Modern SF is pulp fiction with a post modern literary sensibility grafted on as an afterthought. The best of it is technical action with emotional punch; the worst of it is cheap porn for engineers.
This came out of discussion this morning at VP.
Discuss.
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Somewhat accurate, but a snobbish sounding comment.
I can see why they would say that. Ultimately whatever field fiction writers work in and what it is they are trying to achieve, they’re just entertainers.
I would have to disagree. While this may be a true statement for some, or maybe most of the genre, there are still works in the SF arena that stand on their own as literary works. Blitz
My favorite SF novel is Dune (Frank Herbert). Though there is definitely a bit of technology in the book, what it presented to me was a great deal of culture and politics. It seemed to be more like a Shakespearean play than a pulp fiction story.
Blitz, don’t leave us hangin’. Hit us up with the list of SF literary works.
I find it strange that “sci-fi” is even considered a genre. To me, the word genre should denote style rather than content. “Christian” is not a music genre. Blues is a music genre. …or maybe the word “genre” should refer to content when used to describe literature. You tell me. Maybe the very early sci-fi authors had more style in common. Maybe publishers and retailers consider it a convenient label because it describes the audience (customers).
Genre (as defined by dictionary): a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content.
The best of it is technical action with emotional punch:
The best of sci-fi is far better than this statement gives credit. I agree with Dez, examples like Dune show this quip to be snarky and uninformed. But that’s the point of the statement too…
The worst of it is cheap porn for engineers:
I would say the worst of any literary genre is porn for (insert occupation/interest here.)
As I recall, Foundation was not about technology, but the ramifications of a new form of social science used to shorten the time of a galactic dark age. As a collection of short stories, its origin is in the pulp realm, but transcends it IMO. It is a story of political savvy… risky choices amidst crises that avert disaster and propel civilization to the next stage of development.
Ender’s Game is not a story of technology either. Here is a tale of surprise wherein training and playing a game have real world consequences. Are there space ships involved? Yes, but the story is far from being a pulp story like Buck Rogers.
Of course, I’m bringing up classics in the genre, and my favorites. I’m sure that there are quite a few examples that fit the unflattering description: the Mars series by E.R. Burroughs for one.
Who posed this definition, by the way? What was the context of the comment?
What are “post modern sensibilities”?
perhaps character traits that you will acquire in the future…
This was the moderator’s equivalent of one of my verbal hot potatoes. I’m not sure she believed it, but the resulting discussion was fascinating.
LotR was the most commonly cited literary work.
For me, I agree with Frank Herbert’s Dune standing head and shoulders above the rest of the genre, although I would add Dan Simmons’ Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion, Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars as examples of recent genre novels that are packed with literary sensibility.