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Technology impact on literature
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Science fiction is a genre that has evolved significantly over time, but has still kept its identity and essence of advanced technology and applied sciences alive. Over the years, a genre being read only by a minority is now the choice of billions. Visualizing and correlating various science fiction tales, such as “The Man Who Evolved” and “An Express of the Future”, brings out innumerable resemblances and variances between publications of this genre between the years. Published in different centuries, these tales, when compared, enable us to observe the change that has gone through in this genre, along with the constants that have remained with the genus since its start. Even though these stories have orientations of technology and themes that are poles apart in concept, the central theme that conceptualizes these narratives is that the future in store for mankind is common for both these stories, along with some similar literary elements. The storyline and plot of these two complex stories demands an excellent tone and mood. Jules Verne was known for his obsessions with machinery...
In literature there are over 20 different genres of reading, and each of them contains many similarities and differences. Science fiction, arguably one of the most popular genre’s, is also one of the hardest to understand, however there are certain elements/characteristics that can easily determine if a book is or is not science fiction. The characteristics that make up science fiction are, advancements in technology and the application of advanced technology. In books such as The Veldt and Fahrenheit 451 both technological advancements and there application play a crucial role on determining that these books fall into the science fiction genre.
Such controlled environments provide examples of humanities belief that it is more sophisticated and indeed more powerful than the wild. Despite being written some fifty years apart both Brave New World By Aldous Huxley and Blade Runner Directed by Ridley Scott present the same message. Both texts argue that with advancing technology humanity feels itself more sophisticated and more powerful than the natural rhythms of the world. However, at the same time aspects represented in each text point out that Humanity can never be completely isolated from nature.
Literature and film have always held a strange relationship with the idea of technological progress. On one hand, with the advent of the printing press and the refinements of motion picture technology that are continuing to this day, both literature and film owe a great deal of their success to the technological advancements that bring them to widespread audiences. Yet certain films and works of literature have also never shied away from portraying the dangers that a lust for such progress can bring with it. The modern output of science-fiction novels and films found its genesis in speculative ponderings on the effect such progress could hold for the every day population, and just as often as not those speculations were damning. Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and Fritz Lang's silent film Metropolis are two such works that hold great importance in the overall canon of science-fiction in that they are both seen as the first of their kind. It is often said that Mary Shelley, with her authorship of Frankenstein, gave birth to the science-fiction novel, breathing it into life as Frankenstein does his monster, and Lang's Metropolis is certainly a candidate for the first genuine science-fiction film (though a case can be made for Georges Méliès' 1902 film Le Voyage Dans la Lune, his film was barely fifteen minutes long whereas Lang's film, with its near three-hour original length and its blending of both ideas and stunning visuals, is much closer to what we now consider a modern science-fiction film). Yet though both works are separated by the medium with which they're presented, not to mention a period of over two-hundred years between their respective releases, they present a shared warning about the dangers that man's need fo...
Perhaps most of what is considered “science fiction” today do not deserve such a prestigious title. Rather, they should fall under the genre of space adventure, or one of the many fantasy genres. This is what Philip K. Dick argues in an essay titled My Definition of Science Fiction. He regards stories that simply take place in the future—typically in space—cannot automatically be considered science fiction even if they involve advanced technologies beyond our current understanding of the universe. Dick wrote his definition in 1981, and his claims do align with many of his written stories; We Can Remember It for You Wholesale is one such story. First published in 1966, it is universally considered science fiction and effectively serves as an example for what science fiction should be.
Suvin, Darko. Metamorphoses of Science Fiction: On the Poetics and History of a Literary Genre . New Haven : Yale University Press, 1979.
The Hounds of Tindalos is a short science fiction story containing many and varied elements that have been long associated with the genre of science fiction. This essay will identify these elements, examining their placement within this short text and also the interchange of these elements with the characteristics of other genres, more specifically, horror. Belknap Long, the author, was clearly intent of incorporating the elements of horror within the genre of science fiction and this amalgamation of these two genres was a popular combination employed by future horror and SF writers. Perhaps the inclusion of horror within the SF genre is a comment in itself about perceptions of SF held by writers, the elements of horror being a cautionary warning to those in the science world.
The Best Science Fiction of the Twentieth Century. Ed. Orson Scott Card. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 2001. 212-217.
Kurt Vonnegut's Galapagos was written one million years ahead of the year 1986 AD. In this book, Vonnegut argues that the ultimate effect of humanity's sociological problems with technology is that man's intelligence will be the downfall and destruction of the human race. The essential point made by Vonnegut in this work is that the "great big brains" of humanity drives people to go further into technology and create new weapons that will lead to the demolition of man kind; Vonnegut disagreed against virtually every technological development (made by “big brains”).
If imagination is the lifeblood of literature, then each new scientific advance which extends our scope of the universe is as fruitful to the poet as to the astronomer.
Technological advancements have always played a big role in the literary progression of mankind. As knowledge is gained, technology has improved, and as technology improved so has the literature. Starting from the Anglo Saxon era, and continuing through the postmodern era. From oral to written stories, to the printing press, to the Industrial Revolution, man’s literature has changed progressively throughout each phase, taking on a different point of view and attaining more understanding. Stanley Kubrick, the director of 2001: A Space Odyssey, understand the concept of technological advances on mankind. And his movie can be considered as a parallel to this concept of advancements.
Isaac Asimov's Foundation and the trilogy named after it represent a pinnacle in science fiction. Science fiction lovers from every walk of life have joined together to praise Asimov and Foundation. Furthermore, this series has been awarded the first Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Series. Not before or since the publication of Foundation has this award been given. Despite this recognition, the mainstream literary critics ignore works of science fiction as candidates for more prestigious awards. Instead, science fiction is often dismissed as technology-dependent literature, immature in character development, theme, and structure. A large portion of the literary world still levels a sniff and a scoff toward Foundation and indeed the entire genre of science fiction.
Science fiction has over years produced some of the greatest novels in the world since the time of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New York world and George Orwell’s 1984.A good number of these authors seems to reach a consensus that there is watertight evidence that science fiction merits have long been discussed in the critical circles as well. In as much, a lot of emphasis has been given to the specifically paid genre’s strong information. According to Kingsley () there is adopted focus in the new study that is considered a cornerstone in the science –fiction critism.He says that the genre tries to achieve a way of dramatizing social inquiry that provides a cultural tendencies which can be easily be isolated and judged (Kingsley).Therefore this genre serves a very good example of the more general tendency of fiction which provides a good grounds for social criticism. This provides a social discourse which will enable this theme to be discussed in the social circles.
Science Fiction Studies , Vol. 33, No. 1, Technoculture and Science Fiction (Mar., 2006), pp. 89-108
science fiction are insatiable and the genres continue to branch off into countless subgenres. His
Scientific breakthroughs rise exponentially, with the potential for new ideas every few seconds, and 3.) The point at which the future cannot be predicted beyond a scientific sense. Looking solely at the first concept, technological singularity is the most pressing in today’s society, especially with multiple films depicting apocalyptic environments that are a direct result of A.I. Evidence of this event can be shown when computer power is plotted against Moore’s law, a predicted rate of computational evolution devised by Gordon E. Moore in 1965.... ... middle of paper ...