The Changing Role of Science Fiction Essay - 2351 Words

Science fiction means a lot of things to a lot of different people, thus a variety of definitions have arisen to allow for this. Perhaps the most simple of these can be found in the The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, which states that science fiction is fiction dealing principally with the impact of actual or imagined science on society or individuals (652). Most of academia, however, prefers an extended version from Darko Suvin, who says SF is: A literary genre whose necessary and sufficient conditions are the presence and interaction of estrangement and cognition, and whose main formal device is an imaginative framework alternative to the authors empirical environment (Online 4). While either of†¦show more content†¦He also says that Proto SF has to embody a sense [. . .] that the marvels it depicts can be argued for, if necessary by example and analogy from the existing world (35). One of the first examples of this can be seen in The True History of Lucian of Samosata which was written c. 175 C.E. Lucian was aware of the beginnings of true astronomy, which had, with reasonable accuracy, determined the Moons diameter and its distance from the Earth. He used all known science of the time to write his book, but did not know that air wasnt present for most of the way between the two heavenly bodies, therefore his device of having a ship lifted by a waterspout and carried to the Moon on a whirlwind seemed quite possible to him (Del Rey 13). Proto SF is a vast genre containing many well-known and not so well-known texts. Among these can be found Shakespeares Othello and Swifts Gullivers Travels as well as Baron Ludvig Holbergs Journey of Niels Klim to the World Underground, just to name a few. Many scholars agree that the birth of science fiction came about in 1818 with the publication of Mary Shelleys Frankenstein. Shelley wrote in the popular style of the time, which lead many to believe her novel more Gothic than SF, but the creation of the monster andShow MoreRelatedThe Science Fiction Film Genre Essay1683 Words   |  7 PagesScience Fiction Films The science fiction film genre has been around almost as long as movies have, but like the cinema it is still a fairly young art form. This genre came into existence shortly after the invention of the movie camera in 1888 and has endured for over one-hundred years. Science fiction is adaptive; it changes with the times and this trend can be seen in its incorporation of other genres, cultural history and technology. This essay will attempt to define the genre, chronicle the historyRead MoreScience-Fiction And Fiction : Pessimism In Science Fiction1198 Words   |  5 Pagesaffirmed that modern science fiction â€Å"is the only form of literature that consistently considers the nature of the changes that face us† (Insert Citation). 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