While many critics suggest that “Gernsback” metafictively comments on the need for change in sf, from the utopian visions of the golden age of science fiction to a more socially critical and culturally conscious expression, others suggest that it and the collective dreams that it embodies plays a continued role in what Bruce Sterling calls a modern reform of science fiction.
Tag Archives | science fiction
Science Fiction (A Definition)
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” [...]
CyberJhary
I am existing solely on the computer these days, it seems. I’ve been redesigning all of my classes, and it has been as difficult as taking Calculus as a freshman. I have not really been able to do anything else, including working on papers for conferences that will be here before I know it, and [...]
Bester’s “Fondly Fahrenheit”
Man, I’m beautifully hot. I can’t think of a more appropriate story to read on a scorching summer day than Alfred Bester’s “Fondly Fahrenheit.”
Sf Index
I’m slowly creating a science fiction index for my class this fall. As I mentioned on my insomniac post, I’ve decided not to get an anthology, though there are many good ones out there, like Le Guin’s and Roberts’, neither and none have all the stories that I want to teach. Well, this is not [...]
Science Fiction
I’ve been spending the last couple of days thinking about a reading list for my science fiction course this fall. I’ve been collecting my various books of short stories and combing through them looking not only for stories, but a way to organize the course. I might do so topically, like spend a week on [...]
Dick on Paranoia
Paranoia, in some respects, I think, is a modern-day development of an ancient, archaic sense that animals still have — quarry-type animals — that they’re being watched. . . . I say paranoia is an atavistic sense. It’s a lingering sense, that we had long ago, when we were — our ancestors were — very [...]