Thursday, August 2nd, 2007

Time	Event
2:38p	Will fantasy outlive Science Fiction? Will fantasy outlive Science Fiction? I think so. Fantasy is timeless. Science fiction is based on futurism, a particular view of how the future stands in relation to the present.  I am here distinguishing 'futurism' from 'millenarianism'. The world view of futurism is the view that the future will be to the present as the present stands to the past: but it is "the past" of Darwinian evolution, not the past of the Book of Genesis. In futurism, if the past was more primitive, the future will be more advanced. The past was the horse-and-buggy; the future is the flying car. The past was the ape-man, the future is the bald, dwarf-bodied big-brained superman, perhaps jaunting around in a three-legged war machine. Or maybe the future is Mad Max jaunting around in his gasoline-starved car with his meat-starved mad dog, depending on where the speculation thinks the world is heading: but in any case, it is a natural, not a supernatural. In the millenarian world view, on the other hand, the past was The Golden Age, the Age of Saturn, and the future is the Kali Yuga. The future is the promise that the Armies of Light will destroy the Sons of Darkness that rule the present world, all harms will be healed, all tears wiped away, and New Jerusalem descend from the clouds, or, if you prefer, Baldir the Good return from his exile in Nastrond. The end of history is accomplished by a supernatural agency. With no offense to my fellow Christians, I propose that an audience whose view of the future is millenarian has no real reason to be curious about the speculations of science fiction: if it is an article of faith that the Twilight of the Gods will take place as prophesied, reading about The Invasion of the Living Brains of Mars has no appeal. If you already know that the World Tree will be burned by Surtur, what do you care about a story where Earth is pashed to bits by some wandering planet like Zyra, Bronson Alpha, Nemesis, or Mongo?  ( Read more... )   (23 Comments | Comment on this)
5:47p	If science fiction does die off, what might kill it? A follow up to the last post: I should have been more clear that science fiction rests on futurism, and that if the future does not itself contain a culture enamored of futurism, science fiction will have limited appeal. I was not trying to argue that the future would be or even might be millenarian in tone. Futurism and Millenarianism are not the only two options, merely the only two with which we are familiar. My point is merely that if audiences in the future have an attitude toward their future that is something other than futurism (a curiosity about a future changed from yet as natural as their own) science fiction will have no further appeal. There are several things that might kill off science fiction as a genre.  First, and most likely, technical change and progress will become such a commonly accepted part of life, that stories can no longer rest for awe and wonder at the changes of the future as their primary appeal. ( Read more... ) (9 Comments | Comment on this)

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