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Encyclopedia > Definitions of science fiction
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Main article: Science fiction

Science fiction includes such a wide range of themes and subgenres that it is notoriously difficult to define.[1] This is a list of definitions that have been offered by authors, editors, critics and fans over the years since science fiction became clearly separate from other genres. Definitions of related terms such as "science fantasy", "speculative fiction", and "fabulation" are included where they are intended as definitions of aspects of science fiction or because they illuminate related definitions — see e.g. Robert Scholes's definitions of "fabulation" and "structural fabulation" below. Some definitions of sub-types of science fiction are included, too; for example see David Ketterer's definition of "philosophically oriented science fiction". In addition, some definitions are included that define, for example, a science fiction story, rather than science fiction itself, since these also illuminate an underlying definition of science fiction. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Some notable science fiction novels, in alphabetical order by title: Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z  - External links 0–9 1632 by Eric Flint 1633 by... Note that this partial list contains some authors whose works of fantastic fiction would today be called science fiction, even if they predate, or did not work in that genre. ... Poster for 2001: A Space Odyssey, an archetypal science fiction film Science fiction film is a film genre that uses speculative, science-based depictions of imaginary phenomena such as extra-terrestrial lifeforms, alien worlds, and time travel, often along with technological elements such as futuristic spacecraft, robots, or other technologies. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ...


The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, edited by John Clute and Peter Nicholls, contains an extensive discussion of the problem of definition, under the heading "Definitions of SF". The authors regard Darko Suvin's definition as having been most useful in catalysing academic debate, though they consider disagreements to be inevitable as science fiction is not homogeneous. Suvin's cited definition, dating from 1972, is: "a literary genre whose necessary and sufficient conditions are the presence and interaction of estrangement and cognition, and whose main formal device is an imaginative framework alternative to the author's empirical environment."[2] The authors of the Encyclopedia article - Brian Stableford, Clute, and Nicholls - explain that, by "cognition", Suvin refers to the seeking of rational understanding, while his concept of estrangement is similar to the idea of alienation developed by Bertolt Brecht, that is, a means of making the subject matter recognizable while also seeming unfamiliar. John [Frederick] Clute is a Canadian born author and critic who lives in Britain. ... Peter Nicholls is an Australian-born writer. ... Darko Ronald Suvin (born 1930) is a Yugoslav-born academic and critic, who became a Professor at McGill University, now emeritus after retiring in 1999. ... Brian Stableford (born July 25, 1948) is a British science fiction writer who has published more than 50 novels. ... The alienation effect (from the German Verfremdungseffekt) is a theatrical and cinematic device which prevents the audience from losing itself passively and completely in the character created by the actor, and which consequently leads the audience to be a consciously critical observer. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...


The order of the quotations is chronological; quotations without definite dates are listed last.


Definitions

In date order
  • Hugo Gernsback. 1926. "By 'scientifiction' I mean the Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and Edgar Allan Poe type of story -- a charming romance intermingled with scientific fact and prophetic vision . . . . Not only do these amazing tales make tremendously interesting reading -- they are always instructive. They supply knowledge . . . in a very palatable form . . . . New adventures pictured for us in the scientifiction of today are not at all impossible of realization tomorrow . . . . Many great science stories destined to be of historical interest are still to be written . . . . Posterity will point to them as having blazed a new trail, not only in literature and fiction, but progress as well." [3] [4]
  • J. O. Bailey. 1947. "A piece of scientific fiction is a narrative of an imaginary invention or discovery in the natural sciences and consequent adventures and experiences . . . . It must be a scientific discovery -- something that the author at least rationalizes as possible to science."[5] [6] [4]
  • Robert A. Heinlein. 1947. "[R]ealistic speculation about possible future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present, and on a thorough understanding of the nature and significance of the scientific method." Heinlein immediately adds that if you "strike out the word 'future' it can apply to all and not just almost all SF." Later in the same essay, Heinlein gives more detail: "Let's gather up the bits and pieces and define the Simon-pure science fiction story: 1. The conditions must be, in some respect, different from here-and-now, although the difference may lie only in an invention made in the course of the story. 2. The new conditions must be an essential part of the story. 3. The problem itself -- the "plot" -- must be a human problem. 4. The human problem must be one which is created by, or indispensably affected by, the new conditions. 5. And lastly, no established fact shall be violated, and, furthermore, when the story requires that a theory contrary to present accepted theory be used, the new theory should be rendered reasonably plausible and it must include and explain established facts as satisfactorily as the one the author saw fit to junk. It may be far-fetched, it may seem fantastic, but it must not be at variance with observed facts, i.e., if you are going to assume that the human race descended from Martians, then you've got to explain our apparent close relationship to terrestrial anthropoid apes as well."[7]
  • John W. Campbell. 1947. "To be science fiction, not fantasy, an honest effort at prophetic extrapolation from the known must be made." [7]
  • Basil Davenport. 1955. "Science fiction is fiction based upon some imagined development of science, or upon the extrapolation of a tendency in society."[8]
  • Edmund Crispin. 1955. A science fiction story "is one that presupposes a technology, or an effect of technology, or a disturbance in the natural order, such as humanity, up to the time of writing, has not in actual fact experienced."[9][10]
  • Kingsley Amis. 1960. "Science fiction is that class of prose narrative treating of a situation that could not arise in the world we know, but which is hypothesized on the basis of some innovation in science or technology, or pseudo-science or pseudo-technology, whether human or extra-terrestrial in origin." [11]
  • Darko Suvin. 1972. Science fiction is "a literary genre whose necessary and sufficient conditions are the presence and interaction of estrangement and cognition, and whose main formal device is an imaginative framework alternative to the author's empirical environment." [12] [4]
  • Brian Aldiss. 1973. "[S]cience fiction is the search for a definition of man and his status in the universe which will stand in our advanced but confused state of knowledge (science) and is characteristically cast in the Gothic or post-Gothic mode". [13] [6] [4] Revised 1986. "... a definition of mankind..." [14]
  • David Ketterer. 1974. "Philosophically oriented science fiction, extrapolating on what we know in the context of our vaster ignorance, comes up with a startling donnée, or rationale, that puts humanity in a radically new perspective." [4]
  • Robert Scholes. 1975. Fabulation is "fiction that offers us a world clearly and radically discontinuous from the one we know, yet returns to confront that known world in some cognitive way." [15] [4]
  • ―. 1975. In structural fabulation, "the tradition of speculative fiction is modified by an awareness of the universe as a system of systems, a structure of structures, and the insights of the past century of science are accepted as fictional points of departure. Yet structural fabulation is neither scientific in its methods nor a substitute for actual science. It is a fictional exploration of human situations made perceptible by the implications of recent science. Its favourite themes involve the impact of developments or revelations derived from the human or physical sciences upon the people who must live with those revelations or developments." [15] [4]
  • Patrick Parrinder. 1980. "'Hard' SF is related to 'hard facts' and also to the 'hard' or engineering sciences. It does not necessarily entail realistic speculation about a future world, though its bias is undoubtedly realistic. Rather, this is the sort of SF that most appeals to scientists themselves -- and is often written by them. The typical 'hard' SF writer looks for new and unfamiliar scientific theories and discoveries which could provide the occasion for a story, and, at its more didactic extreme, the story is only a framework for introducing the scientific concept to the reader." [16]
  • ―. 1980. "In 'space opera' (the analogy is with the Western 'horse opera' rather than the 'soap opera') the reverse [Parrinder is referring to his definition of "hard sf"] is true; a melodramatic adventure-fantasy involving stock themes and settings is evolved on the flimsiest scientific basis." [16]
  • David Pringle. 1985. "Science fiction is a form of fantastic fiction which exploits the imaginative perspectives of modern science". [17]
  • Kim Stanley Robinson. 1987. Sf is "an historical literature . . . . In every sf narrative, there is an explicit or implicit fictional history that connects the period depicted to our present moment, or to some moment in our past." [18] [4]
  • Christopher Evans. 1988. "Perhaps the crispest definition is that science fiction is a literature of 'what if?' What if we could travel in time? What if we were living on other planets? What if we made contact with alien races? And so on. The starting point is that the writer supposes things are different from how we know them to be." [19]
  • Isaac Asimov. 1990. "'[H]ard science fiction' [is] stories that feature authentic scientific knowledge and depend upon it for plot development and plot resolution." [20]
  • Jeff Prucher. 2006. Science fiction is "a genre (of literature, film, etc.) in which the setting differs from our own world (e.g. by the invention of new technology, through contact with aliens, by having a different history, etc.), and in which the difference is based on extrapolations made from one or more changes or suppositions; hence, such a genre in which the difference is explained (explicitly or implicitly) in scientific or rational, as opposed to supernatural, terms." [21]
Undated (alphabetically by author)
  • James Blish. Science fantasy is "a kind of hybrid in which plausibility is specifically invoked for most of the story, but may be cast aside in patches at the author's whim and according to no visible system or principle." [22]
  • John W. Campbell, Jr.. "Scientific methodology involves the proposition that a well-constructed theory will not only explain away known phenomena, but will also predict new and still undiscovered phenomena. Science fiction tries to do much the same -- and write up, in story form, what the results look like when applied not only to machines, but to human society as well." [4]
  • Damon Knight. "Science fiction is what we point to when we say it". [4]
  • Bonnie Kunzel. "Science fiction has been called the books that science fiction writers write! In other words, it can be about anything in or out of this world."[23]
  • Barry N. Malzberg. Science fiction is "that branch of fiction that deals with the possible effects of an altered technology or social system on mankind in an imagined future, an altered present, or an alternative past." [6]
  • Judith Merril. "Speculative fiction: stories whose objective is to explore, to discover, to learn, by means of projection, extrapolation, analogue, hypothesis-and-paper-experimentation, something about the nature of the universe, of man, or 'reality' . . . . I use the term 'speculative fiction' here specifically to describe the mode which makes use of the traditional 'scientific method' (observation, hypothesis, experiment) to examine some postulated approximation of reality, by introducing a given set of changes -- imaginary or inventive -- into the common background of 'known facts', creating an environment in which the responses and perceptions of the characters will reveal something about the inventions, the characters, or both". [6] [4]
  • Frederik Pohl. "Science fiction is what science fiction fans mean when they point to something and say, 'That’s science fiction.'" [6]
  • Rod Serling. "Fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made possible."
  • Tom Shippey. "Science fiction is hard to define because it is the literature of change and it changes while you are trying to define it." [6]
  • Norman Spinrad. "Science fiction is anything published as science fiction." [6] [4]
  • Theodore Sturgeon. "[A] good science-fiction story is a story about human beings, with a human problem, and a human solution, that would not have happened at all without its science content."[6]

Hugo Gernsback (August 16, 1884 - August 19, 1967) was an inventor and magazine publisher who also wrote science fiction and whose publication included the first science fiction magazine. ... J(ames) O(sler) Bailey (1903-1979) was a professor of literature who taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. ... Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was one of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of hard science fiction. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Edmund Crispin was the pseudonym of Bruce Montgomery (October 2, 1921—September 15, 1978) an English crime writer and composer. ... Sir Kingsley William Amis (April 16, 1922 – October 22, 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. ... Darko Ronald Suvin (born 1930) is a Yugoslav-born academic and critic, who became a Professor at McGill University, now emeritus after retiring in 1999. ... Brian Aldiss at 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, August 2005. ... Robert E. Scholes is an American literary critic and theorist. ... David Pringle (born 1950) was a Scottish science fiction editor. ... Kim Stanley Robinson at the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, August 2005 Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American science fiction writer, probably best known for his award-winning Mars trilogy. ... Dr. Christopher Riche Evans (1931 - October 10, 1979) British psychologist and computer scientist. ... Dr. Isaac Asimov (c. ... James Benjamin Blish (East Orange, New Jersey, May 23, 1921 - Henley-on-Thames, July 29, 1975) was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. ... John Wood Campbell, Jr. ... Damon Knight (September 19, 1922 – April 15, 2002) was a science fiction author, editor, and critic. ... Barry N. Malzberg (born 1939) is an American writer and editor, most often of science fiction and fantasy; initially in his post-graduate work he sought to establish himself as a playwright as well as prose-fiction writer. ... Judith Merril (January 21, 1923, New York, New York - September 12, 1997, Canada) was an North American science fiction author and anthologist. ... Frederik Pohl (born November 26, 1919) is a noted American science fiction writer and editor, with a career spanning over sixty years. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Thomas Alan Shippey (born 1943) is a scholar of medieval literature, including Anglo-Saxon England, and of modern fantasy and science fiction, in particular the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, about whom he has written several scholarly studies. ... Norman Richard Spinrad (born September 15, 1940) is an American science fiction author. ... Theodore Sturgeon (February 26, 1918 Staten Island, New York – May 8, 1985) was an American science fiction author. ...

References

  1. ^ For example, Patrick Parrinder comments that "[d]efinitions of science fiction are not so much a series of logical approximations to an elusive ideal, as a small, parasitic sub-genre in themselves." Parrinder, Patrick (1980). Science Fiction: Its Criticism and Teaching. London: New Accents. 
  2. ^ Stableford, Brian.; Clute, John, and Nicholls, Peter (1993). "Definitions of SF". Encyclopedia of Science Fiction: 311-314. Ed. Clute, John, and Nicholls, Peter. London: Orbit/Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 1857231244.
  3. ^ Originally published in the April 1926 issue of Amazing Stories
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Quoted in [1993] in: Stableford, Brian.; Clute, John, and Nicholls, Peter (1993). "Definitions of SF". Encyclopedia of Science Fiction: 311-314. Ed. Clute, John, and Nicholls, Peter. London: Orbit/Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 1857231244.
  5. ^ Originally published in Pilgrims of Space and Time (1947)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Quoted in [1983] in Jakubowski, Maxim & Edwards, Malcolm: The Complete Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy Lists. London: Granada. ISBN 0-586-05678-5. 
  7. ^ a b Originally in [1947] in Eshbach, Lloyd Arthur: Of Worlds Beyond. New York: Fantasy Press, 91. ; cited from 1964 reprint.
  8. ^ Davenport, Basil (1955). Inquiry Into Science Fiction. New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 15. 
  9. ^ Wyndham, John (1963). The Seeds of Time. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 7. , quoted from the Penguin reprint; the original publication was 1956 by Michael Joseph.
  10. ^ Definitions of Science Fiction. Retrieved on 3 December 2006.
  11. ^ Amis, Kingsley [1960]. New Maps of Hell. New York: Ballantine, 14. 
  12. ^ Originally published in 1972
  13. ^ Aldiss, Brian (1973). Billion Year Spree. 
  14. ^ Aldiss, Brian; Wingrove, David (1986). Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction. London: Gollancz. ISBN 0575039426. 
  15. ^ a b Scholes, Robert (1975). Structural Fabulation. 
  16. ^ a b Parrinder, Patrick (1980). Science Fiction: Its Criticism and Teaching. London: New Accents, 15. 
  17. ^ Pringle, David (1985). Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels. London: Xanadu, 9. 
  18. ^ Robinson, Kim Stanley (1987). "Profession". Foundation: the international review of science fiction (38). ISSN 03064964258. 
  19. ^ Evans, Christopher (1988). Writing Science Fiction. London: A & C Black, 9. 
  20. ^ [1990] in Greenberg, Martin & Asimov, Isaac: Cosmic Critiques. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books, 6. 
  21. ^ In Brave New Words (2006); quoted from draft text.
  22. ^ Quoted in Parrinder, Patrick (1980). Science Fiction: Its Criticism and Teaching. London: New Accents, 18. .
  23. ^ To Boldly Go... Science Fiction (A Personal Odyssey) available at http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kvander/books/KUNZEL.pdf


Brian Stableford (born July 25, 1948) is a British science fiction writer who has published more than 50 novels. ... John [Frederick] Clute is a Canadian born author and critic who lives in Britain. ... Peter Nicholls is an Australian-born writer. ... Orbit Books a British publisher which specialises in Sci-Fi and Fantasy books. ... Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. ... Amazing Stories magazine, sometimes retitled Amazing Science Fiction, began in April 1926, becoming the first science fiction magazine and one of the pioneers of science fiction in the United States. ... Brian Stableford (born July 25, 1948) is a British science fiction writer who has published more than 50 novels. ... John [Frederick] Clute is a Canadian born author and critic who lives in Britain. ... Peter Nicholls is an Australian-born writer. ... Orbit Books a British publisher which specialises in Sci-Fi and Fantasy books. ... Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. ... A science fiction and academical writer, born in England by russian and polish parents, but raised in France. ... Malcolm John Edwards (born 1949) is a British editor and critic in the science fiction field. ... HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by Rupert Murdochs News Corporation. ... Lloyd Arthur Eshbach (Palm, Pennsylvania June 20, 1910 - Myerstown, Pennsylvania October 29, 2003) was an American science fiction author and publisher. ... Fantasy Press was an American publishing house specialising in fantasy and science fiction titles. ... John Wyndham (July 10, 1903 – March 11, 1969) was the pen name used by the often post-apocalyptic British science fiction writer John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris. ... December 3 is the 337th (in leap years the 338th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Sir Kingsley William Amis (April 16, 1922 – October 22, 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. ... Ballantine was an American brewery, founded by Peter Ballantine who was born in Scotland in 1781. ... Brian Aldiss at 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, August 2005. ... Brian Aldiss at 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, August 2005. ... David Wingrove (born September 1954 in North Battersea, London) is a British science fiction writer. ... A Gollancz edition of The Door Into Summer, displaying the distinctive yellow dust jacket style. ... Robert E. Scholes is an American literary critic and theorist. ... David Pringle (born 1950) was a Scottish science fiction editor. ... Kim Stanley Robinson at the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, August 2005 Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American science fiction writer, probably best known for his award-winning Mars trilogy. ... Since it began in 1972, Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction has published over 9000 pages of articles and reviews about science fiction. ... ISSN, or International Standard Serial Number, is the unique eight-digit number applied to a periodical publication including electronic serials. ... Dr. Christopher Riche Evans (1931 - October 10, 1979) British psychologist and computer scientist. ... Dr. Isaac Asimov (c. ...

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