SCIENCE FICTION
A genre study
Definition of genre
• Genre - "kind" or "sort", from Latin: genus (stem gener-), Greek:
genos,
is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art
or culture
– e.g. music, and any type of text, whether written or spoken,
audial or visual,
based on some set of stylistic criteria .
• “stylistic criteria” = (literary / artistic) “technical standards”
(measures / conditions / principles / norms)
• Genres are formed by conventions (rules / laws / norms / customs) that
change over time- as new genres are invented and the use of old ones
are ended.
• Often, works can fit into several genres by way of borrowing and
recombining these conventions.
• Some composers will choose to stick to the rules of a genre… some
composers will choose to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the rules of the genre… and some
composers will choose to subvert* the rules of the genre!
• subvert* = turn-upside-down
Conventions of Science Fiction
• Science fiction is difficult to define, as it includes a wide range
of subgenres and themes.
• 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."[12]
– Rod Serling's definition is "fantasy is the impossible made
probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made
possible."
– Lester del Rey wrote, "Even the devoted aficionado—or
fan—has a hard time trying to explain what science fiction
is", and that the reason for there not being a "full
satisfactory definition" is that "there are no easily
delineated limits to science fiction."
http://hsc.csu.edu.au/english/extension1/genre/elect3/3726/brave_new_world.htm
Conventions of Science Fiction and Brave New World
It is useful at this point to consider some common conventions of science
fiction:
• Verisimilitude (something that only appears to be real or true)
• sense of wonder
• cognitive estrangement (separation of intellectual and rational thought)
• Alienation (distancing)
• seeding the text (scattering the text)
• lone super hero
• helpless heroine
• evil Villain
• invented lexicon (invented language)
• emotive language
• info dump
Print Master
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