Jack Fennell
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781781381199
- eISBN:
- 9781781384879
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781781381199.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This book revisits a critical paradigm that has often been overlooked or dismissed by science fiction scholars - namely, that science fiction can be understood in terms of myth. For the purposes of ...
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This book revisits a critical paradigm that has often been overlooked or dismissed by science fiction scholars - namely, that science fiction can be understood in terms of myth. For the purposes of this study, ‘myth’ is defined as an explanatory narrative, and this book builds upon the theory that myth is functionally similar to science: both are concerned with filling in ‘gaps’ in what is known, though the former fills those gaps with cultural logics (or ‘common sense’) while the latter uses testable hypotheses. Science fiction springs from pseudo-science rather than ‘proper’ science, because pseudo-science is more easily converted into narrative; in this book it is argued that different cultures produce distinct pseudo-sciences, and thus, unique science fiction traditions. This framework is used to examine Irish science fiction from the 1850s to the present day, covering material written both in Irish and in English. The author considers science fiction novels and short stories in their historical context, analysing a body of literature that has largely been ignored by Irish literature researchers. This is the first book to focus exclusively on Irish science fiction, and the first to consider Irish-language stories and novels alongside works published in English.Less
This book revisits a critical paradigm that has often been overlooked or dismissed by science fiction scholars - namely, that science fiction can be understood in terms of myth. For the purposes of this study, ‘myth’ is defined as an explanatory narrative, and this book builds upon the theory that myth is functionally similar to science: both are concerned with filling in ‘gaps’ in what is known, though the former fills those gaps with cultural logics (or ‘common sense’) while the latter uses testable hypotheses. Science fiction springs from pseudo-science rather than ‘proper’ science, because pseudo-science is more easily converted into narrative; in this book it is argued that different cultures produce distinct pseudo-sciences, and thus, unique science fiction traditions. This framework is used to examine Irish science fiction from the 1850s to the present day, covering material written both in Irish and in English. The author considers science fiction novels and short stories in their historical context, analysing a body of literature that has largely been ignored by Irish literature researchers. This is the first book to focus exclusively on Irish science fiction, and the first to consider Irish-language stories and novels alongside works published in English.
Gwyneth Jones
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780853237839
- eISBN:
- 9781786945389
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9780853237839.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
‘Dreamer: An Exercise in Extrapolation 1989-2019’ was first commissioned by British Telecom Information Technology Systems Division in 1988. Writing in the late 80s, the essay analyses the ways in ...
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‘Dreamer: An Exercise in Extrapolation 1989-2019’ was first commissioned by British Telecom Information Technology Systems Division in 1988. Writing in the late 80s, the essay analyses the ways in which science fiction writing attempts to build a future based off what is known about the world from both the present and the past. To establish her argument, Jones references science fiction texts that discuss America’s imaginary future while drawing on it’s past, i.e. the Vietnam War. The essay concludes with the short story Dreamers.Less
‘Dreamer: An Exercise in Extrapolation 1989-2019’ was first commissioned by British Telecom Information Technology Systems Division in 1988. Writing in the late 80s, the essay analyses the ways in which science fiction writing attempts to build a future based off what is known about the world from both the present and the past. To establish her argument, Jones references science fiction texts that discuss America’s imaginary future while drawing on it’s past, i.e. the Vietnam War. The essay concludes with the short story Dreamers.
