wiki http://www.infoshop.org/sf/ - A new open encyclopedia covering science fiction and fantasy. Includes reviews and political analysis.