Category Archives: 1. SF & UTOPIANISM
Defining the Literary Genre of Utopia: Some Historical Semantics, Some Genology, a Proposal, and a Plea (1973) (9300 words)
For if the matter be attentively considered, a sound argument may be drawn from Poesy, to show that there is agreeable to the spirit of man a more ample greatness, a more perfect order, and a more beautiful variety than … Continue reading
SF and the Genological Jungle (1973) (7700 words)
Thanks to the Greeks, we can distinguish tragedy from comedy in drama. […] When we come to deal with such forms as the masque, opera, movie, ballet, puppet-play, mystery-play, morality, corn-media dell’arte, and Zauberspiel, we find ourselves in the position … Continue reading
Estrangement and Cognition (1972) (4850 words)
1. Science Fiction as Fiction (Estrangement) 1.1. The importance of science fiction (SF) in our time is on the increase. First, there are strong indications that its popularity in the leading industrial nations (United States, USSR, United Kingdom, Japan) has … Continue reading
—A/ URSULA K. LE GUIN, SPEECH [at Nat. Book Awards 2014] —B/ ON LE GUIN AND HER DECLARATION OF THE ARTS’ INDEPENDENCE FROM CAPITALISM [comment on her speech]
A/ The Guardian, 20 November 2014 22.00 GMT Ursula K Le Guin’s speech at National Book Awards: ‘Books aren’t just commodities’ To the givers of this beautiful reward, my thanks, from the heart. My family, my agents, my … Continue reading
PREFACE TO THE JAPANESE EDITION OF “METAMORPHOSES OF SCIENCE FICTION”
PREFACE TO THE JAPANESE EDITION OF “METAMORPHOSES OF SCIENCE FICTION” (1987) Darko Suvin 1. This book was first conceived and worked upon in Yugoslavia in the 1950s and 60s; it was written in its present form in North America and … Continue reading
AN INTERVIEW WITH DARKO SUVIN (Lomeña)
Andrés Lomeña AL: I would like to locate your ideological position in literary theory. I suppose that you feel close to Terry Eagleton and Fredric Jameson (even Slavoj Žižek). Moreover, I suppose that you disagree with aesthetic purism (Harold Bloom) or certain … Continue reading