When I teach sci-fi (and I usually have a choice between Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World as the text my students have to read) the question of defining sci-fi is always the starting point. And as you can see, what I have to teach is actually the overlap between sci-fi and dystopian fiction. (A Handmaid's Tale was another of the recent set texts.)
But we always try to define the term and look at different definitions - some of which actually encompass fantasy and horror elements, but for most of my students this doesn't really fit. For them sci-fi = future.
What about Star Wars? They get confused with that, because it has got space ships and robots, but it's set in the past.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2010-09-14 03:01 pm (UTC)When I teach sci-fi (and I usually have a choice between Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World as the text my students have to read) the question of defining sci-fi is always the starting point. And as you can see, what I have to teach is actually the overlap between sci-fi and dystopian fiction. (A Handmaid's Tale was another of the recent set texts.)
But we always try to define the term and look at different definitions - some of which actually encompass fantasy and horror elements, but for most of my students this doesn't really fit. For them sci-fi = future.
What about Star Wars? They get confused with that, because it has got space ships and robots, but it's set in the past.