Science Fiction
‘Genre is a constant process of negotiation and change.’
David Buckingham
Genres: • lack proscriptive and rigidly enforced conventions
• exhibit inherent flexibility as well as a loose uniformity
• are fluid and dynamic in form, permeable and
ever-changing
• reflect a framework of repetition and re-interpretation
• norms are countered by diversity and hybridization
• are value-laden rather than neutral
• can be revisionist or subversive as well as stereotypical
and formulaic
• test the boundaries of what is familiar and what is new
• lack a ‘single, categorical straitjacket’ or set of parameters
Calmini Salgado
Genres: marked by features of similarity and difference
Defining Science Fiction• ‘A good science-fiction story is a story about human
beings, with a human problem, and a human solution, which would not have happened at all without its science content.’ Theodore Sturgeon
• ‘Realistic speculation about possible future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present, and on a thorough understanding of the nature and significance of the scientific method.’ Robert A. Heinlein
• ‘SF eases the 'willing suspension of disbelief’ of readers by developing an atmosphere of scientific credibility for its imaginative speculations in physical science, space, time, social science, and philosophy.’ Sam Moskowitz
Science fictionCommon Elements
• Space Travel
• Extraterrestrials
• Aliens, cyborgs and
robots
• Advanced Technologies
• Dystopic visions of a bleak future
• Superheroes or the hero’s journey
The Progenitor
Mary Shelley’s archetypal is generally recognized as the first true science fiction novel.
The monster is a product of a scientific experiment gone bad.
It combines social criticism with new scientific ideas.
Hideous Progeny• “I collected the instruments
of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet…
What if…the power to speculate and extrapolate
The best Science fiction represents an imaginative extension of scientific and technological knowledge, facts,
theories and trendsIt can cross boundaries found in other genres and show the
best and worst of what humanity is capable of achieving
‘Modern science fiction is the only form of literature that consistently considers the nature of the changes that face us, the possible consequences, and the possible solutions. That branch
of literature which is concerned with the impact of scientific advance upon human beings.’ Isaac Asimov 1920-1992
The ‘Golden Age’ of Science Fiction
Hard vs. Soft Science Fiction
•
‘Hard’ science fiction is both a descriptive and a evaluative term. Well-researched scientific components feature high-tech iconology. It values known scientific knowledge and facts, extrapolated to realize new fictional worlds.
‘Soft’ science fiction counterpoints hard science fiction by exploring a ‘human’ rather than a ‘technological’ focus.
New Wave
•
• Brought science fiction into the literary mainstream by typically showing greater concern for style than for scientific accuracy
• Editors encouraged literary experimentation and the movement became the focus for a re-evaluation of genre standards
• ‘Soft’ science fiction was primarily concerned with sociological and psychological themes rather than ‘hard’ science or technology
New Wave • pessimistic in tone and exhibiting a general
distrust of science, technology and of mankind itself
• fearful that issues and concerns could be solved
• perception that mankind is fatally flawed
Some feared that the ‘New Wave’ could trigger the demise of traditional Science Fiction
Modern Science FictionFrank Herbert's 1963 classic ‘Dune’ presents a complex, densely
detailed tale of political intrigue in a futuristic galaxy set on Arrakis.
What if…Recurring Themes, concerns and issues
• Notions of ‘monstrosity’ or something or someone seen as ‘other’
• Ramifications of man playing God
• Unchecked Science
The Promethean Theme‘The monster is the result of man’s tinkering with nature
and his untamed desire to create and apply his knowledge.’ Patrick Warrick
As science penetrates the secrets of nature, with each discovery generating new questions, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein will sound its note of warning. Many scientific developments have provoked references to Frankenstein, a story that, for nearly two centuries, has gripped our imaginations and haunted our nightmares. How can society balance the benefits of medical discoveries against the ethical or spiritual questions posed?
Recurring themes in Science Fiction
1.The Promethean Theme
‘The monster is the result of man’s tinkering with nature and his untamed desire to create and apply his
knowledge.’ Patrick Warrick
As science penetrates the secrets of nature, with each discovery generating new questions,
Mary Shelley's ‘Frankenstein’ will sound its note of warning.
Many scientific developments have provoked references to ‘Frankenstein’, a story that, for
nearly two centuries, has gripped our imaginations and haunted our nightmares.
2. Ambiguity of Technology
‘Frankenstein’s creature is at first gentle: representing the hope for technology. The
monster changes: representing the destructive nature of technology.’ Patrick Warrick
3. The irresponsibility of Science
No ethical concern for experimentation and creation
4. The Shifting Role of Master and Servant
‘The technology created to serve humanity instead becomes its master.’ Murphie and Potts, 2003)
Reversal of the roles of Master and Servant
‘We have programmed our own disappearance.’ Paul
Virillio
Hybridization
of mankind and machine
Cyborg = CYBernetic ORGanism
Combination of human and
artificial parts in a single system
Popular idea from 1970s
Intimate connection to technology
High tech in 1980s became more commercialised, domestic &
personal - CD player or Nintendo rather than threat of nuclear power
Questions the very meaning of humanity
Many Sub-genres ~ from space opera to steam punk and all places in between
Constant
process
of
hybridization
Recurring Themes…
Unchecked Science
Lack of ethical restrictions
Abuse of scientific and technological
power
Many movie scientists aremad, obsessive, or clinically insane or evil
…some are heroic or noble…
Dystopia and the
Machine Aesthetic
The late 19th/early 20th centuries saw mass production change labour practices for ever. Rather than being skilled individuals, workers were forced to adapt their working patterns to the machines that drove the production lines.The fusion between human and machine became a major theme.
Metropolis (1927)
Dystopic Texts…
Paint a bleak but credible view of the future
Caste SystemAlphas (Α)– highest, greyBetas (Β)- bottle green/mulberryGammas (Γ)- leaf greenDeltas (Δ)- khakiEpsilons (Ε)– lowest, black
“Over the main entrance…a shield [with] the World
State’s motto: COMMUNITY, IDENTITY,
STABILITY.”
Cyberpunk
The Birth of Cyberpunk
• n. Fast-paced science fiction involving futuristic computer-based societies.
• cyberpunk cy'ber·punk' adj.
“high techAnd low life”
Cyberpunk – Characteristics
Dystopian future worlds
Invasive body modifications
Pervasive influence of computersand data
Conflict between human/machine
Bruce Bethke coined the term ‘cyberpunk’ in a short story of the same name
• punk part reflects streetwise attitude
• tone tends to be dark, cynical
• subgenre of industrial rock music
• settings are post-industrial dystopias
• plots centre on conflict amongst hackers, artificial
intelligences
Common Themes
• Immersion in computer generated, shared worlds Alteration of human bodies, genes• Popular culture, music, media power• Critical of corporate power• Often rebellious protagonists
"a consensual hallucination experienced daily by billionsof legitimate operators, in every nation...A graphic representation of data abstracted from banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity.Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding... "William Gibson in "Neuromancer”
What is cyberspace?
William Gibson•No particular knowledge of computers-uses typewriter•Imagines technology in very visual, impressionistic kind of way•Vivid, spatial, seedy (film noir influence)•Mainframes are like skyscrapers•Valuable data is protected by “Walls”, “gates” “mazes” of “ice”•Illicit programs are like illegal weapons, “I felt like a punk who'd gone out to buy a switch blade and come home with a small neutron bomb.”•Death in cyberspace can be real death
•Set in Chiba City, Japan, “the Sprawl”
•Representation of futuristic urban decay, marked by an atmosphere that is physically, morally and spiritually dark, morbid and violent
•Real world is juxtaposed with “jacking into the matrix”
•Fast paced action
•Cyborg enhancements have become the ‘norm’
•Artificial intelligences are dominant characters
Gibson’s Concerns…
• Gender ambiguity
• Male characters tend to see the women as ‘meat’ but
Molly has become independent of men by using
technology to become the femme fatale; a cyber-
enhanced killing machine
• Case is a flawed anti-hero who is self-destructive and
“Fueled by self-loathing”
• He questions the meaning of love, highlighting the
lack of human connection possible in a world driven
by cyberspace and corporate exploitation
Self-directed AIWintermute is
logic/Neuromancer is personality
Their agenda is to merge ‘minds’ and become a new, fully integrated hybrid entity
The matrix will thereby become conscious and
independent
This new entity contacts others like itself on distant worlds (Centauri System)
Novel queries:
• Ambiguous images of the future
• Destruction of the natural world by urban development
• Exploitative powers of corporate
hegemony
• A future where AI has a ‘mind’ that
transcends human consciousness
“Where do we go from here?...Tonight the very matrix
asks itself that question.”
Steampunk and beyond….