Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature | Science Fiction: Metaphor, Myth or Prophecy
In the following essay, Parrinder examines scientific theories and metaphors used by authors of Science Fiction.
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A provisional and, I hope, uncontroversial definition of science fiction might run as follows: sf is a distinct kind of popular literature telling stories that arise from actual or, more usually, hypothetical new discoveries in science and technology. The science and technology must be convincing enough to invite a certain suspension of the reader’s disbelief: this is how sf, as a creation of the later nineteenth century, differs from earlier fiction in which themes such as space travel and encounters with extraterrestrials were presented in a merely fantastic or...
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