November 13, 2008
"Science fiction has always been dying. That's how it reinvents itself. "
Or so says Paul Kincaid in this excellent article at Bookslut.
If I understand the article correctly, then Kincaid is saying that our ever repeating discussions about the death and/or rebirth of sf has more to do with our own human nature, than with anything wrong in the genre.
That is very sf.
After all, we always say that sf is written to understand the human nature. In the introduction to Fantasy: Best of the Year 2008, editor Rich Horton proposes two kinds of sf, one which looks outward and one inward. The details are what make us think there are more than that. For Kincaid to argue that sf, in its criticism, is not doing enough looking inward is to say that its very devotees are not understanding it well enough. Or rather, are only using one aspect, the external environment to try and understand it, when what a reader or critic brings to it is just as important.
[Via G. B. H. Hornswoggler]
Posted by John at November 13, 2008 7:13 AM |
Categories: Fantasy/Scifi News
