literature sf genre overview

Question 1

prior to pulp magazines, what was the state of the SF genre?

Answer 1

it was not separated from mainstream fiction, but there were many texts containing SF elements

Question 2

progressive era (of literature)

Answer 2

literature speculated on technologies that were altering the pace of modern life (steamboat, photography, telegraph, etc.)

Question 3

Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley

Answer 3

frequently classified as romantic or gothic, though Brian Aldiss and Brian Stableford (Critics) recognize it as the first SF novel. Shelley’s book was published by a small London publishing house.

Question 4

The Last Man by Mary Shelley

Answer 4

many understand this as the first post-apocalyptic novel

Question 5

The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz (1616)

Answer 5

John Crowley claims this is first SF novel because it’s about the possibilites of science & not just an allegory/thought-experiment. many disagree because the “Science” in this book is mostly renaissance alchemy, which is more fantastical

Question 6

damon knight

Answer 6

a critic who claims anything he points to as sf IS sf

Question 6

why wouldn’t Frankenstein be the first sf novel?

Answer 6

some critics say it is too “Destabilizing” of a text to be confined to one genre

Question 7

Symzonia: A voyage of discovery by John Cleeve Symmes

Answer 7

Paul Collins claims this is the first SF novel. but, that blatantly ignores non-american lit like Frankenstein which proceeded Symzonia. Symzonia also relies on pseudoscience, specifically the hollow earth theory

Question 8

The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaall by Edgar Alan Poe

Answer 8

19th century short-story that imagined a hot air balloon trip to the moon

Question 9

The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Answer 9

19th century short-story, features a pseudoscientists who tries to remove a wine-colored birth mark from his wife’s face and achieve human perfection

Question 10

Bartleby the Scrivener By Herman Melville

Answer 10

19th century short-story, considers how modern labor practices degrade humanity (famously ends with lament:
“ah, humanity!”

Question 11

why aren’t bartleby, the birth mark, and the Hans Pfaall story considered SF? :(

Answer 11

published before the age of pulps and lack actual scientific methodology

Question 12

when did SF emerge as a “general force”?

Answer 12

the 1930s; age of pulps

Question 13

what are pulp magazines?

Answer 13

cheaply produced and distributed magazines that garnered a lot of public attention for SF

Question 14

when (roughly) was the golden age of SF?

Answer 14

1938 to late 1940s

Question 15

who were the “Old Guards of the Golden age”?

Answer 15

Issac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, John Campbell, and Alfred Bester

Question 16

popular pulp magazines

Answer 16

Amazing Stories, Astounding, Wonder Stories

Question 17

what were the early pulp stories like?

Answer 17

space conquering male heroes; not much attention to lit devices

Question 18

radio-programs that popularized SF

Answer 18

Buck Rogers & Flash Gordon

Question 19

which two pulps are still alive?

Answer 19

Asimov Magazine & Analog (originally branded as Astounding Stories of super science)

Question 20

what displaced pulps from the 1940s to 60s?

Answer 20

mass-produced paper backs

Question 21

what were popular SF tv programs in the 60s?

Answer 21

Star Trek, The Jetsons, My Mother the Car, Mr. Ed, My Favorite Martian, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and The Time Tunnel

Question 22

what else was going on during the golden age of SF…

Answer 22

the cold war, which led to events such as the Kitchen Debate and the Post-Sputnik Space Race

Question 23

when did the “New Wave” movement in SF begin?

Answer 23

1960s to 70s

Question 24

New Wave SF

Answer 24

movements like the Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Liberation Movement ushered diverse voices into the SF genre; this was a time period of radical social change

Question 25

New wave authors

Answer 25

Ursula K Leguin, Michael Moorcock, Samuel “chip” Delaney, Joanna Russ, Kate Wilhelm, James Tiptree

Question 26

what did New Wave SF introduce to the genre (besides diverse voices)?

Answer 26

psychological depth, ambiguity, irony, female characters & characters of color

Question 27

authors who followed the New Wave and its left-leaning approach

Answer 27

Octavia E. Butler, Vonda
N. McIntyre, Ed Bryant, Eileen
Gunn, and Joe Haldeman

Question 28

cyberpunk

Answer 28

overtook the New Wave in the more conservative 80s. Neo-liberal and dystopian; commonly features a clash between the well off and the poor. represents high-tech corporatism as exploitative

Question 29

what is the foundational text for Cyberpunk?

Answer 29

Neuromancer (1984) by William Gibson

Question 30

what was the readership like for cyberpunk?

Answer 30

white and male

Question 31

cyberpunk authors

Answer 31

William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Rudy Rucker, Neal Stephenson, Cory Doctorow, Pat Cadigan, Melissa Scott

Question 32

steampunk

Answer 32

combines past and present aspects of technology and fashion

Question 33

when did the label “steampunk” first appear?

Answer 33

1987. Kevin Jeter’s letters to the SF magazine Locus.he used “steampunk” to distinguish his works from the more neoliberal works of cyberpunk

Question 34

what is the steampunk aesthetic inspired by?

Answer 34

fashions of victorian england, French Belle Epoque, Civil war era in the US

Question 35

what are some common themes in 21st century SF?

Answer 35

climate change, multigenerational starships, space opera, gender complexities

Question 36

what texts introduced themes of gender/gender fluidity to sf?

Answer 36

The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) by Ursula K Leguin and The Female Man (1971) by Joanna Russ

Question 37

what is the trend in political persuasions within 21st century sf?

Answer 37

socialist to communist, but on the other hand neo-reactionary conservative also

Question 38

what have many 21st century sf authors addressed through their works?

Answer 38

the racist underpinings of “golden-age” sf

Question 39

21st century SF authors

Answer 39

Kazuo Ishiguro, Rivers Solomon, Nalo Hopkinson, N.K. Jemison, Nisi Shawl, and Nnendi Orkorofor,

Question 40

solarpunk

Answer 40

optimistic; envisions nature and humanity living in balance with technology

Question 41

themes of “contemporary” SF

Answer 41

established modes of sustainability, identity structures, governance

Question 42

new-delivery technologies and SF

Answer 42

new-delivery technologies such as podcasts and blogs continue to expand SF to international/diverse writers & readers

Question 43

contemporary SF works

Answer 43

Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves (2017), Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood
and Bone (2018), and Micaiah Johnson’s The Space
Between Worlds (2020)

Question 44

what’s the “purist” and “tribalist” definition of SF

Answer 44

only SF authors can write SF. others want to widen the genre to include fantasy, spy-stories, and horror

Question 45

according to the resource guide, what is integral to SF despite contested definitions?

Answer 45

the fact that it reflects scientific inquiries, curiosities, and fantasies (e.g. how Poe’s Hans Pfaall imagined flying human beings after Da Vinci first prototyped a human flying machine)

Question 46

why is the difference between sf and mainstream fic so contested?

Answer 46

because the boundaries between the two are “intellectually flimsy”

Question 47

what award did Leguin receive that recognized her not just as a SF writer, but as a talented writer in general?

Answer 47

the 2014 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters

Question 48

which of Leguin’s works have been republished by the Library of America?

Answer 48

Annals of the Western Shores, Dangerous People: The Complete Text of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Kesh Novella, Always Coming Home, The Hainish Novels & Stories Volumes 1 and 2, Five Ways to Forgiveness,
and The Complete Orsinia.