Yesterday, in my current sf course, we discussed and attempted to define what we mean when we talk about “science fiction.” We read several introductions to the topic, considered a couple of illustrative texts, and decided that any definition of science fiction must be locally situated: i.e., there is unlikely anything we can call “SF” as in an absolute, immutable genre, but we must content ourselves with the local and contingent “sf.” We decided we like the “sf” more than “sci-fi,” since the former also includes “speculative fiction,” and seems to be the choice of those who do the deepest thinking about science fiction. As one student said yesterday, “sci-fi” is a TV station, suggesting that this is the popular side of science fiction. Both are valid, but our study will stick with “sf.”
Potentially Related Posts
- Some Definitions of Science Fiction More preparation for the fall semester. Someone sent this to...
- Science Fiction I’ve been spending the last couple of days thinking about...
- Science Fiction Issue This month’s Guardian has a special issue on science fiction,...
- Carl Sagan’s Vision: Toward a Science Fiction Epic “The first thing you picked up from us was that...
- Dodgy Science Fiction Today, Mark Ward of the BBC laments the lack of...
