Science Fiction

1

• Science Fiction
• Definition
• Criteria
• Scope
• Subject matter

2

• Science fiction (often called sci-fi or SF) is a
  popular genre of fiction in which the narrative
  world differs from our own present or historical
  reality.
• This difference may be technological physical
  historical sociological philosophical
  metaphysical etc but not magical or
  supernatural .

3

• Exploring the consequences of such differences
  (asking What if...)is the traditional purpose
  of science fiction but there are also many SF
  works in which an exotically alien setting is
  superimposed upon what would otherwise be an
  non-SF tale.

4

• Renowned science-fiction writer Robert A. Heilein
  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.

5

• Theodore Sturgeon
• a good science-fiction story is a story about
  human beings with a human problem and a human
  solution that would not have happened at all
  without its science content.

6
Science fiction and fantasy

• A science-fiction story may be firmly rooted in
  real scientific possibilities as they are
  understood at the time of writing or highly
  imaginative set in an extraterrestrial
  civilization or a parallel universe

7

• Some science fiction portrays events that fall
  outside of science as currently understood. But
  one alternate viewpoint on such tales is to view
  them not from the current eras understanding of
  science but to view the tale in the context of
  the known science during the time the tale was
  written.

8

• the borderline between fantasy and science
  fiction is blurred clearly indicating a
  substantial overlap among readers.
• it can be argued that science fiction is simply a
  modern form of fantasy

9

• the elements that would previously have been
  presented as fantasy (e.g. magic shapeshifting
  divination mind-reading fabulous beasts and so
  on) are rationalized or supported through
  scientific or quasiscientific explanations such
  as marvelous devices mutation psychic
  abilities aliens etc.

10

• Darko Suvin emphasizes a cognitive element in SF.
  According to Suvin the purpose of science
  fiction is to introduce scientific or
  technological novelties in order to create
  narratives that enable us to perceive everyday
  reality.

11
Science fiction and mainstream literature

• Science fiction can overlap with more
  mainstream fiction.
• If the society the person the technology and
  the scientific knowledge base in the story are
  all drawn from observed reality without much
  detail about the scientific aspects the story
  may be classed as mainstream contemporary
  fiction rather than as science fiction.

12

• If the characters thoughts and feelings about
  the laws of the universe time reality and
  human invention are unusual and tend toward
  existential re-interpretation of lifes meaning
  in relation to the technological world then it
  may be classed a modernist work of literature
  that overlaps with the themes of science fiction.
  

13
Scope

• The effect of imagined science
• The imagined effect of actual science
• Imagined technology based upon actual science
• Imagined technology based upon imagined sc.
• The effect of ST or both upon imagined
  societies
• The effect of ST or bothupon imagined
  individuals etc.

14
Subject matter

• Science fiction covers numerous distinct
  subjects.
• Space travel (From the Earth to the Moon) 1865
• The future (Paris in the 20th Century) 1863
• Technology not yet invented (Submarines Twenty
  Thousand Leagues Under the Sea) 1870
• Mental changes in humans (The Green Ray) 1882
• Terraforming (Invasion of the Sea) 1904

15

• Biological changes in humans or animals (The
  Island of Dr. Moreau) 1896
• Time travel (The Time Machine) 1895
• Humans with extraordinary powers (The Invisible
  Man) 1897
• Contact with aliens from other worlds (The War of
  the Worlds) 1898
• Space travel (The First Men in the Moon) 1901
• The future (When the Sleeper Wakes) 1899
• The evolution of the human race (Men Like Gods)
  1923
• Nuclear warfare (The World Set Free) 1914