1st Edition

Science Fiction A Critical Guide

By Patrick Parrinder Copyright 1979
    250 Pages
    by Routledge

    250 Pages
    by Routledge

    First published in 1979. What do we mean by Science Fiction? What does it do, and why do so many people read it? What are its characteristic values, attitudes and procedures? Is it a creative force in our society, or merely a pathological symptom? How much of it is worth the attention of the ordinary 'non-scientific' or 'non-addicted' reader?

    That these questions are frequently asked is a consequence of Science Fiction's current status as a highly popular and fashionable art-form. They are not easy to answer because SF is a confused concept and a confused field, varying from formula-repetition and institutionalized self-congratulation on the one hand to the most profound imaginative achievements on the other. This Critical Guide attempts a composite portrait of science fiction as a form of creative literature: not, that is, as a disembodied current of notions and ideas (e.g. about technological progress), nor as a 'sub-literature' which may only one day hope to aspire to literary status.

    Part 1 Early landmarks: from the beginnings to 1900; Chapter 1 The literary background to science fiction, Mark R. Hillegas; Chapter 2 Jules Verne: the last happy utopianist, Marc Angenot; Chapter 3 The science fiction of H. G. Wells, John Huntington; Part 2 Two formative traditions; Chapter 4 Utopia and science fiction, Williams Raymond; Chapter 5 Science fiction and the scientific world-view, Patrick Parrinder; Part 3 Science fiction today: aspects of a contemporary literature; Chapter 6 The cold war in science fiction, 1940–1960, T. A. Shippey; Chapter 7 Science fiction, religion and transcendence, Tom Woodman; Chapter 8 Characterization in science fiction: Two approaches, Scott Sanders; Chapter 9 Characterization in science fiction: Two approaches, Patrick Parrinder; Chapter 10 American science fiction since 1960, J. A. Sutherland; Chapter 11 British science fiction, Christopher Priest; Chapter 12 European science fiction, Franz Rottensteiner.

    Biography

    Patrick Parrinder