SCIENCE FICTION: An Overview
...ecognized as science fiction was Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus (1818) by Mary Shelley. In this novel Frankenstein, a scientist, creates a man and gives him life using scientific methods. Magic or mystical invocations are nowhere in sight. Science, not religion, becomes the key to unlocking life. After that, in 1926, Hugo Gernsback founded a magazine called Amazing Stories — writers like Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein started writing in this magazine, and together they made SF into what it is today. Science fiction, now far from being a ‘minor disreputable genre’, in fact has a strong literary tradition. Figments of the wildest imagination centuries ago have now become realities: rockets, submarines, televisions, satellites, and computers. Even a few decades ago science fiction was a subculture – it has now moved from the periphery to the centre with the advent of the age of information and technology. SF has gone through a long history of formulation: from the classic Gothic novel of the 19th Century, to the mixed discourse of today, the fears and repressions of each era have manifested themselves in science fiction. Jules Verne predicted the advent of submarine in his 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. In Paris in the Twentieth Century he predicted the advent of fax machines, cars and pneumatic trains. He also predicted the use of a rocket for journeying to the moon in From Earth to the Moon. In a non-fiction piece in October, 1945 Arthur C. Clarke predicted that communication satellites will be used by man. Writers like J .G. Ballard, John Brunner predict the possible results of overpopulation; of course it still remains to be seen whether their predictions come true or not. Pioneer SF writer Isaac Asimov held the view that “…Science fiction is the only form of literature that considers the nature of changes that face us, the possible consequences, and the possible solutions”. He warned us in his “Robot” series of short-stories and novels that our over-dependence on machines may eventually lead to our downfall. Science Fiction also considers changes in the society because of technology, and progress in general. George Orwell in his novel 1984 put forward a dystopic prediction of our society – a society where even human thoughts are monitored by the ‘thought police’. Aldous Huxley also wrote a novel called Brave New World where he projected the view of our society in the distant future. Factors such as gender issues are also given much importance in science fiction. The 1970s saw a number of female SF writers including Ursula K. Le Guin and Octavia Butler coming into prominence. Le Guin’s masterpiece The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) highlights the lack of understanding that exists between genders, and the barriers that must be destroyed if we are ever to become united as a race. The novel follows the progress of a human anthropologist who accepts a mission to an alien planet (‘Gether’) whose people are entirely androgynous and only develop a sexual identity during certain periods of their biological cycles. And because there are no ‘men’ and ‘women’ on the planet, there are no sexual expectations they have to live up to. So men do not have to be masculine, women not feminine. Man’s or woman’s status in the society is largely determined by their ability to play their sexual roles: men trying to be strong and ‘providers’ and women trying to be good mothers -- ‘nurturers’. The lack of definite sexual identity results in the loss of defined social roles. The oppression of a particular sex dissolves and there is no need for gender stereotyping. The implied message of The Left Hand of Darkness is that our lives would be greatly enriched if we, both men and women, were allowed to feel the entire range of human emotions and carry out responsibilities irrespective of gender, then the achievement of peace and harmony in our personal lives, and in the world in general, would be easier. Le Guin’s “manwoman” idea is a metaphor for harmony, integration and wholeness. Another important study on the role of women can be found in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), which char...