Science Fiction: A Very Short Introduction - Softcover

Seed, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199557454 ISBN 13: 9780199557455

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2011

Synopsis

Frankenstein, The Time Machine, Star Trek, Dune, 1984, Blade Runner--science fiction has been explained as a combination of romance, science, and prophecy; as a genre based on an imagined alternative to the reader's environment; and as a form of fantastic fiction and historical literature. It has also been argued that science fiction narratives are the most engaged, socially relevant, and responsive to the modern technological environment. In this Very Short Introduction, David Seed doesn't offer a history of science fiction, but instead attempts to tie examples of science fiction to different historical moments, in order to demonstrate how science fiction has evolved over time, especially the emergence of science fiction as a popular genre in the 20th century. Seed looks not only at literature, but also at drama and poetry, as well as film. Examining recurrent themes in science fiction, he looks at voyages into space, the concept of the alien and alternative social identities, the role of technology in science fiction, and its relation to time--in the past, present, and future.

About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.

About this title

About the Author

David Seed is Professor in the School of English, University of Liverpool.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0199557454
• ISBN 13: 9780199557455
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 147