In Week 2, we’ll cover the following topics.
Day 1:
We’re going to start with a discussion exercise. I’m going to challenge you to work in groups and come up with a definition of “Science Fiction.” I’m not going to make it easy on you, but hopefully we can come up with a definition that works well enough for the purposes of our class. In your groups, you’re especially going to look at the things you mentioned as examples of SF you love in order to help you build this definition.
Day 2:
We’re going to take a stab at formally defining science fiction together, and checking to see if our own definition makes sense. It’s harder than it sounds! I’ll discuss the ideas of a few theorists and writers, possibly including Darko Suvin, Thomas M. Disch, Ursula K. Le Guin, Vernor Vinge, and Istvan Csicsery-Ronay.
I’ll talk a little bit about the history of SF, and depending on the discussion, maybe we’ll try construct a “family tree” for SF subgenres and movements, and/or give you a quick overview of the history of SF as a genre in the English-speaking world.
Finally, we’re going to do a discussion exercise that should give you some insight into how SF works as a narrative form from the creative side of things—how SF writers think. The exercise is called “Who does this hurt?”
Journaling
Write about your own ideas regarding how we can define SF. Hint: one way of defining the genre is to focus on what you enjoy or find interesting about it.
(You can find the link to the Course Journal in the Course Materials folder.)
For More
For more on the thorny (or impossible?) task of defining SF, here are some recommended sources and articles:
- “Science Fiction as Church” by Thomas M. Disch.
- Metamorphoses of Science Fiction: On the Poetics and History of a Literary Genre (KU Library link) by Darko Suvin.
- The Seven Beauties of Science Fiction (KU Library link) by Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, or see the shorter article here.
- Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction (KU Library link) by Ursula K. Le Guin.