Science fiction / Adam Roberts.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Roberts, Adam (Adam Charles)

Series:

New critical idiom

The new critical idiom

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Science fiction--History and criticism.

Science fiction.

Physical Description:

vi, 204 pages ; 21 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2000.

Summary:

Science fiction is one of the most vigorous and exciting areas of modern culture -- from ground breaking novels of ideas to blockbusters on the cinema screen. In Science Fiction, Adam Roberts offers a clear and engaging account of the phenomenon, illustrating the critical terminology and following the contours of its ongoing history. You will find that this book: -- provides a concise history of science fiction, and explores the key concepts in SF criticism and theory-- focuses particularly on the impact that postmodernism and technological advances have had on the subject-- examines the interactions between science fiction and science fact -- with events such as the moon landings, the Challenger disaster and the film Apollo 13

Contents:

Three definitions 7

The SF novum 19

Difference 28

Prediction and nostalgia 30

Case study: Frank Herbert, Dune (1965) 36

2 The history of science fiction: from beginnings to the 1960s 47

Origins 47

Jules Verne and H G Wells 59

Pulp SF 67

The Golden Age: Asimov 75

New Wave 79

Case study: Star Wars (1977) and intertextuality 84

3 Gender 91

Feminist science fiction 91

Women and aliens 100

Case study: Ursula Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) 106

4 Race 118

Representing race 121

Race and Star Trek 127

Alien abduction 132

Case study: blackness in Sonnenfeld's Men in Black (1997) 137

5 Technology and metaphor 146

Spaceships 151

Robots 158

Cyberspace 167

Case study: William Gibson, Neuromancer (1984) 169.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [195]-200) and index.

ISBN:

0415192048

0415192056

OCLC:

41338934