Category Archives: 1. SF & UTOPIANISM
NOTE TO CANAVAN (9200 WORDS, 1979)
The Introduction by Prof. Gerry Canavan, the meritorious editor of the 1979 enlarged MOSF edition is here reproduced for the interest it has, and by his kind permission. The opinions are of course his. “The Suvin Event” Gerry Canavan In … Continue reading
NEWER SF HISTORY: H.G. WELLS” (13.400 WORDS, 1972-78)
After a brief Introduction, two essays deal: 1/ with an overview of H.G. Wells’s SF, and 2/ with a depth probe of his general model for SF, adopted in most of it after him. The text is taken from a … Continue reading
OLDER SF HISTORY: VERNE, BELLAMY, MORRIS, AND OTHERS (22.500 WORDS, 1974-78)
Two essays deal with: 1/ “Liberalism mutes the Anticipation”, and 2/ “Anticipating the Sunburst”. The text is taken from a first pagination of the 1979 book MOSF and has mistakes. 1/ This chapter 7 of MOSF analyzes first Verne as … Continue reading
OLDER SF HISTORY: RENAISSANCE TO 1880S (21.700 WORDS, 1974-76)
After a brief Introduction, two essays deal with: 1/ “The Alternative Island,” from Morus to the planetary novel, and 2/ “The Shift to Anticipation,” i.e. from space to time, from the French revolution up to Wells. The text is taken … Continue reading
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