However, is this really the case? Maybe it's just because Frankenstein, the protagonist of this fantasy work, is a scientist in the modern sense? If we make an in-depth study of this work, it is not difficult to find that the complete title of the work is Frankenstein or Modern Prometheus (Frankenstein; Or, the modern Prometheus, although there is a scientific process of Frankenstein's creation of new life with corpses in his works, his theme is still an ancient Greek tragedy of "arrogance leads to the fall of heroes".
Frankenstein modern Prometheus
If we go back, it is not difficult to find Gulliver's Travels, a novel published by jonathan swift in 1726. As long as the big country and the lilliputian country are interpreted as giant or tiny alien creatures, the sky island will become a city of the sky in Gunn, and the wise horse will become an ape in Planet of the Apes. Then this will be a complete science fiction novel.
Gulliver's Travels: Travels of Lilliput
In fact, Swift was not the only writer who created fantasy works at that time. Voltaire, a contemporary French writer, also described a story in his short story Little Adults. Sirius came to Saturn and the Earth respectively to communicate with intelligent creatures on these two planets. The only difference between this imaginative and philosophical work and modern science fiction is perhaps just a carriage that shuttles between planets.
From the works mentioned above, we can easily find that. The literary aspect of science fiction has a long history. What develops and changes is people's cognition and definition of science.
After mary shelley, H·G· Wells and jules verne, we generally call the era of three famous science fiction writers, robert heinlein, isaac asimov and Arthur Clark, the golden age of science fiction. So what's the difference between their works and previous science fiction works? What does it have to do with their times?
19 15 years, Einstein completed the general theory of relativity. Then, quantum mechanics gradually entered people's field of vision. 1939, G Raber received radio waves from the center of the Milky Way through a radio telescope. With the help of radio astronomy, people's understanding of their own galaxy and the whole universe has taken a big step forward. 1946 the world's first electronic computer "ENIAC" was born in the university of Pennsylvania. The concept of robot began to be mentioned constantly. 196 1 years ago, Soviet astronaut Gagarin flew around the earth in the "Oriental-1" spacecraft, becoming the first human to go into space.
In the sci-fi series "Base" in the same period, Asimov painted a magnificent galactic empire for everyone, while in "Steel Cave", robots have become close partners of human beings. In arthur clarke's Fountain of Heaven, man went into space through a ladder. Time travel and parallel universes, which often appear in this period, are also based on relativity and quantum mechanics. I believe that friends who are familiar with golden science fiction will certainly find many traces of scientific and technological development in that era in their works at that time.
Asimov's base
Obviously, it is no coincidence that the vigorous development of science fiction is so compatible with the progress of science and technology. Gold science fiction perfectly explains the inextricable relationship between the two. Then, after this, what kind of sci-fi development trend has the sci-fi new wave movement shown?
The core of the new wave movement of science fiction is New World magazine. 1939 was founded in Britain and published works led by J·D· Ballard and Ortiz. These works are different from American golden science fiction, with broader themes, and technology is no longer the core element of the works. But to integrate psychology, sociology, politics and even theology into their works. In the new wave movement, the scope of "science" has been expanded unprecedentedly. Works that were originally based on natural sciences such as astronomy, physics and biology were dubbed "hard science".
From 65438 to 0968, Judy Meryl, a science fiction writer and editor, compiled the works of this genre into a book named "New Wave Works". In order to distinguish it from previous science fiction works. The original SF (science fiction) also has a new definition: speculative novel.
There is an important work in the New Wave Movement, roger zelazny's The King of Light. In this sci-fi work, the boundary between science and theology becomes very blurred. In the "King of Light" world, technology does not appear in the familiar way. But with the "divinity" and their "magic" of the "gods" who master science and technology. The "Death", "Brahma" and "Shiva" in the story are all mortals who have mastered certain skills. The transmission of consciousness in the story has also become a "reincarnation" in Indian Buddhism. As arthur clarke said, "We can't distinguish between any sufficiently advanced technology and magic." Perhaps, Homer and Dante will live to the new wave era, and they can also become science fiction writers who won Hugo Award and nebula Award.
Roger zelazny is the king of light.
From Gulliver's Travels in the former sci-fi era to Frankenstein, the originator of modern sci-fi, from Base in the golden age to King of Light in the new wave, some people may think that this is a sci-fi reincarnation. The king of light, which also shines with fantastic colors, seems to have a more scientific coat than Gulliver's Travels.
But if you think deeply. We can easily find that the nature of science fiction has never changed. They all put human society and human beings in an unfamiliar and unknown environment. And its development is only based on the progress of science and technology and ideology and culture in different times.
If this is the essence of science fiction, then as long as we continue to explore the development of society, tap human nature and combine new technology. Then the development of science fiction will be endless, endless.
When I wrote this article, it coincided with the release of the game Cyberpunk 2077. It has been 36 years since 1984 when William Gibson wrote The Nervous Wanderer. The artificial intelligence, virtual reality, genetic engineering and super-large multinational enterprises mentioned in the works have changed from fantasy to reality. Even Gibson is worried that "human nature is dominated by ubiquitous cheap technology." It is also beginning to show signs. So what new changes will there be in the future society, and where will mankind go in these changes? I believe these will bring endless inspiration and challenges to science fiction writers!