Have you ever asked yourself—what does #sciencefiction really mean?
Whenever forced to categorize the Survivor Diaries Series as Science Fiction in genre, a little part of my brain screams, “No, this isn’t Star Trek. There are no transporters, light sabers, big blue woman, or other fictional manifestations of the imagination.” I write about the backlash of Armageddon through weapons of mass destruction that actually exist.
It’s a real possibility based on actual technology!
But popular culture and art assign the genre a much broader definition. Wiki defines science fiction as “genre of fiction dealing with the impact of imagined innovations in science or technology, often in a futuristic setting. Exploring the consequences of such innovations is the traditional purpose of science fiction, making it a ‘literature of ideas.’”
Nuclear atoms, the a-bomb, actually exist and have been put into use; they are not imagined. And yet, we still categorize post-apocalyptic literature based on nuclear war as something of fantasy. Perhaps we try to comfort ourselves against the idea of the most catastrophic threat of mass genocide is inconceivable or, at best, make-believe.
So, the next time you search for a good global nuclear war story under science fiction, think about it.
Whenever forced to categorize the Survivor Diaries Series as Science Fiction in genre, a little part of my brain screams, “No, this isn’t Star Trek. There are no transporters, light sabers, big blue woman, or other fictional manifestations of the imagination.” I write about the backlash of Armageddon through weapons of mass destruction that actually exist.
It’s a real possibility based on actual technology!
But popular culture and art assign the genre a much broader definition. Wiki defines science fiction as “genre of fiction dealing with the impact of imagined innovations in science or technology, often in a futuristic setting. Exploring the consequences of such innovations is the traditional purpose of science fiction, making it a ‘literature of ideas.’”
Nuclear atoms, the a-bomb, actually exist and have been put into use; they are not imagined. And yet, we still categorize post-apocalyptic literature based on nuclear war as something of fantasy. Perhaps we try to comfort ourselves against the idea of the most catastrophic threat of mass genocide is inconceivable or, at best, make-believe.
So, the next time you search for a good global nuclear war story under science fiction, think about it.
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