Essay on Science Fiction
UNIT-V
SCIENCE FICTION
Science Fiction is
applied to those narratives in which an explicit attempt is made to render
plausible the fictional world by reference to known or imagined scientific
principle or to a projected advance in technology, or to a drastic change in
the organization of society.
1. Introduction
Science fiction
encompasses novels that represent an imagined reality that is radically
different in its nature and functioning from the world of our ordinary
experience. Often the setting is another planet, or this earth projected into
the future, or an imagined parallel universe.
Science fiction is a
form of literary fantasy or romance that often draws upon earlier kinds of
utopian writing. The term 'SF or Sci-fi' was first given by Hugo Garns-back, editor
of the Amazing Stories.
Mary Shelley's
remarkable Frankenstein (1818) is often considered a precursor of science
fiction. She was well versed in the science of her time. While human beings,
golems (golem is a clay figure brought to life by magic), and so forth, had
been brought back to life before Shelley wrote some kind of supernatural agency
was involved. Shelley rejects all that only when Victor Frankenstein has
engaged in scientific research does she achieve the seemingly impossible, and
bring forth life from death.
Jules Verne's vigorous
adventure writings, such as Journey to
the centre of the Earth (1864) Twenty
Thousand Leaues Under the Sea (1869), provided to be the next great
Worldwide success. Then there is small advancement until H.G. Wells emerges on
the scene with books like The Time
Machine (1895) The Invisible Man (1897).
Wells was the great innovator, originating many themes, such as the invasion of
the earth by alien beings, which have since been extensively cultivated.
Once uniformly
dismissed as pulp fiction, science fiction gained greater respect after the
1950s as writers like Issac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke expanded
its range. The New Wave was a reaction to traditional science fiction as the
writers of this type deliberately broke away from the traditions of popular
science fiction. The writer's focus on literary experimentation with regard to
both form and content was Intended to 'elevate' science fiction as a serious
literary Torm. In 1960s the British Science Fiction magazine New world was
taken over and transformed by editor M. Moorcock. During this period science
Fiction reached a level of popularity among intellectuals as well as the general
public. Its involvement with the future and with technological advance has made
it more enduringly popular with scientists that with the literary fraternity.
●
Science fiction
creates an illusion of reality by basing the plot and other story elements on
actual scientific facts, principles and technology.
●
The science
fiction are usually set in the future, in space, on an alien planet, dimension,
or in an alternate history.
●
The novels depict
situations that are different from the present or from the known past or the
conceivable future.
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Science fiction
narratives may involve elements such as dystopia (an imagined place in which
everything is unpleasant or bad), advanced technology, time travel, and extra-terrestrial
life.
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Science fiction
often depict the effect of new scientific discoveries and advances in
technology upon human beings.
●
Novelists often
use science fiction to comment on social and cultural issues, such as class inequality,
greed, war, political authoritarianism, the misuse of technology, the dangers
of environmental exploitation, the ill effects of acquiring knowledge
irrespective of consequences and so on. (e.g. George Orwell's 1984).
Inevitably the wider
popularity of science fiction has led to a reduction of challenging ideas. Yet
there are those who still succeed in making readers think while being
entertained. A significant development in recent years has been the growth of
SF scholarship.
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