Science fiction is a genre whose purpose is to tell stories whose main plot and universe are based on scientific or technical discoveries obtained in a far (sometimes not so) future or in a fictional past. Nowadays that genre is everywhere: who has never heard of Star Wars, Star Trek, Halo or even George Orwell’s 1984? The genre is subdivided in subgenre such as Space Opera, Post-apocalyptical, Steampunk, Hard Science, Dystopia or Uchrony.
If the very fantastic ancient tale of Gilgamesh can be considered a pioneer of the fantastic genre, for science fiction, we consider the premises of the science fictional genre to be situated between the seventeenth and the nineteenth century, which was a period during which the scientific progress and the big discoveries were many. During the twentieth century, science invites itself into everybody’s home and defines the criteria of the genre: the relationship between humans, machines and science.
In 1516, Thomas Moore’s work Utopia is published and is considered today as a good example of early science-fiction. It tells the story of an Island whose inhabitants have improve every aspect of their life, which is a perfect example of uchrony. Many works about an hypothetical travel on the moon such as Francis Goodwin’s The Man in the Moone or Cyrano de Bergerac’s The Comical History of the States and Empires in the Worlds of the Moon and Sun are written during that period. Advanced extraterrestrial civilization is also mentioned in French Age of Enlightenment author Voltaire’s Micromegas.
It is during the second half of the nineteenth century that Science-fiction really takes off with author like Jules Verne or H.G. Wells. It also becomes visually interesting thanks to movies and magazines: the precursor film from Georges Méliès, A Trip to the Moon is a perfect example of that. The 1930’s 1940’s and 1950’s are still considered the gold age of science fiction with still known authors like Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke or George Orwell.
It is not until the second half of the twentieth century that mastodon like Star Wars appears, rendering Science-fiction and its sub-genre accessible to all. Today, Science-fiction is a well-known and well-loved genre even if it might still feel really hermetic or overly complicated for non-connoisseur
Which is why, we want to suggest to you two Youtube Channel whom have Science Fiction at heart: Dust and Mr. Sci-Fi:
And if you want to catch up on your science-fiction reading, here is an up to date reading list just for you:
See you soon!
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