Tuesday, September 2, 2014
How is science fiction different from fantasy, according to Le Guin ?
Science fiction deals with the possibility of something. Its allows the imagination to run away. to bridge the gap between reality and dreams. Le Guin states that Science Fiction mostly tries to convince the reader things we know as impossibilities as possible. It gives the viewer/reader a chance to explore the concept of one day this might actually happen or is in fact happening right now. The movies about what the future good hold for us. For example; when we watched 2012, directed by Roland Emmerich, I think that a lot of people held there breath December 31, 2013 to see if the world would end. Or another example is 1999, when the world was waiting to see if computers would take over in the year 2000. In Blade Runner, by Phillip K Dick, he tried he demonstrated what Science Fiction is, and how it is different to Fantasy. Instead of imaging a what a would be like with humanoid beings, he created them and made them reality.
Fantasy on the other hand deals with the reality as Le Guin states is an idea that shows the impossibility of a movie or book. That what you are reading or seeing simply cannot or will not ever be a reality. Le Guin defines Fantasy as '..that violate fundamental assumptions about matter and life. And fantasy treats these impossibilities without hesitation, without doubt, without any attempt to reconcile them with our intellectual understanding of the workings of the world or to make us believe that such things could under any circumstance come true.' For example in Lord of the Rings, in no way would we ever believe that the fate of the world is in the hands of a little man who must destroy a ring that is possessed by evil. In no way would we ever believe that a tree can move or talk.
W. R. Irwin supports this same theory by saying that 'an overt violation of what is generally accepted as possibility.' He also goes on to explain that any narrative no matter where it is placed is a fantasy if it is developed or supports the impossible of what we know is the reality.
Atterby, B. The Fantasy Tradition in American Literature: from Irving to Le Guin. Bloomington: Indiana. University Press, 1980, 1-10.
W. R. Irving. The Fantasy Tradition in American Literature: from Irving to Le Guin. Bloomington: Indiana. University Press, 1980, 1-10.
P. K. Dick. Blade Runner. Retrieved 3 September from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner .
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Thanks Nisha. A good answer. A couple of problems with the clarity of your language. Remember to re-read your work before you post. An interesting reference to Blade Runner (based on the PKD story "Do androids dream of electric sheep"). His examination of what it means to be human in a less and less human world is a theme that is also often explored in Fantasy - but often through a preponderance of non-human characters.
ReplyDeleteyour examples are great and I enjoyed the comparisons you drew, the only issue I can see arising is from phraseology because your message can intermittently be cluttered, but otherwise, great work.
ReplyDelete