Ok, I am doing a conference paper/journal article for my MA in Creative Writing on the Golden Age of science fiction (Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, Bradbury, Orwell) and how WWII and the Cold War shaped their stories (ie: Farhenheit's 451's book burning from the fear of the Nazis book bonfires, 1984 as the fear of the totalitarian regime--read: "commies"--human/alien wars as reflection of East/West relations and fear of the other--read: "commies" again--apocalyptic stories under the fear of nuclear armaggeddon etc...)
Tall order in other words =P
If any of you know of books or web resources that can help me in my research I would appreciate...
Well, I am on my way to the library. Thanks in advance folks.
quote:Science fiction has established itself as a legitimate branch of literature. C. S. Lewis’s Out of the Silent Planet (1938) used science fiction as a vehicle for theological speculation, and works such as Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932), George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four (1949), Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (1953), and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s Cat’s Cradle (1963) demonstrate the particular effectiveness of the genre as an instrument of social criticism.
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Have you considered contrasting and comparing the impact of WWI on writing with the impact of WWII on writing? After you have delved further into WWII, of course. There's alot of info about the impact of WWI out there, although it appears to concentrate on Tolkien.
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Although more fantasy style as opposed to sci-fi, Orwell's Animal Farm is nothing but social comentary on the USSR. I remember writing an essay in grade 10 on the symbolism of Animal Farm.
Posts: 1473 | Registered: Jul 2004
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David Hartwell, AGE OF WONDERS Neil Barron, ANATOMY OF WONDER: A CRITICAL GUIDE TO SF Peter Nichols, THE SCIENCE FICTION ENCYCLOPEDIA Damon Knight, IN SEARCH OF WONDER Brian W. Aldiss, BILLION YEAR SPREE: THE TRUE HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION James E. Gunn, ALTERNATE WORLDS: THE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION Frank N. McGill, SURVEY OF SCIENCE FICTION (5 volumes; this should be a great source)
Also, the college library should have some serach engines that are available only through universities (unless you pay the big bucks to access them privately). So check with the librarian for your options.
Finally, there are a number of universities that offer courses in SF. See if you can find them on the Web, and try contacting a professor or two to help narrow your bibliographical search.
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Well, after WWII, apocalyptic fiction really took off. Check out scififan.com. They list books by theme on the site. Of course they don't list all books in existence with each theme, but they probably come pretty close. If you know of a book that is missing, contact them and they will add it to the list. I added 2 to this particular theme. According to what is on their site, between 1826 and 1947, there were only a scattered, few books that covered this sort of theme, 21 total listed. Those novels were not focused on atomics either. Mostly plagues, volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters. After 1948, there are about 3-5 books listed each year with this theme. Between 1948 and 1958, there are a total of 39 novels listed, in only 10 years. That's pretty significant. And that was just getting started, Alas Babylon, was published in 1959, and Heinlein published Farnham's Freehold in 1964. It stands to reason that both of those novels were written during the late fifties. Not to mention that the horror film industry started putting out all of those giant creature films. Giant ants, praying mantis, etc. All of course were created by radiation. Farnham's Freehold is a pretty controversial book. Opinions vary greatly on whether or not Heinlein was racist, due to this book. To me, it seems to bridge the gap between the fear of the 50's (atomic disaster) and one of the major concerns of the 60's (racial conflicts). An interesting book. Posts: 579 | Registered: Mar 2004
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I can think of some things for content, but you probably already have.
For referance books, which was your question, try "Space Travel: A Writer's guide to the science of interplanitary and interstellar travel" by Ben Bova and Anthony R. Lewis.
The first chapter gives some history of sci-fi and describes what different authors have done.
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