Social science fiction
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Sumer- A short social science fiction film. |
Social science fiction is a
Exploration of fictional societies is a significant aspect of science fiction, allowing it to perform predictive (The Time Machine, 1895; The Final Circle of Paradise, 1965) and precautionary (Brave New World, 1932; Nineteen Eighty-Four, 1949; Childhood's End, Fahrenheit 451, 1953) functions, to criticize the contemporary world (Gulliver's Travels, 1726; the works of Alexander Gromov, 1995–present) and to present solutions (Walden Two, Freedom™), to portray alternative societies (World of the Noon) and to examine the implications of ethical principles, as for example in the works of Sergei Lukyanenko.[1] More contemporary examples include The Lobster (2015), directed by Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, and The Platform (2019).
In English
Social fiction is a broad term to describe any work of speculative fiction that features social commentary (as opposed to, say, hypothetical technology) in the foreground.[2] Social science fiction is a subgenre thereof, where social commentary (cultural or political) takes place in a sci-fi universe. Utopian and dystopian fiction is a classic, polarized genre of social science fiction, although most works of science fiction can be interpreted as having social commentary of some kind or other as an important feature. It is not uncommon, therefore, for a sci-fi work to be labeled as social sci-fi as well as numerous other categories.
One of the writers who used science fiction to explore the sociology of near-future topics was
Other early examples of influential novels include Vril, the Power of the Coming Race (1871) by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Erewhon (1872) by Samuel Butler, Looking Backward: 2000-1887 (1888) by Edward Bellamy and News from Nowhere (1890) by William Morris
In the U.S. the new trend of science fiction away from gadgets and space opera and toward speculation about the human condition[citation needed] was championed in pulp magazines of the 1940s by authors such as Robert A. Heinlein and by Isaac Asimov, who invented the term "social science fiction" to describe his own work.[3] The term is not often used presently except in the context of referring specifically to the changes that occurred during the 1940s,[citation needed] but the subgenre it references is still a major part of science fiction.
Utopian fiction eventually gave birth to a negative and often more cynical genre, known as
Some movies speculate about human behavior and interactions placed in extreme and strange environment like Cube (1997), Cube Zero (2004), Cube 2: Hypercube (2002) or Platform (2019).
The Chrysalids (1955) by John Wyndham explored the society of several telepathic children in a world hostile to such differences. Robert Sheckley studied polar civilizations of criminal and stability in his 1960 novel The Status Civilization.
The modern era of social science fiction began with the 1960s,[
Kim Stanley Robinson explored different models of the future in his Three Californias Trilogy (1984, 1988, 1990).
Examples from the 1940s
- Nightfall, 1941
- Isaac Asimov, The Foundation series, 1942–1993
- Karin Boye, Kallocain, 1940
- If This Goes On—, 1940
- Robert A. Heinlein, Beyond This Horizon, 1942
- George R. Stewart, Earth Abides, 1949
- George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, 1949
Other examples
- Ira Levin, This Perfect Day, 1970
- Andrew Niccol, Gattaca, 1997
See also
- Anthropological science fiction[5]
- Cyberpunk
- Design fiction
- Fable
- Libertarian science fiction
- Social thriller
References
- ^ about.com. May 28, 2008
- ^ "Social Science Fiction - Dictionary definition of Social Science Fiction - Encyclopedia.com: FREE online dictionary". www.encyclopedia.com.
- ^ In his essay appearing in Modern Science Fiction: Its Meaning and Its Future (ed. Reginald Bretnor, 1953).
- ^ Fitting, Peter. "Utopias Beyond Our Ideals: The Dilemma of the Right-Wing Utopia." Utopian Studies. Vol. 2, No. 1/2, 1991.
- JSTOR 4241163.
Further reading
- Modern Science Fiction: Its Meaning and Its Future, eds. Reginald Bretnor and John Wood Campbell, 2nd edition, 1979, ISBN 0-911682-23-6.