What is the difference in emphasis between the terms science fiction and speculative fiction? Which is The Man in the High Castle?
The difference between the terms science fiction and speculative fiction is that Speculative fiction you have a 'what if' situation that can either be real or not but must have a story that revolves around a more scientific arena and also is known as a subset of Science Fiction. It has similar characteristics but because of the way that it leaves a what if quality to the reality defines it as it's own also because it also uses concepts such as supernatural, futuristic and fantastical. Speculative fiction is also known as 'speculative literature' because of it's broad literary content.
Science Fiction is an imaginative genre of fiction that uses imaginative content such as futuristic settings, space travel. It often explores the consequences of scientific and other innovations and what the reality of what life would be like if such things occurred.
For example in Brown (2001), he says that science fiction is about the perceived reality, the good vs evil and the abuse of power.A good example of this is Star Wars (first released in 1977), here we see the reality of space travel, living on another planet. Creatures that do not exist except in that reality and what happens in the fight of good vs evil. The story also touches on the reality of what it is like to be a young man facing challenges both in relationships with girls, family and the expectations of society. I think that The Man in the High Castle is Science Fiction with an element of speculative fiction. As stated by Brown (2001), The Man in the High Castle is an insight into real, fully developed characters that gives us a glimpse of the what if. This was I think that statement allows The Man in the white Castle to belong to both genres.
References
Brown, E. (2001). Introduction. In Dick, P.K., The Man in the High Castle. (p.v-xii). London: Penguin
Speculative Fiction. Retrieved 31, October 2014. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speculative_fiction
Science Fiction. Retrieved 31, October 2014. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction#Other_speculative_fiction.2C_fantasy.2C_and_horror
Thanks Nisha. I follow your argument for High Castle having elements of both genres. I tend to see it as more strongly speculative. However, you make a valid case (supported by Brown's comments on good and evil). PS, you might be interested to know that many (possibly most) academic analysis defines Star Wars as closer to Fantasy the Sci Fi. (fun-fact)
ReplyDelete