The Fortean Influence on Science Fiction: Charles Fort and the Evolution of the Genre (Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy, 73) - Softcover

Boyle, Tanner F.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1476677409 ISBN 13: 9781476677408

Publisher: McFarland, 2020

Synopsis

Charles Fort was an American researcher from the early twentieth century who cataloged reports of unexplained phenomena he found in newspapers and science journals. A minor bestseller with a cult appeal, Fort's work was posthumously republished in the pulp science fiction magazine Astounding Stories in 1934. His idiosyncratic books fascinated, scared, and entertained readers, many of them authors and editors of science fiction. Fort's work prophesied the paranormal mainstays of SF literature to come: UFOs, poltergeists, strange disappearances, cryptids, ancient mysteries, unexplained natural phenomena, and everything in between. Science fiction authors latched on to Fort's topics and hypotheses as perfect fodder for SF stories. Writers like Arthur C. Clarke, Philip K. Dick, Robert Heinlein, H.P. Lovecraft, and others are examined in this exploration of Fortean science fiction--a genre that borrows from the reports and ideas of Fort and others who saw the possible science-fictional nature of our reality.

About this title

About the Authors

Tanner F. Boyle is a writer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania whose areas of research include science fiction, anomalistic literature, folklore, and religious literature.

Donald E. Palumbo is a professor of English at East Carolina University. He lives in Greenville, North Carolina.

C.W. Sullivan III is Distinguished Professor of arts and sciences at East Carolina University and a full member of the Welsh Academy. He is the author of numerous books and the on-line journal Celtic Cultural Studies.

Edition details

• Publisher: McFarland
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1476677409
• ISBN 13: 9781476677408
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 188
• Editor: Palumbo Donald E., Sullivan III C.W.