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"Science Fiction" redirects here. For the song from the Rocky Horror Show, see Science Fiction/Double Feature.
For the television channel, see Sci Fi Channel (disambiguation).
Science fiction is a broad genre of fiction that often involves speculations based on current science or technology. It is commonly abbreviated as SF or sci-fi. Science fiction is found in books, art, television, movies, games, theater, and other media. Image:SFStack2.jpg Science-fiction books, magazines, film, TV, gaming and fandom material In organizational or marketing contexts, science fiction can be synonymous with the broader definition of speculative fiction, encompassing creative works incorporating imaginative elements not found in contemporary reality; this includes fantasy, horror, and related genres.[1]
Exploring the consequences of such differences is the traditional purpose of science fiction, making it a "literature of ideas".[2] What is science fiction?Definitions
Science fiction is difficult to define as it includes a wide range of subgenres and themes. Author and editor Damon Knight summed up the difficulty by stating that "science fiction is what we point to when we say it".[3] Vladimir Nabokov argued that were we rigorous with our definitions, Shakespeare's play The Tempest would have to be termed science fiction.[4] According to science-fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein, "a handy short definition of almost all science fiction might read: 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."[5] Rod Serling's stated definition is "fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made possible."[6]
Related genres and subgenres
Authors and filmmakers draw on a wide spectrum of ideas, but marketing departments and literary critics tend to separate such literary and cinematic works into different categories, or "genres", and sub-genres.[15] These are not simple pigeonholes; works can overlap into two or more commonly-defined genres, while others are beyond the generic boundaries, either outside or between categories, and the categories and genres used by mass markets and literary criticism differ considerably. Speculative fiction, fantasy, and horror
The broader category of speculative fiction[16] includes science fiction, fantasy, alternate histories (which may have no particular scientific or futuristic component), and even literary stories that contain fantastic elements, such as the work of Jorge Luis Borges or John Barth. For some editors, magic realism is considered to be within the broad definition of speculative fiction.[17] Image:Jrrt lotr cover design.jpg The Lord of the Rings book cover art Fantasy is closely associated with science fiction, and many writers, including Robert Heinlein, Poul Anderson, Larry Niven, C. J. Cherryh, Jack Vance, and Lois McMaster Bujold have worked in both genres, while writers such as Anne McCaffrey and Marion Zimmer Bradley have written works that appear to blur the boundary between the two related genres.[18] The authors' professional organization SFWA is the "Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America".[19] Science fiction conventions routinely have programming on fantasy topics,[20][21][22] and fantasy authors such as J. K. Rowling and J. R. R. Tolkien (in film adaptation) have won the highest honor within the science fiction field, the Hugo Award.[23] Some works show how difficult it is to draw clear boundaries between sub-genres, for example Larry Niven's The Magic Goes Away stories treat magic as just another force of nature and subject to natural laws which resemble and partially overlap those of physics. However, most authors and readers make a distinction between fantasy and science fiction. In general, science fiction is the literature of things that might someday be possible, and fantasy is the literature of things that are inherently impossible.[6] Magic and mythology are popular themes in fantasy.[24] Image:Dracula ver2 poster.jpg Dracula (1979) movie poster It is common to see narratives described as being essentially science fiction but "with fantasy elements." The term "science fantasy" is sometimes used to describe such material.[25] Horror fiction is the literature of the unnatural and supernatural, with the aim of unsettling or frightening the reader, sometimes with graphic violence. Historically it has also been known as "weird fiction." It commonly deals with the nature of evil, psychological, technological, and fantastic. Undead and supernatural creatures like vampires and zombies are popular horror motifs. Classic works like Frankenstein and Dracula and the works of Edgar Allan Poe helped define the genre,[26] and today it is one of the most popular categories of movies.[27] Related genres
Works in which science and technology are a dominant theme, but based on current reality, may be considered mainstream fiction. Much of the thriller genre would be included, such as the novels of Tom Clancy or Michael Crichton, or the James Bond films.[28] Modernist works from writers like Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick, and Stanisław Lem have focused on speculative or existential perspectives on contemporary reality are on the borderline between science fiction and the mainstream.[29] According to Robert J. Sawyer, "Science fiction and mystery have a great deal in common. Both prize the intellectual process of puzzle solving, and both require stories to be plausible and hinge on the way things really do work."[30] Isaac Asimov, Anthony Boucher, Walter Mosely, and other writers incorporate mystery elements in their science fiction, and vice versa. Subgenres
Hard science fiction, or "hard SF", is characterized by rigorous attention to accurate detail in quantitative sciences, especially physics, astrophysics, and chemistry. Many accurate predictions of the future come from the Hard science fiction subgenre, but inaccurate predictions have also come from this category: Arthur C. Clarke accurately predicted geosynchronous communications satellites,[31] but erred in his prediction of deep layers of moondust in lunar craters.[32] Some hard science fiction authors have distinguished themselves as working scientists, including Robert Forward, Gregory Benford, Charles Sheffield, and Vernor Vinge.[33] Noteworthy hard science fiction authors, in addition to those mentioned, include Hal Clement, Joe Haldeman, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Stephen Baxter. "Soft" science fiction is the antithesis of hard science fiction. It may describe works based on social sciences such as psychology, economics, political science, sociology, anthropology, etc. Noteworthy writers in this category include Ursula K. Le Guin, Robert Heinlein, and Philip K. Dick.[34][35] The term can describe stories focused primarily on character and emotion; SFWA Grand Master Ray Bradbury is an acknowledged master of this art.[36] Some writers blur the boundary between hard and soft SF - for example Mack Reynolds's work focuses on politics but anticipated many developments in computers, including cyber-terrorism. Another branch of speculative fiction is the utopian or dystopian story. Satirical novels with fantastic settings may be considered speculative fiction; Gulliver's Travels, The Handmaid's Tale, Nineteen Eighty-Four, and Brave New World are examples. Image:Neuromancer (Book).jpg Neuromancer, by William Gibson (Ace, 1984) The Cyberpunk genre emerged in the early 1980s; the name is a portmanteau of "cybernetics" and "punk", and was first coined by author Bruce Bethke in his 1980 short story "Cyberpunk".[37] The time frame is usually near-future and the settings are often dystopian. Common themes in cyberpunk include advances in information technology and especially the Internet (visually abstracted as cyberspace), (possibly malevolent) artificial intelligence, enhancements of mind and body using bionic prosthetics and direct brain-computer interfaces called cyberware, and post-democratic societal control where corporations have more influence than governments. Nihilism, post-modernism, and film noir techniques are common elements, and the protagonists may be disaffected or reluctant anti-heroes. Noteworthy authors in this genre are William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Pat Cadigan, and Rudy Rucker. The 1982 film Blade Runner is commonly accepted as a definitive example of the cyberpunk visual style.[38] Time travel stories have antecedents in the 18th and 19th centuries, and this subgenre was popularized by H. G. Wells's novel The Time Machine. Time travel stories are complicated by logical problems such as the grandfather paradox.[39] Time travel stories are popular in novels, television series, and as individual episodes within more general science fiction series (for example, "The City on the Edge of Forever" in Star Trek, "Babylon Squared" in Babylon 5, "The Banks of the Lethe" in Andromeda, etc.). Alternate history stories are based on the premise of an altered contemporary setting based on change in a past historical event. These stories may rely on a time travel technology, especially when characters in the story are aware of the changes. The Sidewise Award acknowledges the best works in this subgenre; the name is taken from Murray Leinster's story "Sidewise in Time". Military science fiction is set in the context of conflict between national, interplanetary, or interstellar armed forces; the primary viewpoint characters are usually soldiers. Stories include detail about military technology, procedure, ritual, and history; military stories may use parallels with historical conflicts. Heinlein's Starship Troopers is an early example, along with the Dorsai novels of Gordon Dickson. Prominent military science fiction authors include David Drake, David Weber, Jerry Pournelle, S. M. Stirling, and Lois McMaster Bujold. Joe Haldeman's The Forever War is a critique of the genre, a Vietnam-era response to the World War II-style stories of earlier authors.[40] Baen Books is known for cultivating military science fiction authors.[41] Television series within this sub-genre include Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1 and Space: Above and Beyond; there are examples in films and anime. History
Image:Asimov.jpg Isaac Asimov with typewriter As a means of understanding the world through speculation and storytelling, science fiction has antecedents back to mythology, though precursors to science fiction as literature began to emerge during the Age of Reason with the development of science itself.[42] Following the 18th century development of the novel as a literary form, in the early 19th century, Mary Shelley's books Frankenstein and The Last Man helped define the form of the science fiction novel;[43] later Edgar Allan Poe wrote a story about a flight to the moon.[44] More examples appeared throughout the 19th century. Then with the dawn of new technologies such as electricity, the telegraph, and new forms of powered transportation, writers like Jules Verne and H. G. Wells created a body of work that became popular across broad cross-sections of society.[45] In the late 19th century the term "scientific romance" was used in Britain to describe much of this fiction. Image:Astounding Grey Lensman.png Astounding, Oct. 1939 In the early 20th century, pulp magazines helped develop a new generation of mainly American science fiction writers, influenced by Hugo Gernsback, the founder of Amazing Stories magazine.[34] In the late 1930s, John W. Campbell became editor of Astounding Science Fiction, and a critical mass of new writers emerged in New York City in a group called the Futurians, including Isaac Asimov, Damon Knight, Donald A. Wollheim, Frederik Pohl, James Blish, Judith Merril, and others.[46] Other important writers during this period included Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, and A. E. Van Vogt. Campbell's tenure at Astounding is considered to be the beginning of the Golden Age of science fiction, characterized by hard SF stories celebrating scientific achievement and progress.[34] This lasted until postwar technological advances, new magazines like Galaxy under Pohl as editor, and a new generation of writers began writing stories outside the Campbell mode. In the 1950s, the Beat generation included speculative writers like William S. Burroughs. In the 1960s and early 1970s, writers like Frank Herbert, Samuel R. Delany, Roger Zelazny, and Harlan Ellison explored new trends, ideas, and writing styles, while a group of writers, mainly in Britain, became known as the New Wave.[42] In the 1970s, writers like Larry Niven and Poul Anderson began to redefine hard science fiction.[47] Ursula K. Le Guin and others pioneered soft science fiction.[48] In the 1980s, cyberpunk authors like William Gibson turned away from the traditional optimism and support for progress of traditional science fiction.[49] Star Wars helped spark a new interest in space opera,[50] focusing more on story and character than on scientific accuracy. C. J. Cherryh's detailed explorations of alien life and complex scientific challenges influenced a generation of writers.[51][52] Emerging themes in the 1990s included environmental issues, the implications of the global Internet and the expanding information universe, questions about biotechnology and nanotechnology, as well as a post-Cold War interest in post-scarcity societies; Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age comprehensively explores these themes. Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan novels brought the character-drive story back into prominence.[53] The television series Star Trek: The Next Generation began a torrent of new SF shows,[54] of which Babylon 5 was among the most highly acclaimed in the decade.[55][56] A general concern about the rapid pace of technological change crystallized around the concept of the technological singularity, popularized by Vernor Vinge's novel Marooned in Realtime and then taken up by other authors. Television shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and movies like The Lord of the Rings created new interest in all the speculative genres in films, television, computer games, and books. According to Alan Laughlin, the Harry Potter stories have been wildly popular among young readers, increasing literacy rates worldwide.[57] Ideas
The following is a short list of common themes in science fiction.
The following is a short list of common jargon in science fiction and fandom.
LiteratureReferences to the most noteworthy science fiction books and authors are included here. Authors
External link: Locus 1977 All-Time Best Author Poll Novels and shorter literary formsImage:The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress (book).jpg The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress - a Hugo award winner.
Non-fiction, anthologies, and magazines
Critical Assessments and Reading Lists
Media and culture
As special effects, visual effects, computer-generated imagery, and other technologies make it possible to visually realize the imaginary worlds of science fiction, SF dominates the audiovisual media, including films, television, and computer games. Films and Television
Image:Star wars dvd cover.jpg Star Wars DVD cover Most of the best-selling films of all time have been in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Examples of early silent science-fiction films include Georges Méliès's A Trip to the Moon in 1902 and Fritz Lang's Metropolis in 1927. Many of the movie serials of the 1940s and 1950s were science fiction, and led into early science-fiction television programming. Following the success of Star Wars in 1977, there was an explosion of new science-fiction films.[58] Science-fiction films also explore more serious topics and can aim for high artistic standards, especially following Stanley Kubrick's influential 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968 and A Clockwork Orange in 1971, as well as Ridley Scott's Blade Runner in 1982, and Scott's other influential science fiction hit, Alien (film) in 1979. Contemporary filmmakers have found science fiction to be a useful genre for exploring political, moral and philosophical issues, for example Gattaca on the question of genetic engineering, and Minority Report on the questions of civil liberties and free will. Science-fiction television dates from at least 1938, when the BBC staged a live performance of the science-fiction play R.U.R.[59] The first regularly scheduled science-fiction series to achieve a degree of popularity was Captain Video and his Video Rangers in 1949.[60] The Twilight Zone, originally broadcast in the United States from 1959-1964, was the first successful speculative fiction series intended primarily for adults.[61] The TV serial Doctor Who first aired on BBC in 1963 and continues through to the present (with a hiatus from 1989 to 2004). Star Trek aired from 1966 to 1969, creating a new explosion of fan interest. Popular shows including Star Trek, Doctor Who,[62] and Stargate SG-1 have spun off related series, while Battlestar Galactica has inspired a "re-imagining".[63] A number of shows have later become the basis for films, among them Doctor Who, Star Trek, and Firefly. Television science fiction has exploited a variety of SF and fantasy traditions; Quantum Leap and Doctor Who are examples of time travel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of the best-known horror or dark fantasy series. With the growing popularity of science fiction on television, dedicated channels have emerged to meet audience demand, such as Sci-Fi in the United States and Space: The Imagination Station in Canada. Anime
Image:MEHVE - Nausicaa of the valley of the winds.jpg Nausicaä, a Miyazaki protagonist, flying her Möwe over the Valley of the Wind Even more so than movies, science fiction and fantasy are popular genres within the artistic medium of anime. Like animation generally, most anime could fit within the broader definitions of science fiction, if only for the exaggerated or improbable kinds of physical or character action in an animated medium. Astro Boy, one of the first wildly popular anime, is science-fiction, and Hayao Miyazaki's films are often either science-fiction or alternate histories. The Mecha subgenre is devoted specifically to stories involving giant robots and/or combat exoskeleton suits, like Macross. Classic science fiction anime works include Space Battleship Yamato, Akira, and Ghost in the Shell. Sentai refers to anime based on teams of superheroes. Other speculative genres, including fantasy and horror, are popular in anime. Emphasis on female characters and relationships, a common theme in anime generally, are found in science fiction anime like Bubblegum Crisis and Dirty Pair. Music is a very important component in anime such as Cowboy Bebop. Although almost all anime is produced in Japan, it is widely distributed and popular in countries around the world. Anime is beginning to influence non-Japanese works, notably Teen Titans and The Batman. Art
Science fiction has a long history of visual art. Artwork depicting a particular scene, setting, or character is known as illustration, which is used on book and magazine covers, movie posters, web sites, and other media, as well as inside books, comics, and games. WSFS has recognized science fiction art since the 1940s. A short list of the most prominent science fiction artists includes:
Games, Comics, Other Media
Image:Buck Rogers green aliens.jpg Buck Rogers comic book Beginning in the 1970s, the earliest role-playing games (or "RPGs"), such as Dungeons & Dragons and Traveller, had science fiction and fantasy settings,[64] and speculative settings continue to form the basis for the majority of RPGs up to the present.[65] In the 1980s, computer and video games adopted speculative settings and themes, either from original works or based on existing works. The virtual-reality nature of computer games, allowing game algorithms to simulate behavior impossible in reality lend themselves to science fiction characters and technological options within the game world.[66] Science fiction motifs and story lines have long been prominent in comic strips, comic books, and graphic novels. Buck Rogers first appeared in 1929, followed by Flash Gordon in 1935 and Superman in 1938. Since then, the superhero genre, in which an individual or team of characters with enhanced or superhuman abilities deals with challenges beyond the capability of ordinary people, has played a large role in the comics field. Early radio serials adapted Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers stories to radio, followed by other serials and radio magazine shows. Orson Welles's famous dramatization of The War of the Worlds in 1938 panicked American listeners who believed the story was real.[67] The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a famous BBC radio serial that was later adapted to television and film. There have been radio adaptations of the original Star Wars trilogy and The Lord of the Rings. Science fiction and fantasy has been performed as live theater since the 1930s; a live musical version of The Lord of the Rings appeared in Toronto in 2006 and will soon be performed in London.[68] Vinyl albums have recorded science fiction performances,[69] and audiobooks on compact disc are growing in popularity,[70] available now in most bookstores. There have been science-fiction ViewMaster reels, notably Sam Sawyer's Trip to the Moon. Fandom and Community
Science fiction fandom is the "community of the literature of ideas... the culture in which new ideas emerge and grow before being released into society at large."[71] Members of this community, "fans", are in contact with each other at conventions or clubs, through print or online fanzines, or on the Internet using web sites, mailing lists, and other resources. SF fandom emerged from the letters column in Amazing Stories magazine. Soon fans began writing letters to each other, and then grouping their comments together in informal publications that became known as fanzines.[72] Once they were in regular contact, fans wanted to meet each other, and they organized local clubs. In the 1930s, the first science fiction conventions gathered fans from a wider area.[73] Conventions, clubs, and fanzines were the dominant form of fan activity, or "fanac", for decades, until the Internet facilitated communication among a much larger population of interested people. Awards
Among the most respected awards for science fiction are the Hugo Award, presented by the World Science Fiction Society at Worldcon, and the Nebula Award, presented by SFWA and voted on by the community of authors. There are national awards, like Canada's Aurora Award, regional awards, like the Endeavour Award presented at Orycon for works from the Pacific Northwest, special interest or subgenre awards like the Chesley Award for art or the World Fantasy Award for fantasy. Magazines may organize reader polls, notably the Locus Award. Conventions, Clubs, and OrganizationsImage:Sfcon-reading-ddb.jpg Pamela Dean reading at Minicon
Conventions (in fandom, shortened as "cons"), are held in cities around the world, catering to a local, regional, national, or international membership. General-interest conventions cover all aspects of science fiction, while others focus on a particular interest like media fandom, filking, etc. Most are organized by volunteers in non-profit groups, though most media-oriented events are organized by commercial promoters. The convention's activities are called the "program", which may include panel discussions, readings, autograph sessions, costume masquerades, and other events. Activities that occur throughout the convention are not part of the program; these commonly include a dealer's room, art show, and hospitality lounge (or "con suites").[74] Conventions may host award ceremonies; Worldcons present the Hugo Awards each year. Science fiction societies, referred to as "clubs" except in formal contexts, form a year-round base of activities for science fiction fans. They may be associated with an ongoing science fiction convention, or have regular club meetings, or both. Most groups meet in libraries, schools and universities, community centers, pubs or restaurants, or the homes of individual members. Long-established groups like the New England Science Fiction Association and the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society have clubhouses for meetings and storage of convention supplies and research materials.[75] The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) was founded by Damon Knight in 1965 as a non-profit organization to serve the community of professional science fiction authors.[19] Fandom has helped incubate related groups, including media fandom,[76] the | |||||||||
