The pre-Hugo Age of Science Fiction
For the last 2 months I have been showcasing some of my
favorite science fiction series. We have seen around ten of them. There are
many more I would like to cover. But that might get monotonous. So I end that
series here and shall revisit that series later with a few more of them. Now I would
like to move on to a different theme: what I shall call the pre-Hugo Science
Fiction.
Science fiction as an independent genre is supposed to have
come to its own in 1926 with Hugo Gernsback staring the first magazine entirely
dedicated to science fiction: Amazing Fiction. However even today, if a general
reader is asked to name two science fiction authors, he or she is more likely
to name Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, both pre Hugo writers rather than the grandmasters
of science fiction: Isaac Asimov, Robert Henlein or Arthur C Clarke. While Jules Verne and H.G. Wells specialized
in science fiction, there were other authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle, R.L. Stevenson
and Mark Twain who have explored themes that can be classified under science
fiction. For the next few weeks I would like to showcase some of the classical
authors who have explored science fiction themes.
The idea is to see what kind of futuristic concepts were
explored by the authors of the past as against what is being explored by the
science fiction authors of today. Also seeing how some of the things imagined
by these authors of the past have come to fruition in the current day can
probably help us overcome our skepticism whether what current crop of science
fiction writers will at all become a reality tomorrow. It would also be
fascinating to see how ideas have evolved over the years in parallel to
evolution of actual science over the ages.
Of course in some ways one can argue that science fiction
has existed right from the time fiction has existed and I would not dispute
that. Any story that talks of science and technology beyond that which exists
during that age can definitely be considered science fiction. For instance, I
remember writing an essay for one of college courses arguing Indian Classics
such as Ramayana and Mahabharata can be considered as science fiction of their
time. I however would not go so much back in time. In this series, I confine
myself to a century or so before science fiction officially became a genre of
its own.
Coming up Next Tuesday: Jules Verne: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow?
Coming up Next Tuesday: Jules Verne: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow?
So, we are in for H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, Mary Shelley (Frankenstein), R.L.Stevenson (Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), Doyle (Challenger novels), Olaf Stapledon et al?
ReplyDeleteAre you including Fantasy in this? That is a bit of a poser - since myth and fantasy are tough to segregate - Le Morte du Arthur and all :) There are authors like E.R. Eddison and C.S. Lewis who predate Tolkien in adult fantasy; and in YA fantasy, of course, we again have C.S. Lewis as well as Frank Baum - not to mention Alice in Wonderland - long before Rowling.
No, Suresh - Will stick to pure science fiction. Fantasy and YA Fantasy I will take up separately. Olaf Stapleton is a new one for me. Maybe I should have a guest post from you for that one.
ReplyDeleteThat is going to be a focused and engaging analysis (and discourse) Karthik, Origins of science fiction as a distinctly different genre may be traced back to Thomas More's Utopia and Francis Bacon's New Atlantis -the hunt for alternative worlds or realities by humans.
ReplyDeleteBattle Speed, then! I am all eyes and ears.
Thanks Umashankar. May once again request for your contribution if you have time. I have been long wanting to read Utopia while first time hearing of New Atlantis.
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