ENGL 91C Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Margaret Atwood, Sinkhole, List Of Star Wars Species (U–Z)
Document Summary
Genre of fiction featuring hypothetical scientific of technological advances, the existence of alien life, space or time travel; stories set in the future or in an imagined, but scientifically plausible, universe. Distinctions from fantasy: history, plausibility, adherence to rules. Selected sf subgenres: cyberpunk, biopunk, space opera, space western, dying earth, apocalyptic/post- apocalyptic, hard sf. We mainly distinguish sf as a genre based on the setting. Idea of star wars being actually fantasy instead of sf: the force/lightsabers aren"t explained in any scientific sense. Sw as a space opera & fantasy in one. Speculative fiction can focus on cultural and societal, political, gender, class issues. It"s still a fairly vaguely defined, amorphous term. Margaret atwood considers herself a speculative fiction writer. Station eleven and upmarket sf can also be placed under the umbrella of speculative fiction. So i might be more speculative fiction than sf in my own writing!