What is Science Fiction?
Photo by Juskteez Vu on Unsplash
When talking about science fiction, it is hard to actually define the term. The borders of this genre to others are hard to draw, especially the distinction of science fiction in itself. There are a lot of different kinds of fiction that overlap and merge into one another. But one can see a difference of science fiction when it comes to comparing cultural perception. A class-to-class Tandem with the University of Minnesota gave me an insight on an American student’s perspective on science fiction.
My partners first contact with science fiction was in an early age when she was around 7 years old and has played a big role in her life since. For her, science fiction is easier to talk about than a genre like drama which she finds as exhausting due to the never ending storyline and emotional stress that comes along with it. Talking about science fiction, we noticed that readers/audience usually concentrates more on the creator’s ideas or the technological inventions, rather than the story itself. This realistic aspect makes it more interesting and keeps the reader or audience coming back to science fiction. She made me realize that the so called sci-fi genre allows the reader to explore another world and become an escapist, which, in this specific case, does not have a negative connotation. It rather implicates a positive possibility to overcome the rules of physics and society that are imposed on us from our surroundings.
My skype partner taught me some things about science fiction I haven’t thought about. We both agreed that the genre can be divided into two “levels” – hard and soft science fiction. But for her, hard science fiction (shaped by authors like Isaac Asimov, mostly known for his Foundation series, or Arthur C. Clarke) is an elite society that considers themselves as the representatives of “real” science fiction. However, soft sci-fi, which concentrates more on the character’s development and society instead of mainly technology, should be considered as a serious genre as well. The pure technical distinction of these two genres within the genre of science fiction is a rather contested point of view and more or less unnecessary in her opinion.
On the bright side, science fiction has become a big part of today’s pop culture in the US. Especially popular TV-shows or bestsellers help distance sci-fi from its former “nerd”-image, which is a phenomenon happening in Germany as well. Talking to with my partner gave me a more objective and rational perspective on science fiction. Furthermore, she showed me that loosing oneself in another world is only proof of a bright imagination and that the attempt of escaping your own world can also be a good thing.
