Science fiction in the twentieth century / Edward James.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

James, Edward, 1947-

Contributor:

Mark B. Adams Science Fiction Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Series:

OPUS book.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Science fiction--20th century--History and criticism.

Science fiction.

Genre:

Science fiction.

Penn Provenance:

Adams, Mark B. (donor) (Adams Collection copiesy)

Physical Description:

xiv, 250 pages ; 20 cm

Other Title:

Science fiction in the 20th century

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1994.

Summary:

Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century is the first book to challenge the traditional approach to science fiction as a series of texts and authors. Science fiction is identified as a cultural phenomenon whose ideas and imagery, through books, films, television, computer games, and children's toys, have become part of the everyday language of the late twentieth century. Edward James traces the development of science fiction as a distinct genre from 1895, the year of publication of H.G. Wells's The Time Machine, through the growing American domination of the field in the 1930s and 1940s, to the emergence of cyberpunk in the 1980s. A peculiarly twentieth-century genre, science fiction has tried to make sense of the rapidity of technological change and the impact which science and technology have made on our society. By imagining other worlds and possible futures, the genre allows us to view our present-day situation with greater detachment and perspective.

Contents:

Browsing through the Categories. Labels

1. The Development of a Genre, 1895-1940. Sf in 1895. 1. The Extraordinary Voyage. 2. The Tale of the Future. 3. The Tale of Science. Herbert George Wells. Sf in Britain and America: Publishing History. Sf between the Wars outside North America. Sf in the American Pulps. Defining the Genre

2. The Victory of American SF, 1940-1960. Campbell and New Definitions of Sf. Astounding in the 1940s. American Sf and the Rest of the World. The Publishing Boom of the 1950s. Classic Themes

3. Reading Science Fiction. Sf and the Mainstream. The Sense of Wonder. Reading Strategies. Three Tales

4. The SF Community. The Growth of Fandom. The Community of Writers. Beyond the Fringe. Fandom Today

5. From New Wave to Cyberpunk and Beyond, 1960-1993.

Notes:

"An Opus book"--Half title page.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 222-237) and index.

Local Notes:

Adams Collection copies presented to the Penn Libraries in 2015 by Dr. Mark B. Adams.

Adams Collection copy 1 is second printing. Copy 2 is first printing.

ISBN:

0192192639 :

0192892444

OCLC:

29668769