Positions and Presuppositions in Science Fiction

Darko Suvin
3.33
15 ratings 2 reviews
In this major survey of theoretical aspects and contemporary authors of science fiction, one of its foremost investigators argues for a radically new approach. For Darko Suvin, science fiction writings are neither prophecy nor the folklore of technology, but at their best parables for our times. Suvin lays the foundations for understanding their narrative logic and ideological horizons, and then examines a crucial group of modern authors. These comprise the diverging stances of Asimov, Le Guin, and Dick in the USA, Yefremov and the Strugatskys in the USSR, and Lem and the Brauns in Central Europe. The book culminates in a discussion of science fiction as metaphor, applied to a text by Cordwainer Smith as the bad conscience of Reaganism.
Genres: Science FictionTheory
228 Pages

Community Reviews:

5 star
1 (7%)
4 star
7 (47%)
3 star
4 (27%)
2 star
2 (13%)
1 star
1 (7%)

Readers also enjoyed

Other books by Darko Suvin

Lists with this book

The Seven Beauties of Science Fiction
Critical Theory and Science Fiction
Reading by Starlight: Postmodern Science Fiction
Science Fiction Studies
138 books26 voters
The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How it Changed America
Wasteland: The Great War and the Origins of Modern Horror
Blood and Money: War, Slavery, Finance, and Empire
Horror meets Politics
128 books7 voters
Melmoth the Wanderer
The Devil is a Gentleman: The Life and Times of Dennis Wheatley
A Graveyard for Lunatics
Francisco Goya Paintings
42 books6 voters