Grammath
23rd September 2011, 11:43 AM
I've spent the past few months whilst researching for my dissertation walking past the entrance to the British Library's exhhibition about the history of science fiction, which I finally visited yesterday.
I've said elsewhere that I sometimes feel like a lone voice for literary sci-fi on the forum, and, if it wasn't due to finish the day after tomorrow, I'd urge you all to visit this exhibition in order to at least see the breadth of texts the genre could be said to encompass.
To illustrate, the first text on display actually dates from the 2nd century AD, when satirical writer Lucien imagined a trip to the moon. Similarly, monk John Mandeville in the 14th century was also writing what would recongizably be sci-fi today.
Probably correctly, the exhibition argues that the genre didn't truly establish itself until the mid-19th century, thanks initially to Frankenstein (how ironic that a genre traditionally seen as so male and nerdy should owe its existence to a woman!) and the works of first Jules Verne and then H. G. Wells. As the world industrialised and urbanised, the genre truly came into its own.
Displays are arranged thematically around subjects such as the moon, utopia, last humans, alien contact, monsters, robots and sex (you can get up to all kinds of things with non-human and possibly non-gendered beings!!).
The exhibition, I believe quite rightly, takes a very broad definition. Not only are genre specialists like Arthur C. Clarke, Philip K. Dick, William Gibson and Ray Bradbury present, but also less obvious names like Bertrand Russell and the Brontes; the former wrote several sci-fi stories and the sisters sharpened their writing skills creating an intricately imagined fantasy world.
Pulp magazines like Amazing Stories, where many of the genre's great names got early work published, are featured alongside literary heavyweights like Orwell, Huxley, Borges, Atwood and Ishiguro. The non-English speaking world is well represented too, particularly eastern Europe: from Zamyatin's We (cited by Orwell as a key influence on Nineteen Eighty-Four) through the work of Polish writer Stanislaw Lem (Solaris), Frenchman Pierre Boulle (Planet of the Apes) to moden Manga comics like Ghost in the Shell.
Like all good librarians should, the exhibition isn't purely about books. There are clips screened from Metropolis and a 1950s adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four with Peter Cushing as Winston Smith. There are recordings of Wells, Clarke, Ursula Le Guin and Atwood talking about their work and some attempts at interactivity: an invitation to take the Turing Test, listening posts with sci-fi inspired songs, a talking robot and a rather randomly placed Tardis. Best of all is a clip from 1930s Orson Welles radio re-working of The War of the Worlds, a brilliant demonstration of the medium's power.
Books are, however, difficult things to display in an exciting way: there are too many glass cases here and ironically, far too much text to read. Nevertheless, this is an excellent survey of an often mocked and belittled strain of literature, showing its flexibility and wide ranging influence and demonstrating that you've probably read more sci-fi than you are willing to admit.
I've said elsewhere that I sometimes feel like a lone voice for literary sci-fi on the forum, and, if it wasn't due to finish the day after tomorrow, I'd urge you all to visit this exhibition in order to at least see the breadth of texts the genre could be said to encompass.
To illustrate, the first text on display actually dates from the 2nd century AD, when satirical writer Lucien imagined a trip to the moon. Similarly, monk John Mandeville in the 14th century was also writing what would recongizably be sci-fi today.
Probably correctly, the exhibition argues that the genre didn't truly establish itself until the mid-19th century, thanks initially to Frankenstein (how ironic that a genre traditionally seen as so male and nerdy should owe its existence to a woman!) and the works of first Jules Verne and then H. G. Wells. As the world industrialised and urbanised, the genre truly came into its own.
Displays are arranged thematically around subjects such as the moon, utopia, last humans, alien contact, monsters, robots and sex (you can get up to all kinds of things with non-human and possibly non-gendered beings!!).
The exhibition, I believe quite rightly, takes a very broad definition. Not only are genre specialists like Arthur C. Clarke, Philip K. Dick, William Gibson and Ray Bradbury present, but also less obvious names like Bertrand Russell and the Brontes; the former wrote several sci-fi stories and the sisters sharpened their writing skills creating an intricately imagined fantasy world.
Pulp magazines like Amazing Stories, where many of the genre's great names got early work published, are featured alongside literary heavyweights like Orwell, Huxley, Borges, Atwood and Ishiguro. The non-English speaking world is well represented too, particularly eastern Europe: from Zamyatin's We (cited by Orwell as a key influence on Nineteen Eighty-Four) through the work of Polish writer Stanislaw Lem (Solaris), Frenchman Pierre Boulle (Planet of the Apes) to moden Manga comics like Ghost in the Shell.
Like all good librarians should, the exhibition isn't purely about books. There are clips screened from Metropolis and a 1950s adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four with Peter Cushing as Winston Smith. There are recordings of Wells, Clarke, Ursula Le Guin and Atwood talking about their work and some attempts at interactivity: an invitation to take the Turing Test, listening posts with sci-fi inspired songs, a talking robot and a rather randomly placed Tardis. Best of all is a clip from 1930s Orson Welles radio re-working of The War of the Worlds, a brilliant demonstration of the medium's power.
Books are, however, difficult things to display in an exciting way: there are too many glass cases here and ironically, far too much text to read. Nevertheless, this is an excellent survey of an often mocked and belittled strain of literature, showing its flexibility and wide ranging influence and demonstrating that you've probably read more sci-fi than you are willing to admit.