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SCIENCE FICTION FANDOM in UK- the 60s and the youth revolution
Pop (married Harangus) V. Dana-CristinaBritish Cultural Studies, 2nd year
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Science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom is a community of
people or fans who are interested (and actupon their interests in various ways) in
science, science fiction and fantasy. As in
other subcultural situations, fans keep in
contact with one another, based upon this
interest, through correspondence and
organizational structures (clubs).
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Particular feature
Even from the beginning and through time, the science fiction fandom
has been an open community to a variety of people. It has never
belonged to a young generation, or just to the adults. And because it
hasnt been a manifestation of youth, during the 50s, 60and 70s,young people have been part of this fandom in order to search for
individuality, identity and means of growing up.
It appealed at first to young high school and college students
interested in science and engineering. But it was exactly
during the 60s revolution of youth, when the technologybecame approachable and science fiction materials combined
technological knowledge with human sciences and artistic
values. These circumstances attracted a wider range of young
people with different interests.
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Local conventions
They draw fans from an immediate area and have a lower number of attendees
comparing to other types of such gatherings: regional, national, international
etc.
Among these local conventions, events might be run by student groups at highschools or colleges which only draw attendance from the student body and
campus neighborhood.
Sometimes those conventions run by U.K. universities may draw from a wider
audience than just the university itself. The series of Shoestringcons, run by the
University of Hertfordshire's PSiFA, have been known to draw more than to 200
people from across the U.K.
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Hugo Gernsback
It started in the 30s with Hugo Gernsback, one of
the fathers of science fiction, who began a letters
column in his science fiction magazines. He
established this correspondence club called the
Science Fiction League, the first organization of thissort.
Fans, of different ages, but mostly young adults,
used to write comments about the published material,
exchanged ideas and addresses. They wrote to each
other, and had meetings when they lived close
together, and even travelled if necessary.
In following years SF clubs
were formed and monthly
bulletins issued.
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The 60s
The 60s is the decade when "Generation X" began. They are
this a group of young people, who are seemingly without
identity, who face an uncertain and probably hostile future.
It was the heyday of the paperback book.
For the first time, science fiction books regularly hit the best-
seller list, and the top writers began to receive hundreds of
thousands of dollars in advance for their novels.
For the science fiction world, the Nebula Awards begin during
this decade (1966).As literature was still, in the 60s, a
major means of entertaining,
teenagers and young people spent
time in front of books and magazines,
reading.
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A technological decade
This was the decade when human beings first went into space, with a
single orbit by Yuri Gagarin in Vostok-1, then longer orbits, with the first woman in
space (Valentina Tereshkova in 1963), and then, to the moon and back,
with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins in Apollo 11 (1969).
Every science fiction fan kept to update on these technological advances, as the idea of
space travelling had been an essential topic of science fiction till then. The young generation
of the 60s were actually living in a science fictional world. And it was thrilling!
The first weather satellite was launched in
1960.
The first live transatlantic television by satellite
was in 1962 (Telstar).
by 1966 a first whole-Earth view of weather by
satellite was possible.
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New Wave science fiction
As young people were interested in many directions, new wave science fiction products,
from books to movies, tried to blend a softer approach on technological ideas to other
issues concerning human life: sex, human sciences, artistic designing and so on.
The psychedelic 1960's love-generation political revolution hippie "drugs, sex, rock & roll"
era penetrated the science fiction world.
New Wave is a term applied to science fiction produced in the 1960s and 1970s
is characterized by a high degree of experimentation, both in form and in
content,
and a focus on "soft" as opposed to hard science.
It is widely accepted among critics that the New Wavebegan in England with the SF magazine New Worlds
and Michael Moorcock who was appointed editor in
1964. New Worlds was considered the leading science
fiction magazine in Britain, publishing 1971.
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Movies
Movies of the 1960s
ranged from respectful
treatments of the classics
to adaptations of
contemporary science
fiction novels
Going to the cinema in the 60s was a lot like today, the seats weren't as comfortable
and the screens were smaller, but compared to the TV set and the TV broadcast
programme, they were bigger and having a better offer on what was new. Watching a
SF movie on a larger screen met the excitement of young people, gave them the
opportunity to go out and meet with others.
"The Time Machine" (1960)
"From the Earth to the Moon" (1964)
"Farenheit 451 (1966)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
The Andromeda Strain (1970)
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Television
In Great Britain, a low-budget kid's show
called "Doctor Who" began (1963) and
soon attracted a cult audience, and then
wider popularity. This Doctor was amysterious alien Time Lord who had
travelled through time with his human
assistant with the TARDIS most often
portrayed as a blue British 1950s police
box.
Television became a cultural
force in the 60s as most
households owned a TV set.
It was considered a family show,
targeting especially children. As itgrew very popular, Doctor Who has
become a cult television favourite. As
its still on, each generation since the
early 60s has grown up with this
show.
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As the 60s brought the possibility of a
forever recurring revolution when needed,that group of young people drawn to science
fiction fandom searched and found in this
community identity, ways of expressing,intellectual peers and, why not, a feeling a
security as facing a range of possible
futures.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Bacon-Smith, Camille: Science fiction culture, 2000
2. Hochscherf , Tobias; Leggott, James; Palumbo, Donald: British Science
Fiction Film and Television: Critical Essays, 2011
3. http://news.ansible.co.uk/uksfa.html - The UK SF Fandom Archive4. http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/timeline1970.html
5. www.wikipedia.com