A general understanding of Science Fiction is that it is about stories set in galaxies far-far away, alien invaders, futuristic weapons and sentient robots. Although this is what it usually speaks about, Science Fiction is much more than that. Science Fiction is the literature of change (Walter, 2012). As with most literature (Blair and Giles, 2018), Science Fiction is also a form of commentary on the present, but what sets Science Fiction apart from most literary genres is that it is rooted in logic and facts. Whenever a scientific or technological development impacts a culture, Science Fiction literature expressing people’s feelings and opinions (positive and negative) will emerge.
Science Fiction is a sub-genre of fiction that is set in a world that is different from ours by way of logic; this logic would then put into motion the series of events and justify the narrative of the author as the story goes along. It can be easy to generalise fantasy stories, fictional epics, and Science Fiction together under a single umbrella but instead, it is in a category of its own. What separates these different kinds of fictional literature is that in Science Fiction nothing simply is. As described in the works of Science Fiction scholars to be discussed ahead, the author of Science Fiction literature may not merely wish for occurrences in the narrative with no logical explanation of how this event would take place, what justifies these events and take the storyline forward. It is this narrative grounded in logic and reality that sets apart Science Fiction from the rest of fiction and makes it a unique and exciting literary genre.
1.1 A Commentary on the Present
In the field of social sciences, there have been numerous attempts to understand and address social issues in the world. In the past century, society has seen numerous thoughts and theories shape our contemporary worldview, ranging from Marxism to Capitalism and everything in between. One of the theories that aimed to generate change through understanding cultural and historical events and challenging the status quo, was the philosophy of Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School.
Critical Theory was first defined by Max Horkheimer in his 1937 essay ‘Traditional and Critical Theory’ (Horkheimer, 1976). According to Horkheimer’s definition, ‘Critical theory’ must simultaneously fit three criteria; it must be explanatory, practical and normative. That is, it must explain the inconsistencies of the current social reality, identify the factors that may change this social reality, provide clear norms for criticism and achievable goals for social transformation (Bohman, 2016). Even though the general relationship between Science Fiction and critical theory had previously been discussed (by the likes of Darko Suvin and James Blish), Carl Freedman was the first to establish this relationship with great detail in his book ‘Critical theory and Science Fiction’. According to Freedman Science Fiction is one of the most theoretically informed of all the fields of literature, he argues that not only do Science Fiction and critical theory have significant overlap, but that Science Fiction is a genre that is predisposed to critical theory and vice versa. (Freedman, 2013).
The most remarkable Science Fiction (in any media, be it movies, television or literature) isn’t necessarily the one with fantastical sentient robots and evil corporations but one that comments on the world as the author sees it. From books such as ‘Frankenstein’ (Shelley, 1818) to ‘The Martian’ (Weir, 2014), Science Fiction proposes scenarios that offer a distorted view into one’s society. For centuries, artists have tried to explain and portray the world they see around them; it is human nature try and understand the workings of the world.
However, with ever-changing technology and development, the world seems to be changing exceptionally fast, and the more the world changes, the lesser society tends to recognise it, and therefore Science Fiction authors like the artists before them use the power of metaphors to explain the inexplicable. These metaphors are the author’s social commentary on contemporary society and events. ‘Frankenstein’, for instance, is a social commentary on scientific discoveries challenging the idea of God and of a world that does not embrace change. A similar debate has now emerged on the use of genetic editing tools such as CRISPR[1] to genetically modify physical traits of human beings, particularly the aesthetic traits of newborn children (Rodriguez, 2016). Whereas, ‘The Martian’ is a commentary on the human capacity for altruism amidst global politics and bureaucracy. Metaphors like these and many more that are forged in Science Fiction have shaped how we see the ever-changing world of the 20th and 21st Century. Science Fiction has often provided its audience with social commentaries on technology, politics and even economics (Newitz, 2018).
Like critical theory, what Science Fiction does is, rather than solving problems presented by the existing social order it challenges the social order itself to cause a change in the world. By confronting problems in the form of a metaphor or a thought experiment, Science Fiction provides the audience with an alternative lens to observe their society and form objective opinions on contemporary issues or to make unbiased observations on their own condition.
1.2 Means to engage with technology
Most academic approaches to projections of the future, be it regarding design or technology, relies heavily on research data based on studies and think tanks, but the information from this data is only that; it is pure data, and without appropriate context, it is hard to interpret and sometimes can even be misleading. Data without a communicative medium remains in the hands of the few. To be able to empower the masses, information must be effectively communicated. In the case of science and technology, the general population needs to be informed through communicative strategies that seek the intellectual involvement of the audience.
For instance, in 1950; Alan Turing, an English computer scientist, philosopher and mathematician published his landmark paper in ‘MIND a quarterly review’ on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and put forward the concept of the ‘imitation game’ what is not popularly known as the ‘Turing Test’. It was developed by Alan Turing as a test for gauging a machines ability to display intelligent behaviour in a way that is similar to or indistinguishable even from that of a human. It was the first time a strong understanding of the philosophy of AI was put forward to the public. However, this information was published in a scholarly journal where the target audiences were limited to researchers and academics.
Now, take, for instance, the 1921 play R.U.R. (Čapek, 1921). Published years before Turing’s papers; R.U.R. revolves around a race of self-replicating robots that revolt against the human race or the ‘Terminator’ series (Cameron, 1984), where Science Fiction conveys the pitfalls of AI using all the indicators put forward by Alan Turing but in relatable contexts in its interaction with humans. All of these portrayals of AI share similar concerns about this ‘futuristic’ technology with the great thinkers of our time such as Stephen Hawking’s and Elon Musk[2], but they present it in a way that it becomes more appealing for everyone to understand.
Simply put, Science Fiction takes information and weaves together elaborate narratives on how these concepts might be applied in the future and how they may interact with the contemporary world, and more importantly, they explore the consequences of technology in the human condition. “Good Science Fiction is usually about a human story with human problems and a human solution”, Theodore Sturgeon quoted in (Atheling and Blish, 1974) They show future technologies in their most likely implementations and help everyday consumers of this would be technology imagine how these concepts will be used or abused.
The same applies to the Architecture of futuristic movies, they ‘anticipate the future and subvert the familiar’ (Ramchurn, 2014). Science Fiction is a commentary on current trends and what we want in the present. It also depicts future trends and translates these ideas into a story and expresses them as a novum of design.
For Fritz Lang a trip to the United States in 1924 introduced him to the great concrete jungle of early Manhattan, it was this urban landscape that inspired him to create the backdrop to his dystopian movie ‘Metropolis’. The Art-Deco meets the Modernist style of the Manhattan buildings was a foretelling of what was to come. Even back when private automobile use was not so widespread, Lang predicted in his dystopian vision what the future might behold. The contrast between the elite living on the surface and the workers in the dark underbelly of the city again shows the logical end of industrialisation perceived at the time. (AlSayyad, 2006)
Even though it may seem that Science Fiction usually portrays the most unfavourable outcome when it comes to cutting-edge technology, this is not always the case.
In ‘Back to the Future’ (Zemeckis, 1985) the future is depicted as a time of incredible innovations which most likely inspired current technologies; such as wearable technology, large flat screen televisions, video calls, biometrics, self-tying shoelaces and a whole plethora of now realised gadgets.
1.3 A warning for the future
The human condition is not without its vices; Anger, greed, envy and many other forms of behaviour can contribute to regrettable actions. Science Fiction has addressed the possibility of exploiting the capabilities of advanced technologies and manipulating them for a destructive purpose. It is the embodiment of man’s inadvertent tendency to be afraid of the unknown and the uncertain.
A 2018 paper in the ‘Journal of social science and medicine’, showed that workers exposed to automation risk could cause significant health problems (Patel et al., 2018). It could be argued that this fear is partly due to certain amounts of mass hysteria propagated through Science Fiction. Robots taking over human jobs has been a common theme in Science Fiction for decades, but only now are we seeing the effect of this theme in people.
One of the aspects of Science Fiction that needs to be understood is the use of Science Fiction literature as a warning. Science Fiction authors project their fears and anxieties about the future into their narratives. Through Science Fiction, one can extrapolate present trends into the future by transforming them into dystopian narratives (Parrinder, 2001). For instance, the past decade has witnessed increasing concerns regarding global warming and rising sea levels. After repeated warnings, there are still a significant number of people that dispute the fact that global climate change is a real issue. However, in the world of Science Fiction, the issue of global warming, climate change, rising sea levels and pollution have already been discussed in tremendous detail. Most notably, in the movie ‘Blade Runner — 2049’ (Villeneuve, 2017), a sequel to the first ‘Blade Runner’ (Scott, 1982), based on the 1968 Science Fiction book ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep’(Dick, 1968).
In Blade Runner — 2049, the beautiful coastlines of Los Angeles are shown to be barricaded by giant sea-walls in order to prevent the city from being consumed by colossal tidal waves as a result of rising sea levels. ‘Blade Runner’ gives us an idea about the solutions we need to start looking at if our energy ambitions go unchecked. Other warnings come in the form of unchecked urbanism in the original Blade Runner where cities are made up of densely packed high rise buildings and visually cluttered with neon advertisements. There is a great deal to be learnt from both dystopian Science Fiction as well as dystopian Science Fiction Architecture.
Blade Runner 2049 Concept art. (McCoy, n.d.)
The end of the modernist period saw the image of modern Architecture be popularised as the Architecture of evil in its use in television and film, more specifically the High–Tech or the Structural style. In Films, Modernism has always been a popular choice for the representation of oppression in society as shown in Fritz Lang’s ‘Metropolis’ (Lang, 1927). This representation of modernism has its roots in the founding principles of modernism, stemming from Le Corbusier’s idea of “the home as a machine for living” (Corbusier, 1924). This principle portrays the home as a cold and unemotional machine where the efficiency of the function to be performed in the space is the only concern rather than represent a warm and comfortable place to live.
1.4 Poetics of Science Fiction
In 2001 Patrick Parrinder[3] published a book ‘Learning from other worlds’ in which he compiled a series of essays honouring the work of H.G. Wells as well as other science fiction scholars. In the poetics of Science Fiction criticism, there are two significant epochs; the first is the early understanding of Science Fiction before Darko Suvin and the second, after Suvin’s arrival.(Parrinder, 2001)
In ‘Learning from other worlds’, Parrinder discusses the works of Sir Kingsley William Amis, an English novelist, poet, Science Fiction writer, and scholar. Amis considered social criticism and social satire as one of the predominant utilities of Science Fiction. However, a shared understanding of Science Fiction was that much of the content at the time was either of poor quality or wasn’t living up to its purpose of social criticism.
James Blish, an American Science Fiction writer and critique, in his 1965 publication ‘SF: The Critical Literature’ compared five Science Fiction books on the subject including his own to discuss the development in the poetics of Science Fiction. According to Parrinder, in his criticism of modern Science Fiction, Blish considered it to be confined to only a few publications. However, he also recognised that simultaneously criticism on the subject was ongoing in different mediums such as editorial columns of Science Fiction magazines, in reviews of Science Fiction books and finally in critical journals. (Parrinder, 2001)
James Blish’s compilation of Science Fiction criticism brought together various ideas and approaches to Science Fiction. Another interesting and insightful critique received by Science Fiction in its early days was by Hugo Gernsback, the editor and columnist for his magazine ‘Amazing Stories’.(Parrinder, 2001)
Gernsback considered Science Fiction to be a ‘charming romance intermingled with Science Fiction fat and prophetic vision’ he would further go on to propose the ideal proportions to the scientification of a story. Gernsback suggested the right proportions of literature to scientific fact was seventy-five percent to twenty-five percent respectively. Gernsback would also be one of the first scholars on the poetics of Science Fiction to highlight the importance of the genre in making the world a better place. He postulated that if every man woman and child were to read Science Fiction, the community would undoubtedly be benefited as it would give the readers a much broader understanding of the world around them and help them become more tolerant.(Parrinder, 2001)
The second epoch in the poetics of Science Fiction took place after 1967, post-Suvin’s arrival in North America, with the introduction of the concept of cognitive estrangement. Though this concept was a newly coined term, the application of cognitive-estrangement can be found in satire and social critiques like Gulliver’s Travels and Utopia for instance.
Darko Suvin is one of the earliest scholars to work on the poetics of Sci-Fi. One of his significant contributions to this field was the concept of Cognitive estrangement and the idea of the Novum. According to Suvin’s pro-Marxist ideology, there is a clear distinguishing factor between fantastical literature and Science Fiction. Fantasy fiction relies on the reader or consumer of the medium to blindly accept the workings of the fictional world because the story requires it to happen.
Fantasy preludes Science Fiction to a time before rapid technological innovations and relies on the supernatural and fantastic occurrences that are not grounded in science. Some of the oldest stories in human history like those of the Sumerians or the Greeks are heavily populated with mentions of gods, demigods, monsters and magic. For example, in the Middle Eastern story from the book of ‘One Thousand and One Nights’, ‘Aladdin’ the main protagonist of the tale with the same name comes upon magical lamps and a wish-granting genie. However, the author does not delve into details of how the various occurrences take place; this is because the story implies that this framework created by the author is to be accepted at face value. Fantasy is not limited only to medieval tales, modern-day fantasy in the form of superheroes also exist where Science Fiction and fantasy are married into an amalgamation of the two, blurring the lines between where Science Fiction ends, and fantasy begins. Whereas in the case of a science — fiction narrative the author must provide scientific explanations for all the events in the story. The framework of the world created by the author is one very similar to the one that we live in; hence, the cognitive aspect, another aspect of this framework is one that would not exist in the framework of the world that we know; hence, the estrangement bit (as per Darko Suvin’s theory). It is this property of the Science Fiction world that would further lead to logical scientific explanations to the occurrences in the narrative, Suvin calls this a ‘novum’.
According to Suvin, “Science Fiction is the literature of cognitive estrangement” … “(it) is, then, a literary genre whose necessary and sufficient conditions are the presence and interaction of estrangement and cognition, and whose main formal device is an imaginative framework alternative to the author’s empirical environment.”(Suvin, 1972)
Much of the burden of Suvin’s work lies on the shoulders of the words made famous in his essays, ‘Estrangement’, ‘Cognition’, and ‘Novum’. These are the products of Suvin’s efforts that appear in most intellectual discourses on the topic of Science Fiction and its poetics. An important point that was made by Suvin, as well as his contemporaries, was the distinction between Science Fiction and fantasy. Elegantly put by H.G. Wells (and most certainly endorsed by Darko Suvin) — “Nothing remains interesting where anything may happen” in the preface to ‘The scientific romances of H.G. Wells’. (Wells quoted by Gill, 1975)
[1] “CRISPR” (pronounced “crisper”) stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, which are the hallmark of a bacterial defence system that forms the basis for CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology. The technology can be used in possibly editing aesthetic traits in the human genome. (Broad Institute, 2014)
[2] Early in 2015, Stephen Hawking’s and Elon musk along with dozens of AI experts signed an open letter on AI, pointing out the flaws and possible dangers of AI and called for more research on the subject.
[3] Professor Patrick Parrinder is a now retired academic from the University of Reading. Parrinder has studied and commented extensively in the fields of science fiction and the works of great science fiction writers such as H.G. Wells.