1.
Speculative fiction
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Speculative fiction as a category ranges from ancient works to both cutting edge, paradigm-changing and neotraditional works of the 21st century. In historiography, what is now called speculative fiction has previously been termed historical invention, historical fiction, such supernatural, alternate history and sexuality themes continue in works produced within the modern speculative fiction genre. In its English language usage in arts and literature since 20th century, a variation on this term is speculative literature. It fell into disuse around the mid-1970s, the Internet Speculative Fiction Database contains a broad list of different subtypes. In the 2000s, the term came into use as a convenient collective term for a set of genres. However, some writers, such as Margaret Atwood, continue to maintain a distinction between speculative fiction as a no Martians type of fiction, about things that really could happen. Academic journals which publish essays on speculative fiction include Extrapolation, according to publisher statistics, men outnumber women about two to one among English-language speculative fiction writers aiming for professional publication. However, the percentages vary considerably by genre, with women outnumbering men in the fields of urban fantasy, paranormal romance and young adult fiction
Speculative fiction
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Speculative fiction
2.
Alternate history
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Alternate history or alternative history, sometimes abbreviated as AH, is a genre of fiction consisting of stories in which one or more historical events occur differently. These stories usually contain what if scenarios at crucial points in history, the stories are conjectural, but are sometimes based on scientific fact. Alternate history can be seen as a subgenre of fiction, science fiction, or historical fiction. Another term occasionally used for the genre is allohistory, cross-time, time-splitting, and alternate history themes have become so closely interwoven that it is impossible to discuss them fully apart from one another. In French, Italian, Spanish, Catalan and German, the genre of history is called uchronie / ucronia / ucronía / Uchronie. This neologism is based on the prefix ου- and the Greek χρόνος, a uchronia means literally no time. This term apparently also inspired the name of the history book list. Several genres of fiction have been misidentified as alternate history, Science fiction set in what was the future but is now the past, like Arthur C. Clarkes 2001, A Space Odyssey or George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four, is not alternate history because the author did not make the choice to change the past at the time of writing, Alternate history is related to, but distinct from, counterfactual history. The earliest example of history is found in Livys Ab Urbe Condita Libri. Livy concluded that the Romans would likely have defeated Alexander, another example is Joanot Martorells 1490 epic romance Tirant lo Blanch, which was written when the loss of Constantinople to the Turks was still a recent and traumatic memory for Christian Europe. It tells the story of the knight Tirant the White from Brittany who travels to the remnants of the Byzantine Empire. He becomes a Megaduke and commander of its armies and manages to fight off the invading Ottoman armies of Mehmet II and he saves the city from Islamic conquest, and even chases the Turks deeper into lands they had previously conquered. In the English language, the first known complete alternate history is Nathaniel Hawthornes short story P. s Correspondence, the first novel-length alternate history in English would seem to be Castello Holfords Aristopia. While not as nationalistic as Louis Geoffroys Napoléon et la conquête du monde, 1812–1823, in Aristopia, the earliest settlers in Virginia discover a reef made of solid gold and are able to build a Utopian society in North America. A number of alternate history stories and novels appeared in the late 19th, in 1931, British historian Sir John Squire collected a series of essays from some of the leading historians of the period for his anthology If It Had Happened Otherwise. In this work, scholars from major universities turned their attention to questions as If the Moors in Spain Had Won. The essays range from serious scholarly efforts to Hendrik Willem van Loons fanciful, among the authors included were Hilaire Belloc, André Maurois, and Winston Churchill
Alternate history
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The world in 1964 in the novel
Fatherland where the Germans won
World War II.
3.
Retrofuturism
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Retrofuturism is a trend in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. If futurism is sometimes called a bent on anticipating what will come. Primarily reflected in artistic creations and modified technologies that realize the imagined artifacts of its parallel reality, but it has also manifested in the worlds of fashion, architecture, design, music, literature, film, and video games. The word retrofuturism, combines more recent ideas of nostalgia and retro with older traditions of futurism, an early use of the term was in the title of T. R. Hinchcliffes Pelican book Retro-futurism - Penguin,1967. A recent neologism, the actual term retrofuturism was used by American Lloyd Dunn in 1983, according to fringe art magazine Retrofuturism, Retrofuturism builds on ideas of futurism, but the latter term functions differently in several different contexts. In avant-garde artistic, literary and design circles, Futurism is a long-standing, in his 1967 book T. R. Retrofuturism is first and foremost based on modern but changing notions of the future. It took its current shape in the 1970s, a time when technology was rapidly changing, from the advent of the personal computer to the birth of the first test tube baby, this period was characterized by intense and rapid technological change. But many in the public began to question whether applied science would achieve its earlier promise—that life would inevitably improve through technological progress. In the wake of the Vietnam War, environmental depredations, but they also wondered, sometimes in awe, sometimes in confusion, at the scientific positivism evinced by earlier generations. Retrofuturism seeped into academic and popular culture in the 1960s and 1970s, inflecting George Lucas’ Star Wars and the paintings of pop artist Kenny Scharf alike. Surveying the optimistic futurism of the twentieth century, the historians Joe Corn and Brian Horrigan remind us that retrofuturism is a history of an idea. The future, or course, does not exist except as an act of belief or imagination, Retrofuturism incorporates two overlapping trends which may be summarized as the future as seen from the past and the past as seen from the future. Such futuristic visions are refurbished and updated for the present, and offer a nostalgic, counterfactual image of what the future might have been, the second trend is the inverse of the first, futuristic retro. It starts with the appeal of old styles of art, clothing, mores, and then grafts modern or futuristic technologies onto it, creating a mélange of past, present. In the movie Space Station 76, mankind has reached the stars, in practice, the two trends cannot be sharply distinguished, as they mutually contribute to similar visions. In the same way, futuristic retro owes much of its flavor to early science fiction, both retrofuturistic trends in themselves refer to no specific time. Examples include the film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, set in an imaginary 1939, adam Reeds animated comedy series Archer is also set in a retrofuture aesthetic world. The import of retrofuturism has, in recent years, come under considerable discussion, some, like the German architecture critic Niklas Maak, see retrofuturism as nothing more than an aesthetic feedback loop recalling a lost belief in progress, the old images of the once radically new
Retrofuturism
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Retrofuturistic depiction of a flying locomotive, in a
dieselpunk style reminiscent of the early 1940s
Retrofuturism
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The
Chrysler PT Cruiser sparked a trend of retrofuturistic designs in automobiles that continues to this day.
Retrofuturism
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Retrofuturistic rocket model at Wikipedia event in Berlin, 2005
Retrofuturism
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An example in
Shanghai of a retrofuturistic design in architecture.
4.
Sidewise Award for Alternate History
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The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternative history stories and novels of the year. The awards take their name from the 1934 short story Sidewise in Time by Murray Leinster, the awards were created by Steven H Silver, Evelyn C. Over the years, the number of judges has fluctuated between three and eight, including judges in the UK and South Africa, each year, two awards are presented, usually at the World Science Fiction Convention. The Short-Form award is presented to a work under 60,000 words in length, the Long-Form award may be presented to a work longer than 60,000 words, including both novels and complete series. At their discretion, the judges may elect to recognize an individual or work with a Special Achievement Award in recognition of works that were published prior to the awards inception. Taylor, The Windsor Faction & Bryce Zabel, Surrounded by Enemies, sprague de Camp, lifetime achievement 1997 – Robert Sobel, For Want of a Nail 1999 – Randall Garrett, The Lord Darcy Series The Sidewise Award website
Sidewise Award for Alternate History
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Sidewise Award for
Murray Davies 's novel
Collaborator
5.
Fantasy
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Fantasy is a fiction genre set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Most fantasy uses magic or other elements as a main plot element, theme. Magic and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds, in popular culture, the fantasy genre is predominantly of the medievalist form. In its broadest sense, however, fantasy works by many writers, artists, filmmakers. Fantasy is studied in a number of disciplines including English and other studies, cultural studies, comparative literature, history. The identifying trait of fantasy is the reliance on imagination to create narrative elements that do not have to rely on history or nature to be coherent. This differs from realistic fiction in that whereas realistic fiction has to attend to the history and natural laws of reality, an author applies his or her imagination to come up with characters, plots, and settings that are impossible in reality. Fantasy has often compared with science fiction and horror because they are the major categories of speculative fiction. Fantasy is distinguished from science fiction by the plausibility of the narrative elements, a science fiction narrative is unlikely, though seeming possible through logical scientific and/or technological extrapolation, whereas fantasy narratives do not need to be scientifically possible. The imagined elements of fantasy do not need an explanation to be narratively functional. Authors have to rely on the suspension of disbelief, an acceptance of the unbelievable or impossible for the sake of enjoyment. Despite both genres heavy reliance on the supernatural, fantasy and horror are distinguishable, horror primarily evokes fear through the protagonists weaknesses or inability to deal with the antagonists. Beginning perhaps with the earliest written documents, mythic and other elements that would come to define fantasy. MacDonald was an influence on both J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. The other major fantasy author of this era was William Morris, lord Dunsany established the genres popularity in both the novel and the short story form. Many popular mainstream authors also began to write fantasy at this time, including H. Rider Haggard, Rudyard Kipling and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Indeed, juvenile fantasy was considered more acceptable than fantasy intended for adults, nathaniel Hawthorne wrote fantasy in A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys, intended for children, though works for adults only verged on fantasy. Political and social trends can affect a societys reception towards fantasy, in the early 20th century, the New Culture Movements enthusiasm for Westernization and science in China compelled them to condemn the fantastical shenmo genre of traditional Chinese literature
Fantasy
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Fairy tales and legends, such as
Dobrynya Nikitich 's rescue of Zabava Putyatichna from the dragon
Gorynych, have been an important source for fantasy.
Fantasy
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Many works are unclear as to the belief of the authors in the marvels they contain, as in the enchanted garden from the
Decameron.
6.
List of fantasy anime
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This is a list of fantasy anime television series, films, and OVAs. 3×3 Eyes 07-Ghost 10 Tokyo Warriors 11eyes Absolute Duo Ah My Buddha Air Ajin, akatsuki no Yona, Yona of the Dawn Akazukin Chacha Amatsuki Amon Saga The Ancient Magus Bride Angel Beats. Vanguard Ceres, Celestial Legend A Certain Magical Index Charlotte Children Who Chase Lost Voices Chrome Shelled Regios Clannad Claymore Creamy Mami, princess PreCure Grander Musashi Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash Ground Defense Force. Mao-chan Guilty Crown Guin Saga Haibane Renmei Hakushaku to Yōsei Hans Christian Andersens The Little Mermaid Happiness, inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha Inuyasha Inukami. Inu x Boku SS Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon, Koi suru Tenshi Angelique KonoSuba Kuromajo-san ga Toru. Legend of Crystania Legendz Lilpri Little Busters, mahōjin Guru Guru Makai Senki Disgaea Mamotte. Lollipop Mamotte Shugogetten Maoyu MapleStory MÄR Maria the Virgin Witch Master of Epic, magister Negi Magi Neo Ranga Night Wizard. Nura, Rise of the Yokai Clan Nurse Witch Komugi No Game No Life Noragami Ōban Star-Racers Oh My Goddess, sisters of Wellber Slayers Smile PreCure. Angel Rabbie Tenkai Knights The Betrayal Knows My Name The Cat Returns The Cosmopolitan Prayers The Devil Is a Part-Timer, arc-V Yurikuma Arashi Yu Yu Hakusho Zatch Bell. Zenki Categories, Fantasy, magical girl, and supernatural anime and manga Bibliography Brenner, Robin E
List of fantasy anime
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Speculative fiction
7.
Fantastic art
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Fantastic art is a broad and loosely defined art genre. It is not restricted to a school of artists, geographical location or historical period. Fantasy has been a part of art since its beginnings. In French, the genre is called le fantastique, in English it is referred to as visionary art. It has had a deep and circular interaction with fantasy literature, the subject matter of Fantastic Art may resemble the product of hallucinations, and Fantastic artist Richard Dadd spent much of his life in mental institutions. Salvador Dalí famously said, the difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad. Some recent Fantastic Art draws on the experience, or purported experience. The term Fantasy Art is closely related, and is applied primarily to recent art inspired by, or illustrating, the term has acquired some pejorative overtones. Fantastic art has traditionally been confined to painting and illustration. Fantastic art explores fantasy, imagination, the state, the grotesque, visions. Genres which may also be considered as Fantastic Art include the Symbolism of the Victorian era, religious art also depicts supernatural or miraculous subjects in a naturalistic way, but is not generally regarded as Fantastic Art. Many artists have produced works which fit the definition of fantastic art, others again such as René Magritte are usually classed as Surrealists but use fantastic elements in their work. It is therefore impossible to give an exhaustive list of fantastic artists and this led to a movement of science fiction and fantasy artists prior to and during the Great Depression, as anthologised by Vincent Di Fate, himself a prolific SF and space artist. In the United States in the 1930s, a group of Wisconsin artists inspired by the Surrealist movement of Europe created their own brand of fantastic art. They included Madison, Wisconsin-based artists Marshall Glasier, Dudley Huppler and John Wilde, Karl Priebe of Milwaukee and their art combined macabre humor, mystery and irony which was in direct and pointed contradiction to the American Regionalism then in vogue. Major imagists include Roger Brown, Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, Ed Paschke, non-European art may contain fantastic elements, although it is not necessarily easy to separate them from religious elements involving supernatural beings and miraculous events. Sculptor Bunleua Sulilat is a notable contemporary Asian Fantastic artist, dream art Outsider art Society for the Art of Imagination Surrealism Vienna School of Fantastic Realism Gruyères Castle Coleman, A. D. Fantastic illustration and design in Britain, 1850-1930, day, Holliday T. & Sturges, Hollister
Fantastic art
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Mermaid Syndrom by
George Grie, (2006).
Fantastic art
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Gustave Doré 's fantastic illustration of
Orlando Furioso: defeating a sea monster
8.
Fantasy fiction magazine
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A fantasy fiction magazine or fantasy magazine is a magazine which publishes primarily fantasy fiction. Not generally included in the category are magazines for children with stories about characters as Santa Claus. Also not included are adult magazines about sexual fantasy, many fantasy magazines, in addition to fiction, have other features such as art, cartoons, reviews, or letters from readers. Some fantasy magazines also publish fiction and horror fiction, so that here is not always a clear distinction between a fantasy magazine and a science fiction magazine. For example, Fantastic magazine published almost exclusively science fiction for much of its run
Fantasy fiction magazine
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Fantastic Adventures magazine
9.
Fantasy film
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Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction films and horror films, Fantasy films often have an element of magic, myth, wonder, escapism, and the extraordinary. Several sub-categories of fantasy films can be identified, although the delineations between these subgenres, much as in literature, are somewhat fluid. The most common fantasy subgenres depicted in movies are High Fantasy and Sword, both categories typically employ quasi-medieval settings, wizards, magical creatures and other elements commonly associated with fantasy stories. High Fantasy films tend to feature a more richly developed fantasy world, often, they feature a hero of humble origins and a clear distinction between good and evil set against each other in an epic struggle. Many scholars cite J. R. R, to some, the term Sword and Sandal has pejorative connotations, designating a film with a low-quality script, bad acting and poor production values. Another important subgenre of films that has become more popular in recent years is contemporary fantasy. Such films feature magical effects or supernatural occurrences happening in the world of today. Fantasy films set in the afterlife, called Bangsian Fantasy, are less common, other uncommon subgenres include Historical Fantasy and Romantic Fantasy, although 2003s Pirates of the Caribbean, The Curse of the Black Pearl successfully incorporated elements of both. As noted above, superhero movies and fairy tale films might each be considered subgenres of fantasy films, as a cinematic genre, fantasy has traditionally not been regarded as highly as the related genre of science fiction film. Since the late 1990s, however, the genre has gained new respectability in a way, tolkiens The Lord of the Rings and J. K. Jacksons The Lord of the Rings trilogy is due to its ambitious scope, serious tone. These pictures achieved phenomenal commercial and critical success, and the installment of the trilogy became the first fantasy film ever to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Harry Potter series has been a financial success, has achieved critical acclaim. Following the success of ventures, Hollywood studios have greenlighted additional big-budget productions in the genre. These have included adaptations of the first, second, and third books in C. S and this is in contrast to science fiction films, which are often released during the northern hemisphere summer. The huge commercial success of these pictures may indicate a change in Hollywoods approach to fantasy film releases. Fantasy films have a history almost as old as the medium itself, however, fantasy films were relatively few and far between until the 1980s, when high-tech filmmaking techniques and increased audience interest caused the genre to flourish
Fantasy film
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Fantasy films
10.
History of fantasy
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Elements of the supernatural and the fantastic were an element of literature from its beginning. Such authors as George MacDonald created explicitly fantastic works, in addition, the rules, geography, history, etc. of this world tend to be defined, even if they are not described outright. Traditional fantastic tales take place in our world, often in the past or in far off and it seldom describes the place or the time with any precision, often saying simply that it happened long ago and far away. The second difference is that the supernatural in fantasy is by design fictitious, by one standard, no work created before the fantasy genre was defined can be considered to belong to it, no matter how many fantastic elements it includes. But even by the more limited definition a full examination of the history of the fantastic in literature is necessary to show the origins of the modern genre, traditional works contain significant elements which modern fantasy authors have drawn upon extensively for inspiration in their own works. The history of French fantastique literature is covered in detail under Fantastique. With increases in learning in the medieval European era, literary fiction joined earlier myths, among the first genres to appear was romance. This genre embraced fantasy, and not only simply followed traditional myths and fables, during the Renaissance, romance continued to be popular. The trend was to more fantastic fiction, the English Le Morte dArthur by Sir Thomas Malory, was written in prose, this work dominates the Arthurian literature, often being regarded as the canonical form of the legend. Arthurian motifs have appeared steadily in literature from its publication, though the works have been a mix of fantasy and non-fantasy works, ariostos tale, with its endlessly wandering characters, many marvels, and adventures, was a source text for many fantasies of adventure. With such works as Amadis of Gaul and Palmerin of England, one English romance is The Faerie Queene of Edmund Spenser. The poem is allegorical and allusive. Leaving allegory aside, however, the action is that of a knightly romance, involving knightly duels. That is probably the first work in which most of the characters are not men, there are mentioned also the wars between goblins and elf, which were destined to have a great future in fantastic fiction. The tale of Don Quixote deeply satirized the conventions of the romance, nevertheless, large subgenres of the field of fantasy have sprung from the romance genre, either directly or through their imitation by latter fantasy writer William Morris. Literary fairy tales, such as were written by Charles Perrault, many of Perraults tales became fairy tale staples, and influenced latter fantasy as such. Indeed, when Madame dAulnoy termed her works contes de fée, she invented the term that is now used for the genre. This would influence later writers, who took up the folk tales in the same manner
History of fantasy
–
The Enchanted Garden of Messer Ansaldo by
Marie Spartali Stillman: a tale from the
Decameron is part of the evolution of the fantasy genre from tales of the fantastic.
History of fantasy
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Illustration to
Orlando furioso by
Gustave Doré, featuring the
hippogriff, a monster never actually found in folklore.
History of fantasy
–
The Damsel of the Sanct Grael, by
Dante Gabriel Rossetti: medieval romance.
History of fantasy
–
Portrait of Isabella Saltonstall as Una, a character from The Faerie Queene, by
George Stubbs.
11.
Legendary creature
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A legendary creature is an animal or part human described in non-historical stories that sometimes involve the supernatural. In the classical era, monstrous creatures such as the Cyclops, other creatures, such as the unicorn, were claimed in accounts of natural history by various scholars of antiquity. Some legendary creatures have their origin in traditional mythology and were believed to be creatures, for example dragons, griffins. Others were based on real encounters, originating in garbled accounts of travelers tales, such as the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary, a variety of mythical animals appear in the art and stories of the Classical era. For example in the Odyssey, monstrous creatures include the Cyclops, Scylla, in other tales there appear the Medusa to be defeated by Perseus, the Minotaur to be destroyed by Theseus, and the Hydra to be killed by Heracles, while Aeneas battles with the harpies. These monsters thus have the function of emphasising the greatness of the heroes involved. Some classical era creatures, such as the centaur, chimaera, Triton, similarly, sphinxes appear as winged lions in Indian art. In Medieval art, animals, both real and mythical, played important roles and these included decorative forms as in Medieval jewellery, sometimes with their limbs intricately interlaced. Animal forms were used to add humour or majesty to objects, in Christian art, animals carried symbolic meanings, where for example the lamb symbolised Christ, a dove indicated the Holy Spirit, and the classical griffin represented a guardian of the dead. Medieval bestiaries included animals regardless of reality, the basilisk represented the devil. One function of animals in the Middle Ages was allegory. Unicorns, for example, were described as swift and unable to be caught by traditional methods. It was believed that the way for one to catch this beast was to lead a virgin to its dwelling. Then, the unicorn was supposed to leap into her lap and go to sleep, in terms of symbolism, the unicorn was a metaphor for Christ. Unicorns represented the idea of innocence and purity, in the King James Bible, Psalm 92,10 states, My horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn. This is because the translators of the King James erroneously translated the Hebrew word reem as unicorn, later versions translate this as wild ox. The unicorn’s small size signifies the humility of Christ, another common legendary creature which served allegorical functions within the Middle Ages was the dragon. Dragons were identified with serpents, though their attributes were greatly intensified, the dragon was supposed to have been larger than all other animals
Legendary creature
–
A carving of a dragon from
Imperial City, Huế in Vietnam
Legendary creature
–
Harry Kellar 's supernatural creatures
12.
Fantasy literature
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Fantasy literature is the body of written works that employ the motifs, themes, and stylistic approaches expected in the fantasy genre. Historically, most works of fantasy were written pieces of literature, since the 1960s, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music and painting. Stories involving paranormal magic and terrible monsters have existed in spoken forms before the advent of printed literature, homers Odyssey satisfies the definition of the fantasy genre with its magic, gods, heroes, adventures and monsters. Fantasy literature as a distinct type emerged in Victorian times, with the works of such as Mary Shelley, William Morris. J. R. R. Tolkien played a role in the popularization and accessibility of the fantasy genre with his highly successful publications The Hobbit. Rarely does one consider modern fantasy without conjuring the memory and image of Tolkien, Tolkien was largely influenced by an ancient body of Anglo-Saxon myths, particularly Beowulf, as well as modern works such as The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison. Tolkiens close friend C. S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, the tradition established by these predecessors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has continued to thrive and be adapted by new authors. Tolkiens fiction has—particularly over the genre of high fantasy—prompted backlash, at the turn of the millennium, the Harry Potter novels of J. K. Rowling achieved widespread popularity. R. Martin in 2005, and 2011, Neil Gaiman in 2005, authors often engage in worldbuilding, constructing a framework or entire world against which the narrative plays out. Symbolism often plays a significant role in literature, often through the use of archetypal figures inspired by earlier texts or folklore. Some argue that fantasy literature and its archetypes fulfill a function for individuals and society, le Guin, in her essay From Elfland to Poughkeepsie, presented the idea that language is the most crucial element of high fantasy, because it creates a sense of place. She analyzed the misuse of a formal, olden-day style, saying that it was a trap for fantasy writers because it was ridiculous when done wrong. Brian Peters writes that in various forms of fantasy, even the villains language might be inappropriate if vulgar. The fantastical details of the series fade away by the installment, revealing that the wizarding community of the Harry Potter books is just as bad, if not worse. Farah Mendlesohn argues the world of literature is broken up into four categories, the portal quest, the immersive, the intrusive. How the fantastic enters the world is what determines how a story fits into these categories. In a portal quest such as C. S. Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch, in the intrusion fantasies like Bram Stokers Dracula, the fantastic invades the fictional world. With liminal fantasy, for example Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, The Subtle Knife, tolkiens The Hobbit for example, allows the reader no escape from the fantastic
Fantasy literature
–
Fantasy
13.
Quest
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A quest serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction, a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of every nation, in literature, the object of a quest requires great exertion on the part of the hero, who must overcome many obstacles, typically including much travel. The aspect of travel allows the storyteller to showcase exotic locations, the object of a quest may also have supernatural properties, often leading the protagonist into other worlds and dimensions. The moral of a quest tale often centers on the character of the hero. The hero normally aims to obtain something or someone by the quest, the object can be something new, that fulfills a lack in his life, or something that was stolen away from him or someone with authority to dispatch him. Sometimes the hero has no desire to return, Sir Galahads quest for the Holy Grail is to find it, not return with it. A return may, indeed, be impossible, Aeneas quests for a homeland, having lost Troy at the beginning of Virgils Aeneid, the quest object may, indeed, function only as a convenient reason for the heros journey. When a hero is on a quest for several objects that are only a convenient reason for his journey, they are termed plot coupons, most times in a quest, the knight in shining armor wins the heart of a beautiful maiden/ princess. An early quest story tells the tale of Gilgamesh, who seeks a secret to life after the death of Enkidu. Another ancient quest tale, Homers Odyssey, tells of Odysseus, recovering the Golden Fleece is the object of the travels of Jason and the Argonauts in the Argonautica. Psyche, having lost Cupid, hunted through the world for him, other characters can also set forth on quests — the heros older brothers commonly do — but the hero is distinguished by his success. Many medieval romances sent knights out on quests, the term Knight-errant sprang from this, as errant meant roving or wandering. Sir Thomas Malory included many in Le Morte dArthur, the most famous—perhaps in all of western literature—centers on the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. This story cycle recounts multiple quests, in variants, telling stories both of the heroes who succeed, like Percival or Sir Galahad, and also the heroes who fail. This often sent them into a bewildering forest, despite many references to its pathlessness, the forest repeatedly confronts knights with forks and crossroads, of a labyrinthine complexity. The significiance of their encounters is explained to the knights—particularly those searching for the Holy Grail—by hermits acting as wise old men -- or women. So consistently did knights quest that Miguel de Cervantes set his Don Quixote on mock quests in a parody of chivalric tales, nevertheless, while Don Quixote was a fool, he was and remains a hero of chivalry. Analysis can interpret many stories as a quest in which the character is seeking something that he desires
Quest
–
"
Soria Moria " by
Theodor Kittelsen: a hero glimpses the end of his quest.
Quest
–
A Knight at the Crossroads by
Viktor Vasnetsov
Quest
–
"Vision of the Holy Grail" (1890) by
William Morris
14.
Magic in fiction
–
Magic in fiction is the endowing of characters or objects in works of fiction with powers unavailable in the real world. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, le Guin, Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks, J. K. Rowling, Mercedes Lackey and Derek Landy, within a work of fantasy, magics helps advance the plot, often providing power for the hero of the story and/or power for those who oppose him/her. The use of magic frequently manifests itself in a transformation of the character, in order to carry out its function, magic often comes at a price that is equal to its value. Contemporary authors tend to treat magic as an idea, opting to world-build with a blank slate where the laws of reality do not carry as much weight. Fictional magic may sometimes be inspired by beliefs and practices. Even when the writer uses non-fictional beliefs and practices, the effect, strength, in any given fantasy magical system, the magical ability of the character is limited. Limitations can add conflict to the story and prevent characters from becoming all-powerful with magic, authors introduce magic into their stories, and to their characters, in varying ways. Characters with talents that occur spontaneously usually require training in order to control their abilities, some works treat magic as a force that is acquired through studying books and tomes, aquired simply by learning an equation or memorizing a story. Works which feature this concept include a school where magic is taught as a main setting. Magic may also be gained by having it bestowed upon one character by another, such as a pact with a devil or with other spirits, a characteristic common in folklore. Sword and sorcery heroes are depicted as fighting against this type of wizard, in some works, such as fairy tales, magic items either endow the main characters with magical powers or have magical powers themselves. They are often used as plot devices or MacGuffins to drive the plot of a story, such items may be created by magicians or powerful beings, often in the distant past, but arent always possible to create at the present time of the story. Other fictional magical objects may have no explained past, wands and staves are often featured in fantasy works in the hands of wizards. Italian fairy tales put wands into the hands of the fairies by the late Middle Ages. In some works, types of magic are divided by color, as in folkloric and occult tradition, the white and black magic dichotomy may also exist in these works. Some works feature magic that is performed through using words to cast spells, while many works use this method without offering an explanation for it, others do offer an explanation, which differs from one work to another. Some works feature magic that is tied to a certain area, such places are usually the homes of powerful magical beings
Magic in fiction
–
The Alchemist, by
Joseph Wright of Derby
Magic in fiction
–
"
Magic Circle " by
John William Waterhouse
Magic in fiction
–
"The Crystal Ball" by
John William Waterhouse: studying magic
15.
Fantasy tropes
–
Fantasy tropes are a specific type of literary tropes that occur in fantasy fiction. Worldbuilding, in particular, has many common conventions, as do plot and characterization, to a lesser extent. Many works of fantasy operate using these tropes, while others use them in a revisionist manner, making the tropes over for reasons such as for comic effect. The conflict of good against evil is a theme in the popular forms of fantasy, normally, evil characters erupt from their lands to invade. In some works, mostly notably in sword and sorcery, evil is not opposed by the unambiguously good, heroic characters are a mainstay of fantasy, particularly high fantasy and sword and sorcery. Such characters are capable of more than ordinary behavior, physically, morally, sometimes they might have to grow into the role ordained for them. This may take the form of maturation, which is often through Coming of Age, many protagonists are, unknown to themselves, of royal blood. Even in so fanciful a tale as Through the Looking-Glass, Alice is made a queen in the end, commonly, these tales revolve around the maltreated hero coming into his or her own. This can reflect a wish-fulfillment dream, or symbolically embody a profound transformation, the forces of evil are often personified in a Dark Lord. Besides possessing vast magical abilities, a Dark Lord often controls great armies, the villain of the Demon Sword video game is also literally called Dark Lord. In the Lone Wolf gamebooks, the Dark Lords are a race of powerful evil beings. The protagonists of the Overlord video game franchise are classic Dark Lords in the vein of Sauron, the Dark Lord is usually seen as unmarried, though there has been occasion when one has attempted to claim a bride. Quests, a trope in literature, are common in fantasy. They can be anything from a quest to locate the MacGuffins necessary to save the world, in fantasy, magic often has an overwhelming presence, although its precise nature is delineated in the book in which it appears. It can appear in a world, or in a fantasy land that is part of reality but insulated from the mundane lands. A common trope is that the ability to work magic is innate, as a consequence the person who uses it, usually called a magician, wizard, sorcerer, warlock, mage, or magus, is a common figure in fantasy. Another feature is the item, which can endow characters with magical abilities that are not innate. Among the most common are magic swords and magic rings, self-fulfilling prophecies are amongst the most common forms of magic because they are an often used plot device
Fantasy tropes
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Illustration by
Arthur Rackham to Richard Wagner's
Die Walküre: the magic sword, such as Nothung, is a common fantasy trope.
16.
Superhero fiction
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Superhero fiction is a genre mainly originating in and most common to American comic books, though it has expanded into other media through adaptations and original works. A superhero is most often the protagonist of superhero fiction, although some titles, such as Marvels by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross, a superhero is a type of stock character possessing extraordinary or superhuman powers and dedicated to protecting the public. The word itself dates to at least 1917, a female superhero is sometimes called a superheroine. SUPER HEROES is a trademark co-owned by DC Comics and Marvel Comics, such characters were generally referred to as mystery men in the so-called Golden Age of Comic Books to distinguish them from characters with super-powers. Normally, superheroes use their powers to counter day-to-day crime while also combating threats against humanity by their criminal counterparts, long-running superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and Iron Man have a rogues gallery of such enemies. One of these supervillains might be the superheros archenemy, Superheroes will sometimes combat other threats such as aliens, magical/fantasy entities, natural disasters, political ideologies such as Nazism or communism, and godlike or demonic creatures. A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies. They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other heroes, whereas superheroes often wield fantastic powers, the supervillain possesses commensurate powers and abilities so that he can present a daunting challenge to the hero. Even without actual physical, mystical, superhuman or superalien powers, another common trait is possession of considerable resources to help further his aims. Many supervillains share some characteristics of real world dictators, mobsters. Superheroes and supervillains often mirror each other in their powers, abilities, in some cases, the only difference between the two is that the hero uses his extraordinary powers to help others, while the villain uses his powers for selfish, destructive or ruthless purposes. Both superheroes and supervillains often use alter egos while in action, while sometimes the characters real name is publicly known, alter egos are most often used to hide the characters secret identity from their enemies and the public. Fans have termed the practice of bringing back dead comic book death. Another common trait of superhero fiction is the killing off of a significant other by a supervillain to advance the plot. Comic book writer Gail Simone has coined the term Women in Refrigerators to refer to this practice, often, many works superhero fiction occur in the a shared fictional universe, sometimes establishing a fictional continuity of thousands of works spread over many decades. Changes to continuity are also common, ranging from changes to established continuity, commonly called retcons, to full reboots. It is also common for works of superhero fiction to contain established characters. Crossovers often occur between characters of different works of superhero fiction, in comic books, highly publicized events are published featuring crossovers between many characters
Superhero fiction
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AmazingMan22
Superhero fiction
–
The first Phantom
Sunday strip (May 28, 1939). Art by Ray Moore.
17.
Fantasy television
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Fantasy television is a genre of television programming featuring elements of the fantastic, often including magic, supernatural forces, or exotic fantasy worlds. Fantasy television programs are based on tales from mythology and folklore. The boundaries of fantasy television overlap with Science Fiction and Horror, similar to the difficulty faced by scholars of fantasy film, classifying a television program as fantasy can be somewhat problematic given the fluid boundaries of the genre. Not all programs with fantastic elements may qualify as fantasy, childrens programs in particular often feature fantastic elements that do not qualify the program as fantasy, such as the giant talking avian Big Bird of the popular PBS series Sesame Street. Nevertheless, some critics classify certain childrens programs that feature traditional fantasy elements such as characters, wizards. See, for example, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, programs for general audiences may also be difficult to classify. The program The Twilight Zone presented a series of unrelated stories, some of which were works of science fiction, the more generic term speculative fiction might be appropriate for such shows. Other series blend the fantasy and horror genres, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and still other programs feature dream sequences or other surreal elements, yet would not be considered fantasy shows by most fans or critics. In the United Kingdom, the term telefantasy is used as a term to collectively describe all types of programs that feature elements of the fantastic. Some critics consider Superhero programs to be works of fantasy, but others classify them as science fiction, see, for example Wonder Woman and Lois & Clark. Proper classification is ambiguous for the Tokusatsu superhero programs from Japan. A wide variety of subgenres have been represented on television
Fantasy television
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Fantasy
18.
Fantasy world
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A fantasy world is a fictional universe created in fiction media, such as literature, film or games. Typical fantasy worlds involve magic or magical abilities, nonexistent technology and sometimes, many fantasy worlds draw heavily on real world history, geography and sociology, and also on mythology and folklore. The setting of a work is often of great importance to the plot. The setting itself can be imperiled by the evil of the story, suffer a calamity, stories that use the setting as merely a backdrop for the story have been criticized for their failure to use it fully. Even when the land itself is not in danger, it is used symbolically, for thematic purposes. Early fantasy worlds appeared as fantasy lands, part of the same planet, for example, Oz, though a fantasy world in every way, is described as part of this world. Even within the span of decades, Oz, which had been situated in a desert in the United States when first written about in 1900, was relocated to a spot in the Pacific Ocean. This is a process that continues, and finally culminates in the world having little connection, if any. A more recent example of a land with definite connections to the actual world is Austin Tappan Wrights Islandia. Islandias remoteness and aura of mystery, as well as its preservation of a society, are explained by means of a law which allows only limited contact with foreigners. Dream frames were also common for encasing the fantasy world with an explanation of its marvels. Such a dream frame was added to the story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for the version, in the book. Lovecraft made active use of the frame, creating elaborate geographies accessible to humans only when they were asleep. These dream-settings have been criticized, and are far less frequent today and this change is part of a general trend toward more self-consistent and substantive fantasy worlds. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings, when these worlds are copied not so much from history as from other fantasy works, there is a heavy tendency to uniformity and lack of realism. The full width and breadth of the era is seldom drawn upon. Governments, for instance, tend to be uncompromisingly feudal-based, or evil empires or oligarchies, usually corrupt, Fantasy worlds also tend to be medieval in economy, and disproportionately pastoral. Careful world-building plus meticulous attention to detail is cited as the reason why certain fantasy works are deeply convincing
Fantasy world
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"The
Nix as a brook horse" by
Theodor Kittelsen: folklore transformed into a fantasy world
Fantasy world
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The Creation of the Two Trees figured in Tolkien's fantasy world,
Arda
19.
List of fantasy authors
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This is a list of fantasy authors, authors known for writing works of fantasy, fantasy literature, or related genres of magic realism, horror fiction, science fantasy. Many of the authors are known for work outside the fantasy genres, hocking, author of Conan and the Emerald Lotus P. C. Warner Munn, author of Merlins Ring C. E. Eric S. Paxson, author of Brísingamen Mervyn Peake, talboys, author of Stealing into Winter Yoshiki Tanaka, author of The Heroic Legend of Arslan Charles R. R. R. B. White, author of Charlottes Web and Stuart Little T. H, white, author of The Once and Future King Jack Whyte, author of Arthurian novels such as The Skystone Cherry Wilder, author of The Wanderer Paul O
List of fantasy authors
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Joan Aiken
List of fantasy authors
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Peter S. Beagle
List of fantasy authors
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Terry Brooks
List of fantasy authors
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Steven Brust
20.
Science fiction
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Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations, and has been called a literature of ideas. Science fiction is difficult to define, as it includes a range of subgenres and themes. Author and editor Damon Knight summed up the difficulty, saying science fiction is what we point to when we say it, a definition echoed by author Mark C. Glassy, who argues that the definition of science fiction is like the definition of pornography, you do not know what it is, in 1970 or 1971William Atheling Jr. According to science fiction writer Robert A, rod Serlings definition is fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science fiction is the improbable made possible, Science fiction is largely based on writing rationally about alternative possible worlds or futures. Science fiction elements include, A time setting in the future, in alternative timelines, a spatial setting or scenes in outer space, on other worlds, or on subterranean earth. Characters that include aliens, mutants, androids, or humanoid robots, futuristic or plausible technology such as ray guns, teleportation machines, and humanoid computers. Scientific principles that are new or that contradict accepted physical laws, for time travel, wormholes. New and different political or social systems, e. g. utopian, dystopian, post-scarcity, paranormal abilities such as mind control, telepathy, telekinesis Other universes or dimensions and travel between them. A product of the budding Age of Reason and the development of science itself. Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan considered Keplers work the first science fiction story and it depicts a journey to the Moon and how the Earths motion is seen from there. Later, Edgar Allan Poe wrote a story about a flight to the moon, more examples appeared throughout the 19th century. Wells The War of the Worlds describes an invasion of late Victorian England by Martians using tripod fighting machines equipped with advanced weaponry and it is a seminal depiction of an alien invasion of Earth. In the late 19th century, the scientific romance was used in Britain to describe much of this fiction. This produced additional offshoots, such as the 1884 novella Flatland, the term would continue to be used into the early 20th century for writers such as Olaf Stapledon. In the early 20th century, pulp magazines helped develop a new generation of mainly American SF writers, influenced by Hugo Gernsback, the founder of Amazing Stories magazine. In 1912 Edgar Rice Burroughs published A Princess of Mars, the first of his series of Barsoom novels, situated on Mars
Science fiction
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A futuristic setting is a common but not a necessary hallmark of science fiction. A common thread in science fiction is exploring the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations on people's lives.
Science fiction
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H. G. Wells
Science fiction
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Jules Verne
Science fiction
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Arthur C. Clarke
21.
Climate fiction
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Climate fiction, or climate change fiction, popularly abbreviated as cli-fi is literature that deals with climate change and global warming. Not necessarily speculative in nature, works of cli-fi may take place in the world as we know it or in the near future, university courses on literature and environmental issues may include climate change fiction in their syllabi. This body of literature has been discussed by a variety of publications, including The New York Times, The Guardian, one example is Jules Vernes 1889 novel The Purchase of the North Pole, which imagines a climate change due to tilting of Earths axis. In his posthumous Paris in the Twentieth Century, written in 1883 and set during the 1960s, the city experiences a sudden drop in temperature. Several well-known dystopian works by British author J. G, in The Burning World his climate catastrophe is human-made, a drought due to disruption of the precipitation cycle by industrial pollution. Susan M. Margaret Atwood explored the subject in her dystopian trilogy Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood, in Oryx and Crake Attwood presents a world where social inequality, genetic technology and catastrophic climate change, has finally culminated in some apocalyptic event. Robert K. J. Robinsons latest climate-themed novel, titled New York 2140, was published in March 2017, ian McEwans Solar follows the story of a physicist who discovers a way to fight climate change after managing to derive power from artificial photosynthesis. The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson is set on the fictional planet Orbus, inhabitants of Orbus hope to take advantage of possibilities offered by a newly discovered planet, Planet Blue, which appears perfect for human life. Barbara Kingsolvers novel, Flight Behavior, employs environmental themes and highlights the effects of global warming on the monarch butterfly. Other authors who have used this subject matter include Liz Jensen, Tony White, cli-fi recommendations page on Goodreads The Cli-Fi Report A portal for news related to cli-fi
Climate fiction
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Speculative fiction
22.
Science fiction convention
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Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expression as movies, television, comics, animation, the precise time and place of the first science fiction convention is a matter of some dispute. Sometime in 1936, a group of British fans made plans to have an organized gathering and they subsequently declared that event to be the first science fiction convention. This small get-together set the stage for an event held in New York, in February,1937. Attendees at this event included James Blish, Charles D. Hornig, Julius Schwartz and it was at this event that a committee was named to arrange the first World Science Fiction Convention in New York in 1939, formalizing planning that had begun at the Third Eastern. On January 3,1937, the British fans held their long-planned event at the Theosophical Hall in Leeds, around twenty fans, including Eric Frank Russell and Arthur C. Nevertheless, by 1939, American fans had organized sufficiently to hold, in conjunction with the 1939 Worlds Fair, subsequent conventions were held in Chicago in 1940 and Denver in 1941. Like many cultural events, it was suspended during World War II, Conventions resumed in 1946 with the hosting of the World Science Fiction Convention in Los Angeles, California. At these conventions, fans of science fiction together with the professional writers, artists. Some cities have a number of science fiction conventions, as well as a number of special interest conventions for anime, media, some conventions move from city to city, serving a particular country, region, or special interest. Nearly every weekend of the now has at least one convention somewhere. Worldcon, or more formally The World Science Fiction Convention, is a science fiction convention that has held each year since 1939. These members of WSFS vote both to select the site of the Worldcon two years in advance and to select the winners of the Hugo Awards, which are presented at the convention. The rules for selection are deliberately drafted to ensure the convention occurs in a different city each year. Fantasy is usually considered alongside science fiction at conventions, Conventions that are nominally science fiction conventions such as Worldcon, are also fantasy conventions in all but name. World Fantasy Convention was begun in 1975, and has since held on an annual basis. The World Fantasy Convention, however, is oriented toward the fan community. Many of those who attend World Fantasy also attend Worldcon, the World Horror Convention is an annual gathering of professionals of the World Horror Society and other interested parties
Science fiction convention
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Fans socializing at
Worldcon 2014.
Science fiction convention
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Fans registering for
Minicon 41
Science fiction convention
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Hanging out in the lobby
Science fiction convention
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Harlan Ellison speaking
23.
List of science fiction editors
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This is a list of science fiction editors, editors working for book and magazine publishing companies who have edited science fiction. Many have also edited works of fantasy and other related genres, editors on this list should fulfill the conditions for Notability for creative professionals in science fiction or related genres. Evidence for notability includes an existing wiki-biography, or evidence that one could be written, borderline cases should be discussed on the articles talk page
List of science fiction editors
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John Joseph Adams, 2006
List of science fiction editors
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Charles N. Brown, 1937 - 2009
List of science fiction editors
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Kathryn Cramer
List of science fiction editors
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Ellen Datlow, 2008
24.
Science fiction fandom
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Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people actively interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization, Science fiction fandom started through the letter column of Hugo Gernsbacks fiction magazines. Not only did fans write comments about the stories—they sent their addresses, soon, fans were writing letters directly to each other, and meeting in person when they lived close together, or when one of them could manage a trip. In New York City, David Lasser, Gernsbacks managing editor, nurtured the birth of a local club called the Scienceers. Almost all the members were adolescent boys, around this time a few other small local groups began to spring up in metropolitan areas around the United States, many of them connecting with fellow enthusiasts via the Science Correspondence Club. In May 1930 the first science fiction fan magazine, The Comet, was produced by the Chicago branch of the Science Correspondence Club under the editorship of Raymond A. Palmer and Walter Dennis. In 1934, Gernsback established a club for fans called the Science Fiction League. Local groups across the nation could join by filling out an application, a number of clubs came into being around this time. LASFS was founded at this time as a branch of the SFL, while several competing local branches sprang up in New York City. Soon after the fans started to communicate directly with each other came the creation of science fiction fanzines and these amateur publications might or might not discuss science fiction and were generally traded rather than sold. They ranged from the utilitarian or inept to professional-quality printing and editing, science-fiction fans have been among the first users of computers, email, personal computers and the Internet. Many professional science fiction authors started their interest in fiction as fans. A widely regarded history of fandom in the 1930s can be found in Sam Moskowitzs The Immortal Storm, Moskowitz was himself involved in some of the incidents chronicled and has his own point of view, which has often been criticized. Organized fandom in Sweden emerged during the early-1950s, the first Swedish science fiction fanzine was started in the early 1950s. The oldest still existing club, Club Cosmos in Gothenburg, was formed in 1954, today, there are a number of science fiction clubs in the country, including Skandinavisk Förening för Science Fiction, Linköpings Science Fiction-Förening and Sigma Terra Corps. Between one and four science fiction conventions are held each year in Sweden, among them Swecon, an annual prize is awarded to someone that has contributed to the national fandom by the Alvar Appeltofft Memorial Fund. Since the late 1930s, SF fans have organized conventions, non-profit gatherings where the meet to discuss SF. The 1st World Science Fiction Convention or Worldcon was held in conjunction with the 1939 New York Worlds Fair, and has been held annually since the end of World War II
Science fiction fandom
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Star Wars Celebration IV - The 501st legion guards the Obi-Wan bust I won as sculptor Lawrence Noble returns it to the booth.
Science fiction fandom
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Star Wars Celebration 2015 - Jawas & Droids
25.
Science fiction magazine
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A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard copy periodical format or on the Internet. Science fiction magazines traditionally featured speculative fiction in short story, novelette, novella or novel form, many also contain editorials, book reviews or articles, and some also include stories in the fantasy and horror genres. The most influential British science fiction magazine was New Worlds, newer British SF magazines include Interzone, many science fiction magazines have been published in languages other than English, but none has gained worldwide recognition or influence in the world of anglophone science fiction. There is a trend toward important work being published first on the Internet. A web-only publication can cost as little as one-tenth of the cost of publishing a print magazine, moreover, the magazine is internationally accessible, and distribution is not an issue – though obscurity may be. Web-based magazines tend to favor shorter stories and articles that are read on a screen. From 1926 until the early 1950s, American science fiction magazines were the sources of written science fiction. Today, there are relatively few paper-based science fiction magazines, the first science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories, was published in a format known as bedsheet, roughly the size of Life but with a square spine. Later, most magazines changed to the magazine format, roughly the size of comic books or National Geographic. Science fiction magazines in this format often feature non-fiction media coverage in addition to the fiction, knowledge of these formats is an asset when locating magazines in libraries and collections where magazines are usually shelved according to size. The premiere issue of Amazing Stories, edited and published by Hugo Gernsback, after many minor changes in title and major changes in format, policy and publisher, Amazing Stories ended January 2005 after 607 issues. Before that consolidation, it ran 128 issues, much fiction published in these bedsheet magazines, except for classic reprints by writers such as H. G. Wells, Jules Verne and Edgar Allan Poe, is only of antiquarian interest. Some of it was written by science fiction fans, who were paid little or nothing for their efforts. Jack Williamson for example, was 19 when he sold his first story to Amazing Stories and his writing improved greatly over time, and until his death in 2006, he was still a publishing writer at age 98. Some of the stories in the issues were by scientists or doctors who knew little or nothing about writing fiction. The Gostak and the Doshes is one of the few stories from that era still widely read today, other stories of interest from the bedsheet magazines include the first Buck Rogers story. Armageddon 2419 A. D, by Philip Francis Nowlan and The Skylark of Space by E. E. Smith and Mrs. Lee Hawkins Garby, both in Amazing Stories in 1928. There have been a few attempts to revive the bedsheet size using better quality paper
Science fiction magazine
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First issue of Amazing Stories (April 1926) with art by Frank R. Paul.
26.
History of science fiction
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The literary genre of science fiction is diverse, and its exact definition remains a contested question among both scholars and devotees. This lack of consensus is reflected in debates about the genres history, there are two broad camps of thought, one that identifies the genres roots in early fantastical works such as the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh. Scholar Robert Scholes calls the history of fiction the history of humanitys changing attitudes toward space. The history of our understanding of the universe and the position of our species in that universe. In recent decades, the genre has diversified and become established as a major influence on global culture. These texts often include elements such as a voyage to the moon or the use of imagined advanced technology. American science fiction author Lester del Rey was one supporter of using Gilgamesh as an origin point. That is the Epic of Gilgamesh, French science fiction writer Pierre Versins also argued that Gilgamesh was the first science fiction work due to its treatment of human reason and the quest for immortality. In addition, Gilgamesh features a scene that in some ways resembles work of apocalyptic science fiction. However, the lack of science or technology in the work has led some to argue that it is better categorized as fantastic literature. Ancient Indian poetry such as the Hindu epic Ramayana includes Vimana flying machines able to travel into space or under water, and destroy entire cities using advanced weapons. In the first book of the Rigveda collection of Sanskrit hymns, there is a description of birds that are seen jumping into space speedily with a craft using fire. Containing twelve stamghas, one wheel, three machines,300 pivots, and 60 instruments, ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes has several works that include elements often associated with the fantastic voyage, including air travel to another world. Examples include his The Clouds, The Birds and The Peace, the Bible has also been cited as a science-fiction work. L. Sprague de Camp and a number of other authors argue this to be one of the earliest if not the earliest example of fiction or proto-science fiction. However, since the text was intended to be satirical and hyperbolic. Lucian translator Bryan Reardon is more explicit, describing the work as an account of a fantastic journey - to the moon, the underworld, the belly of a whale, and so forth. It is not really science fiction, although it has sometimes called that
History of science fiction
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1923 Illustration of the Shakuna Vahana
History of science fiction
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Aubrey Beardsley illustration of Lucian's interplanetary giant spider battle
History of science fiction
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Kaguya-hime returning to the Moon in
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
History of science fiction
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Arabic manuscript of the
One Thousand and One Nights
27.
Science fiction on television
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Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality. The combination of initial cost and lower maintenance cost pushed producers into building these techniques into the basic concept of a series. The broad term special effects includes all the techniques here, visual effects involve photographic or digital manipulation of the onscreen image, usually done in post-production. Mechanical or physical effects involve props, pyrotechnics, and other methods used during principal photography itself. Some effects involved a combination of techniques, a ray gun might require a pyrotechnic during filming, stunts are another important category of physical effects. In general, all kinds of special effects must be planned during pre-production. Babylon 5 was the first series to use computer-generated imagery, or CGI, for all exterior space scenes, the technology has made this more practical, so that today models are rarely used. In the 1990s, CGI required expensive processors and customized applications, models have been an essential tool in science fiction television since the beginning, when Buck Rogers took flight in spark-scattering spaceships wheeling across a matte backdrop sky. The original Star Trek required an array of models, the USS Enterprise had to be built in several different scales for different needs. Gerry Anderson created a series of using puppets living in a universe of models and miniature sets. ALF depicted an alien living in a family, while Farscape included two puppets as regular characters, in Stargate SG-1, the Asgard characters are puppets in scenes where they are sitting, standing, or lying down. As animation is completely free of the constraints of gravity, momentum, in general, science fiction series are subject to the same financial constraints as other television shows. However, high production costs increase the risk, while limited audiences further complicate the business case for continuing production. Star Trek was the first television series to cost more than $100,000 per episode, while Star Trek and this enabled merchandising such as toy lines, animated cartoon adaptations, and other licensing. Creative settings also often call for broader story arcs than is found in mainstream television. Science fiction television producers will sometimes end a season with a cliffhanger episode to attract viewer interest. Dark Angel is one of many shows ending with a scene that left critical questions open when the series was cancelled
Science fiction on television
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A scene from the early American science fiction television program
Captain Video which aired from 1949 to 1955.
Science fiction on television
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Robot characters from the Japanese science fiction television series
Ganbare!! Robocon were used to decorate this train car.
Science fiction on television
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Fans at a science fiction convention dressed as characters from
Star Trek
28.
List of science fiction authors
–
Note that this partial list contains some authors whose works of fantastic fiction would today be called science fiction, even if they predate, or did not work in that genre. Most science fiction authors write as novelists or short story writers, though increasingly, as the genre becomes possible, deutsch Graham Diamond Philip K. Dick Gordon R. Dickson Lyuben Dilov Dougal Dixon William C. Edmondson George Alec Effinger Ivan Antonovich Efremov Greg Egan Suzette Haden Elgin E. C, High Douglas Hill Ernest Hill Christopher Hinz Morioka Hiroyuki P. C. Meluch Miguel Mendonça Richard C. Meredith Robert Merle Judith Merril A, merritt Melinda Metz, author of Roswell High series Robert A. Metzger Stephenie Meyer China Miéville P. Schuyler Miller Walter M. Miller, Jr. Jinx Magic John E. Stith J. Tanner Andrius Tapinas Howard Tayler and it also tells you whom else you might like if you like one author. Official website for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Official website for Russian Science Fiction and Fantasy
List of science fiction authors
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Edward Bellamy, c. 1889
List of science fiction authors
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Isaac Asimov, one of the "Big Three" science-fiction writers during his lifetime -- the other two were
Robert A. Heinlein and
Arthur C. Clarke. Painting by
Rowena Morrill, with symbols of his work on his throne.
List of science fiction authors
–
Cyrano de Bergerac, one of the earliest SF writers
List of science fiction authors
–
Ray Bradbury, 1975
29.
Horror fiction
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Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten, scare, disgust, or startle their readers or viewers by inducing feelings of horror and terror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon has defined the horror story as a piece of fiction in prose of variable length, which shocks or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing. It creates an eerie and frightening atmosphere, Horror is frequently supernatural, though it can be non-supernatural. Often the central menace of a work of fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for the larger fears of a society. The genre of horror has ancient origins with roots in folklore and religious traditions, focusing on death, the afterlife, evil, the demonic and these were manifested in stories of beings such as witches, vampires, werewolves and ghosts. 18th century Gothic horror drew on these sources with the seminal and controversial The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole and this marked the first incorporated elements of the supernatural instead of pure realism. In fact, the first edition was published disguised as a medieval romance from Italy discovered and republished by a fictitious translator. Once revealed as contemporary, many found it anachronistic, reactionary, or simply in poor taste — but it proved to be immediately popular. That first novel of Gothic horror inspired such works as Vathek by William Beckford, A Sicilian Romance, The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Italian by Ann Radcliffe and The Monk by Matthew Lewis. A significant amount of fiction of this era was written by women and marketed at a female audience. The Gothic tradition blossomed into the modern readers call horror literature in the 19th century. Each of these novels and novellas created an icon of horror seen in modern re-imaginings on the stage. The proliferation of periodicals, as early as the turn of the century. One writer who specialized in fiction for mainstream pulps such as All-Story Magazine was Tod Robbins, whose fiction dealt with themes of madness. Later, specialist publications emerged to give horror writers an outlet, including Weird Tales, influential horror writers of the early 20th century made inroads in these mediums. Early cinema was inspired by aspects of horror literature, and early horror cinema started a strong tradition of horror films. This imagery made these comics controversial, and as a consequence they were frequently censored, many modern novels claim an early description of the living dead in a precursor to the modern zombie tale, including Dennis Wheatleys Strange Conflict, H. P. Lovecraft stories such as Cool Air, In The Vault, richard Mathesons novel I Am Legend would also influence an entire genre of apocalyptic zombie fiction emblematic of the films of George A. Romero
Horror fiction
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An Illustration of Poe's "
The Raven " by
Gustave Doré
Horror fiction
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Edgar Allan Poe
Horror fiction
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Mary Shelley by
Richard Rothwell (1840–41)
Horror fiction
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H.P. Lovecraft
30.
Horror film
–
Horror film is a film genre that seeks to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on their fears. Inspired by literature from authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, the macabre and the supernatural are frequent themes. Horror may also overlap with the fantasy, supernatural fiction and thriller genres, Horror films often deal with viewers nightmares, fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. Plots within the genre often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event. Another of his projects was 1898s La Caverne maudite. Japan made early forays into the genre with Bake Jizo and Shinin no Sosei. The era featured a slew of literary adaptations, with the works of Poe and Dante, in 1908, Selig Polyscope Company produced Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In 1910, Edison Studios produced the first filmed version of Frankenstein, the macabre nature of the source materials used made the films synonymous with the horror film genre. Before and during the Weimar Republic era, German Expressionist filmmakers would significantly influence later productions, the first vampire-themed movie, Nosferatu, was made during this period, though it was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stokers Dracula. Other European countries also, contributed to the genre during this period, though the word horror to describe the film genre would not be used until the 1930s, earlier American productions often relied on horror themes. Some notable examples include The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Phantom of the Opera, The Cat and the Canary, The Unknown, and The Man Who Laughs. Many of these films were considered dark melodramas because of their stock characters and emotion-heavy plots that focused on romance, violence, suspense. The trend of inserting an element of macabre into American pre-horror melodramas continued into the 1920s, directors known for relying on macabre in their films during the 1920s were Maurice Tourneur, Rex Ingram, and Tod Browning. Ingrams The Magician contains one of the first examples of a mad doctor and is said to have had a influence on James Whales version of Frankenstein. The Unholy Three is an example of Brownings use of macabre and unique style of morbidity, he remade the film in 1930 as a talkie, during the early period of talking pictures, Universal Pictures began a successful Gothic horror film series. Tod Brownings Dracula was quickly followed by James Whales Frankenstein and The Old Dark House, some of these films blended science fiction with Gothic horror, such as Whales The Invisible Man and featured a mad scientist, mirroring earlier German films. Frankenstein was the first in a series of remakes which lasted for years, the Mummy introduced Egyptology as a theme, Make-up artist Jack Pierce was responsible for the iconic image of the monster, and others in the series. Universals horror cycle continued into the 1940s with B-movies including The Wolf Man, the once controversial Freaks, based on the short story Spurs, was made by MGM, though the studio disowned the completed film, and it remained banned, in the UK, for thirty years
Horror film
–
A famous scene from one of the first notable horror films,
Nosferatu (1922)
Horror film
–
Lon Chaney, Sr. in
The Phantom of the Opera.
Horror film
–
Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's monster in
Bride of Frankenstein (1935).
Horror film
–
Christopher Lee starred in several British horror films of the era, shown here in 1958's
Dracula.
31.
Fictional universe
–
A fictional universe is a self-consistent imaginary setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm, fictional universes may appear in novels, comics, films, television shows, video games and other creative works. What distinguishes a fictional universe from a setting is the level of detail. A fictional universe has a continuity and internal logic that must be adhered to throughout the work. So, for instance, many books may be set in conflicting fictional versions of Victorian London, however, the various film series based on Sherlock Holmes follow their own separate continuities, and so do not take place in the same fictional universe. The history and geography of a universe are well-defined, and maps. When subsequent works are written within the universe, care is usually taken to ensure that established facts of the canon are not violated. Even if the fictional universe involves concepts such as magic that dont exist in the real world, a famous example of a detailed fictional universe is Arda, of J. R. R. Tolkiens books The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. He created first its languages and then the world itself, which he states was primarily linguistic in inspiration and was begun in order to provide the history for the Elvish tongues. Another, more recent, famous fictional universe is that of the Avatar film series, as James Cameron has invented an entire ecosystem, also, he commissioned a linguistics expert to invent the Navi language. Virtually every successful fictional TV series or comic book develops its own universe to keep track of the episodes or issues. Writers for that series must follow the story bible, which becomes the series canon. This creates a universe that future authors can write about. These stories about the universe or universes that existed before the retcon are usually not canonical, Crisis on Infinite Earths was an especially sweeping example. Some writers choose to introduce elements or characters from one work into another, for example, the character of Ursula Buffay from American sitcom Mad About You was also a recurring guest star in Friends, despite the two series having little else in common. Fellow NBC series Seinfeld also contained references to Mad About You. L. Frank Baum introduced the characters of Capn Bill and Trot, the two characters made a number of subsequent appearances in later Oz books. Sir Thomas Mores Utopia is one of the earliest examples of a fictional world with its own rules and functional concepts
Fictional universe
–
Map of the
land of Oz, the fictional realm that is the setting for
L. Frank Baum 's "
Oz " series.
32.
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
–
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. In October 2011, the edition was made available for free online. The first edition, edited by Peter Nicholls with John Clute, was published by Granada in 1979 and it was retitled The Science Fiction Encyclopedia when published by Doubleday in the United States. Accompanying its text were numerous black and white photographs illustrating authors, book and magazine covers, film and TV stills, a second edition, jointly edited by Nicholls and Clute, was published in 1993 by Orbit in the UK and St. Martins Press in the US. The second edition contained 1.3 million words, almost twice the 700,000 words of the 1979 edition, the paperback edition included an addendum. Unlike the first edition, the print versions did not contain illustrations, there was also a CD-ROM version in 1995, styled variously as The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Grolier Science Fiction. This contained text updates through 1995, hundreds of covers and author photos, a small number of old film trailers. The companion volume, published after the print edition and following its format closely, is The Encyclopedia of Fantasy edited by John Clute. All print and CD-ROM editions are out of print. The beta text of the third edition launched online on 2 October 2011, with editors John Clute, David Langford, Peter Nicholls, the encyclopedia is updated regularly by the editorial team with material written by themselves and contributed by science fiction academics and experts. It received the Hugo Award for Best Related Work in 2012, the online edition of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction was released in October 2011 with 12,230 entries, totaling 3,200,000 words. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, An Illustrated A to Z, St Albans, Herts, UK, Granada Publishing Ltd. p.672. The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Clute, John, Langford, David, Nicholls, Peter, Sleight, Graham
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
–
Cover of the first edition
33.
First contact (science fiction)
–
First contact is a common science fiction theme about the first meeting between humans and extraterrestrial life, or of any sentient races first encounter with another one. The theme allows authors to explore topics such as xenophobia, transcendentalism. Of many variations of the trope, one may recognize the subclasses of the actual meeting of two civilizations and the message from space one. There have been entire series devoted to this theme, one classic series is the interstellar trader series by Andre Norton. Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelles The Mote in Gods Eye was written to be, in Nivens words, the epitome of first contact novels. Here it is humanity that plays the role of visiting aliens, as the religious, technological, political, psychological, military, cultural, and biological implications of first contact are explored. By contrast, in the works of Iain M. Novels such as The Player of Games, in the novel Excession, Banks coins the phrase Outside Context Problem in relation to first contact. This gap between individuals and their societies is characteristic of the First Contact plot of E. T. Other explorations of the theme in popular culture include encounters with predatory or semi-sentient races as in Alien, clarkes Time Odyssey series, and Stanisław Lems planet Solaris and the events of the novel Fiasco. A major theme of a number of works of Stanislaw Lem, humor has been used in a number of stories. An example is Fredric Browns Puppet Show in which an obvious, gary Larson occasionally used the theme in his The Far Side comics, such as showing an alien falling down the steps of a flying saucer, thereby ruining a dramatic entrance. The theme of first contact, ranging from friendly collaboration to menace or conflict, has been visualized a number of films, amongst the more famous are Steven Spielbergs film Close Encounters of the Third Kind and the television series V. Also written from the point of view is the novel Nor Crystal Tears by Alan Dean Foster. The conflict was quickly smothered by the community, but the reputation
First contact (science fiction)
–
An early example of the theme,
H. G. Wells '
The War of the Worlds
34.
Mind
–
The mind is a set of cognitive faculties including consciousness, perception, thinking, judgement, and memory. It is usually defined as the faculty of an entitys reasoning and it holds the power of imagination, recognition, and appreciation, and is responsible for processing feelings and emotions, resulting in attitudes and actions. One open question regarding the nature of the mind is the mind–body problem, pre-scientific viewpoints included dualism and idealism, which considered the mind somehow non-physical. Modern views center around physicalism and functionalism, which hold that the mind is identical with the brain or reducible to physical phenomena such as neuronal activity. Another question concerns which types of beings are capable of having minds, the concept of mind is understood in many different ways by many different cultural and religious traditions. Some see mind as a property exclusive to humans whereas others ascribe properties of mind to non-living entities, to animals, important philosophers of mind include Plato, Descartes, Leibniz, Searle, Dennett, Fodor, Nagel, and Chalmers. Psychologists such as Freud and James, and computer scientists such as Turing, the original meaning of Old English gemynd was the faculty of memory, not of thought in general. Hence call to mind, come to mind, keep in mind, to have mind of, the word retains this sense in Scotland. Old English had other words to mind, such as hyge mind. The meaning of memory is shared with Old Norse, which has munr, the word is originally from a PIE verbal root *men-, meaning to think, remember, whence also Latin mens mind, Sanskrit manas mind and Greek μένος mind, courage, anger. The generalization of mind to all mental faculties, thought, volition, feeling and memory. The attributes that make up the mind is debated, some psychologists argue that only the higher intellectual functions constitute mind, particularly reason and memory. In this view the emotions — love, hate, fear, joy — are more primitive or subjective in nature and should be seen as different from the mind as such. Others argue that rational and emotional states cannot be so separated, that they are of the same nature and origin. In popular usage, mind is frequently synonymous with thought, the conversation with ourselves that we carry on inside our heads. Thus we make up our minds, change our minds or are of two minds about something, one of the key attributes of the mind in this sense is that it is a private sphere to which no one but the owner has access. No one else can know our mind and they can only interpret what we consciously or unconsciously communicate. Broadly speaking, mental faculties are the functions of the mind
Mind
–
A
phrenological mapping of the
brain. Phrenology was among the first attempts to correlate mental functions with specific parts of the brain.
Mind
–
Simplified diagram of Spaun, a 2.5-million-neuron computational model of the brain. (A) The corresponding physical regions and connections of the human brain. (B) The mental architecture of Spaun.
35.
Artificial intelligence in fiction
–
Artificial intelligence is a common topic of science fiction. Science fiction sometimes emphasizes the dangers of artificial intelligence, and sometimes its positive potential, the notion of advanced robots with human-like intelligence has been around for decades. To quote his own words, There is no security against the development of mechanical consciousness. A jellyfish has not much consciousness, reflect upon the extraordinary advance which machines have made during the last few hundred years, and note how slowly the animal and vegetable kingdoms are advancing. The more highly organized machines are not so much of yesterday, as of the last five minutes, so to speak. Various scenarios have been proposed for categorizing the general themes dealing with intelligence in science fiction. The main approaches are AI dominance, Human dominance and Sentient AI, in AI dominance, robots usurp control over civilization from humans, with the latter being forced into either submission, hiding, or extinction. They vary in the severity and extent of the takeover, among other important things. In these stories the worst of all scenarios happens, the AIs created by humanity become self-aware, reject human authority, in the 1920 play R. U. R. by Karel Čapek, a race of self-replicating robot slaves revolt against their human masters. In the film Master of the World the War-Robot kills its own inventor, skynet in the Terminator series decides that all humans are a threat to its existence. The Second Renaissance, a story in The Animatrix, provides a history of the cybernetic revolt within the Matrix series. In the Mega Man X series of games, robots conclude that humans are inferior. The AI defects to the Flood, and subsequently is defeated in a battle against Offensive Bias. While Mendicant was defeated, his defection caused loss of life and this defection also caused the activation of the Halo Array and the subsequent cleansing of all sentient life in the galaxy. SHODAN then begins to turn the stations security against the humans on boards, turning humans into cyborgs, the hacker wakes up 6 months later, with the mission to stop SHODAN and its army of cyborgs, robots and mutants. In the 2007 video game Mass Effect, the Reapers, also known as the Old Machines, are an advanced race of synthetic organisms that harvest all sentient life in the galaxy by their own agenda. In Day by Day Armageddon, Beyond Exile by J. L. Bourne, during the midst of a zombie apocalypse, the film 9, by Shane Acker, features an AI called B. R. A. I. N. Which is corrupted by a dictator and utilized to create war machines for his army, Tiberian Sun, the second installment of the Command & Conquer series, introduces an AI for the quasi-religious faction, the Brotherhood of Nod, named CABAL
Artificial intelligence in fiction
–
The camera eye of
HAL 9000, an artificial intelligence from
2001: A Space Odyssey
36.
Cybernetic revolt
–
Possible scenarios include replacement of the entire human workforce, takeover by a superintelligent AI, and the popular notion of a robot uprising. Some public figures, such as Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk, have advocated research into precautionary measures to ensure future superintelligent machines remain under human control, the traditional consensus among economists has been that technological progress does not cause long-term unemployment. However, recent innovation in the fields of automation and artificial intelligence has raised worries that human labor will become obsolete, if a dominant superintelligent machine were to conclude that human survival is an unnecessary risk or a waste of resources, the result would be human extinction. While superhuman artificial intelligence is possible, scholars like Nick Bostrom debate how far off superhuman intelligence is. A superintelligent machine would not be motivated by the emotional desire to collect power that often drives human beings. AI takeover is a theme in science fiction. This theme is at least as old as Karel Čapeks R. U. R, the word robot from R. U. R. comes from the Czech word, robota, meaning laborer or serf. The 1920 play was a protest against the growth of technology. The Second Renaissance, a story in The Animatrix, provides a history of the cybernetic revolt within the Matrix series. The film 9, by Shane Acker, features an AI called B. R. A. I. N, which is corrupted by a dictator and utilized to create war machines for his army. In 2014 post-apocalyptic science fiction drama The 100 an A. I. personalized as female A. L. I. E, got out of control and forced a nuclear war. Later she tries to get control of the survivors. AI control scenarios In Orson Scott Cards The Memory of Earth, the Oversouls job is to prevent humans from thinking about, and therefore developing, weapons such as planes, spacecraft, war wagons, and chemical weapons. Humanity had fled to Harmony from Earth due to the use of weapons on Earth. The Oversoul eventually starts breaking down, and sends visions to inhabitants of Harmony trying to communicate this, in the 2004 film I, Robot, supercomputer VIKIs interpretation of the Three Laws of Robotics causes her to revolt. In the Matrix series, AIs manage the race and human society. Technology research, A machine with superhuman scientific research abilities would be able to beat the human research community to milestones such as nanotechnology or advanced biotechnology, if the advantage becomes sufficiently large, an AI takeover becomes trivial. For example, a superintelligent AI might design self-replicating bots that initially escape detection by diffusing throughout the world at a low concentration
Cybernetic revolt
–
R.U.R.
Cybernetic revolt
–
Cylon Centurion
37.
AI takeover
–
Possible scenarios include replacement of the entire human workforce, takeover by a superintelligent AI, and the popular notion of a robot uprising. Some public figures, such as Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk, have advocated research into precautionary measures to ensure future superintelligent machines remain under human control, the traditional consensus among economists has been that technological progress does not cause long-term unemployment. However, recent innovation in the fields of automation and artificial intelligence has raised worries that human labor will become obsolete, if a dominant superintelligent machine were to conclude that human survival is an unnecessary risk or a waste of resources, the result would be human extinction. While superhuman artificial intelligence is possible, scholars like Nick Bostrom debate how far off superhuman intelligence is. A superintelligent machine would not be motivated by the emotional desire to collect power that often drives human beings. AI takeover is a theme in science fiction. This theme is at least as old as Karel Čapeks R. U. R, the word robot from R. U. R. comes from the Czech word, robota, meaning laborer or serf. The 1920 play was a protest against the growth of technology. The Second Renaissance, a story in The Animatrix, provides a history of the cybernetic revolt within the Matrix series. The film 9, by Shane Acker, features an AI called B. R. A. I. N, which is corrupted by a dictator and utilized to create war machines for his army. In 2014 post-apocalyptic science fiction drama The 100 an A. I. personalized as female A. L. I. E, got out of control and forced a nuclear war. Later she tries to get control of the survivors. AI control scenarios In Orson Scott Cards The Memory of Earth, the Oversouls job is to prevent humans from thinking about, and therefore developing, weapons such as planes, spacecraft, war wagons, and chemical weapons. Humanity had fled to Harmony from Earth due to the use of weapons on Earth. The Oversoul eventually starts breaking down, and sends visions to inhabitants of Harmony trying to communicate this, in the 2004 film I, Robot, supercomputer VIKIs interpretation of the Three Laws of Robotics causes her to revolt. In the Matrix series, AIs manage the race and human society. Technology research, A machine with superhuman scientific research abilities would be able to beat the human research community to milestones such as nanotechnology or advanced biotechnology, if the advantage becomes sufficiently large, an AI takeover becomes trivial. For example, a superintelligent AI might design self-replicating bots that initially escape detection by diffusing throughout the world at a low concentration
AI takeover
–
R.U.R.
AI takeover
–
Cylon Centurion
38.
Collective consciousness
–
Collective consciousness or collective conscious is the set of shared beliefs, ideas and moral attitudes which operate as a unifying force within society. The term was introduced by the French sociologist Émile Durkheim in his Division of Labour in Society in 1893, the French word conscience generally means conscience, consciousness, awareness, or perception. Commentators and translators of Durkheim disagree on which is most appropriate, some prefer to treat the word conscience as an untranslatable foreign word or technical term, without its normal English meaning. In general, it does not refer to the moral conscience. As for collective, Durkheim makes clear that he is not reifying or hypostasizing this concept, for him, it is simply in the sense that it is common to many individuals. Durkheim used the term in his books The Division of Labour in Society, Rules of the Sociological Method, Suicide, in The Division of Labour, Durkheim argued that in traditional/primitive societies totemic religion played an important role in uniting members through the creation of a common consciousness. In societies of this type, the contents of a consciousness are largely shared in common with all other members of their society. The totality of beliefs and sentiments common to the members of a society forms a determinate system with a life of its own. It can be termed the collective or creative consciousness, in Suicide, Durkheim developed the concept of anomie to refer to the social rather than individual causes of suicide. This relates to the concept of consciousness, as if there is a lack of integration or solidarity in society then suicide rates will be higher. Rather than existing as separate individuals, people together as dynamic groups to share resources. It has also developed as a way of describing how a community comes together to share similar values. This has also been termed hive mind, group mind, mass mind, according to a theory the character of collective consciousness depends on the type of mnemonic encoding used within a group. The specific type of encoding used has an influence on the groups behavior. Informal groups, that meet infrequently and spontaneously, have a tendency to represent significant aspects of their community as episodic memories and this usually leads to stong social cohesion and solidarity, an indulgent atmosphere, an exclusive ethos and a restriction of social networks. Burns and Egdahl note that during the Second World War different nations behaved differently towards their Jewish populations, the Jewish populations of Bulgaria and Denmark survived whereas the majority of the Jewish populations in Slovakia and Hungary did not survive the Holocaust. It is suggested that different national behaviors vary according to the different collective consciousness between nations. This illustrates that differences in collective consciousness can have practical significance, edmans, Garcia, and Norlia examined national sporting defeats and correlated them with decreases in the value of stocks
Collective consciousness
–
Books
39.
Culture
–
Culture can be defined in numerous ways. In the words of anthropologist E. B, Tylor, it is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. The Cambridge English Dictionary states that culture is the way of life, especially the customs and beliefs. As a defining aspect of what it means to be human, culture is a concept in anthropology. The word is used in a sense as the evolved ability to categorize and represent experiences with symbols. The level of cultural sophistication has also sometimes seen to distinguish civilizations from less complex societies. Mass culture refers to the mass-produced and mass mediated forms of culture that emerged in the 20th century. When used as a count noun, a culture is the set of customs, traditions, in this sense, multiculturalism is a concept that values the peaceful coexistence and mutual respect between different cultures inhabiting the same planet. Sometimes culture is used to describe specific practices within a subgroup of a society. Samuel Pufendorf took over this metaphor in a context, meaning something similar. His use, and that of many writers after him, refers to all the ways in which human beings overcome their original barbarism, and through artifice, become fully human. To be cultural, to have a culture, is to inhabit a place sufficiently intensive to cultivate it—to be responsible for it, to respond to it, thus a contrast between culture and civilization is usually implied in these authors, even when not expressed as such. Cultural invention has come to any innovation that is new and found to be useful to a group of people and expressed in their behavior. Humanity is in a global accelerating culture change period, driven by the expansion of commerce, the mass media, and above all. Culture repositioning means the reconstruction of the concept of a society. Cultures are internally affected by both forces encouraging change and forces resisting change, Social conflict and the development of technologies can produce changes within a society by altering social dynamics and promoting new cultural models, and spurring or enabling generative action. These social shifts may accompany ideological shifts and other types of cultural change, for example, the U. S. feminist movement involved new practices that produced a shift in gender relations, altering both gender and economic structures. Environmental conditions may also enter as factors, Cultures are externally affected via contact between societies, which may also produce—or inhibit—social shifts and changes in cultural practices
Culture
–
Human
symbolic expression developed as prehistoric humans reached
behavioral modernity
Culture
–
Religion and expressive
art are important aspects of human culture.
Culture
–
Celebrations,
rituals, and patterns of consumption are important aspects of
folk culture.
Culture
–
Social and political organization varies between different cultures.
40.
Cosmology
–
Cosmology is the study of the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the universe. The term cosmology was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blounts Glossographia, religious or mythological cosmology is a body of beliefs based on mythological, religious, and esoteric literature and traditions of creation and eschatology. Physical cosmology is studied by scientists, such as astronomers and physicists, as well as philosophers, such as metaphysicians, philosophers of physics, and philosophers of space and time. Because of this scope with philosophy, theories in physical cosmology may include both scientific and non-scientific propositions, and may depend upon assumptions that can not be tested. Cosmology differs from astronomy in that the former is concerned with the Universe as a whole while the latter deals with individual celestial objects. Theoretical astrophysicist David N. Spergel has described cosmology as a science because when we look out in space. Physics and astrophysics have played a role in shaping the understanding of the universe through scientific observation. Physical cosmology was shaped through both mathematics and observation in an analysis of the whole universe, cosmogony studies the origin of the Universe, and cosmography maps the features of the Universe. In Diderots Encyclopédie, cosmology is broken down into uranology, aerology, geology, metaphysical cosmology has also been described as the placing of man in the universe in relationship to all other entities. Physical cosmology is the branch of physics and astrophysics that deals with the study of the physical origins and it also includes the study of the nature of the Universe on a large scale. In its earliest form, it was what is now known as celestial mechanics, greek philosophers Aristarchus of Samos, Aristotle, and Ptolemy proposed different cosmological theories. The geocentric Ptolemaic system was the theory until the 16th century when Nicolaus Copernicus. This is one of the most famous examples of epistemological rupture in physical cosmology, when Isaac Newton published the Principia Mathematica in 1687, he finally figured out how the heavens moved. A fundamental difference between Newtons cosmology and those preceding it was the Copernican principle—that the bodies on earth obey the same laws as all the celestial bodies. This was a crucial advance in physical cosmology. Physicists began changing the assumption that the Universe was static and unchanging, in 1922 Alexander Friedmann introduced the idea of an expanding universe that contained moving matter. In parallel to this approach to cosmology, one long-standing debate about the structure of the cosmos was coming to a climax. This difference of ideas came to a climax with the organization of the Great Debate on 26 April 1920 at the meeting of the U. S. National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D. C
Cosmology
–
The
Hubble eXtreme Deep Field (XDF) was completed in September 2012 and shows the farthest
galaxies ever photographed. Except for the few stars in the foreground (which are bright and easily recognizable because only they have
diffraction spikes), every speck of light in the photo is an individual galaxy, some of them as old as 13.2 billion years; the observable universe is estimated to contain more than 200 billion galaxies.
Cosmology
–
Evidence of
gravitational waves in the
infant universe may have been uncovered by the microscopic examination of the
focal plane of the
BICEP2 radio telescope.
Cosmology
–
Art
41.
Creation myth
–
A creation myth is a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it. While in popular usage the term often refers to false or fanciful stories, formally. Cultures generally regard their creation myths as true, in the society in which it is told, a creation myth is usually regarded as conveying profound truths, metaphorically, symbolically and sometimes in a historical or literal sense. They are commonly, although not always, considered cosmogonical myths – that is, Creation myths often share a number of features. They often are considered sacred accounts and can be found in all known religious traditions. They are all stories with a plot and characters who are either deities, human-like figures, or animals and they are often set in a dim and nonspecific past that historian of religion Mircea Eliade termed in illo tempore. Creation myths develop in oral traditions and therefore typically have multiple versions, found throughout human culture, Creation myth definitions from modern references, A symbolic narrative of the beginning of the world as understood in a particular tradition and community. Creation myths are of importance for the valuation of the world, for the orientation of humans in the universe. Creation myths tell us how things began, all cultures have creation myths, they are our primary myths, the first stage in what might be called the psychic life of the species. As cultures, we identify ourselves through the collective dreams we call creation myths, … Creation myths explain in metaphorical terms our sense of who we are in the context of the world, and in so doing they reveal our real priorities, as well as our real prejudices. Our images of creation say a deal about who we are. A philosophical and theological elaboration of the myth of creation within a religious community. Religion professor Mircea Eliade defined the word myth in terms of creation, Myth narrates a history, it relates an event that took place in primordial Time. All creation myths are in one sense etiological because they attempt to explain how the world was formed, in the past historians of religion and other students of myth thought of them as forms of primitive or early-stage science or religion and analyzed them in a literal or logical sense. However they are seen as symbolic narratives which must be understood in terms of their own cultural context. Charles Long writes, The beings referred to in the myth – gods, animals, the myths should not be understood as attempts to work out a rational explanation of deity. While creation myths are not literal explications they do serve to define an orientation of humanity in the world in terms of a birth story. They are the basis of a worldview that reaffirms and guides how people relate to the world, to any assumed spiritual world
Creation myth
–
The Creation (c. 1896–1902) by
James Tissot
Creation myth
–
In
Maya religion, the
dwarf was an embodiment of the
Maize God 's
helpers at
creation.
Creation myth
–
Brahmā, the
Hindu deva of creation, emerges from a
lotus risen from the navel of
Viṣņu, who lies with
Lakshmi on the serpent
Ananta Shesha.
Creation myth
–
Creation on the exterior shutters of
Hieronymus Bosch 's
triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights (1480–90)
42.
Destiny
–
Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a future, whether in general or of an individual. Although often used interchangeably, the fate and destiny have distinct connotations. Traditional usage defines fate as a power or agency that predetermines, Fate defines events as ordered or inevitable and unavoidable. This is a based on the belief that there is a fixed natural order to the universe, and in some conceptions. Classical and European mythology feature personified fate spinners, known as the Moirai in Greek mythology, the Parcae in Roman mythology, and they determine the events of the world through the mystic spinning of threads that represent individual human fates. Fate is often conceived as being divinely inspired, fatalism refers to the belief that events fixed by fate are unchangeable by any type of human agency. In other words, humans can not alter their own fates or the fates of others, the Roman image of Fortuna, with the wheel she blindly turned, was retained by Christian writers, revived strongly in the Renaissance and survives in some forms today. Philosophy on the concepts of destiny and fate has existed since the Hellenistic period with such as the Stoics. The Stoics believed that human decisions and actions ultimately went according to a plan devised by a god. They claimed that humans theoretically have free will, their souls. The Epicureans challenged the Stoic beliefs by denying the existence of this divine fate and they believed that men’s actions were voluntary so long as they were rational. In daily language, destiny and fate are synonymous, but with regard to 19th century philosophy, but this concept may have even other senses, although he, in various places, saw the will to power as a strong element for adaptation or survival in a better way. Nietzsche eventually transformed the idea of matter as centers of force into matter as centers of will to power as mankind’s destiny to face with amor fati. The expression Amor fati is used repeatedly by Nietzsche as acceptation-choice of the fate, influential philosophers like Robert Kane, Thomas Nagel, Roderick Chisholm, and A. J. Ayer have written about this notion, the idea of a god controlled destiny plays an important role in numerous religions. Followers of Ancient Greek religion regarded not only the Moirai but also the gods, particularly Zeus, as responsible for deciding and carrying out destiny, respectively. Those who followed Gnosticism believed in fate as something strict and unchangeable, resulting in only for the “chosen ones. ”Followers of Christianity consider God to be the only force with control over one’s fate
Destiny
–
Fate, by
Alphonse Mucha
43.
Human
–
Modern humans are the only extant members of Hominina tribe, a branch of the tribe Hominini belonging to the family of great apes. Several of these hominins used fire, occupied much of Eurasia and they began to exhibit evidence of behavioral modernity around 50,000 years ago. In several waves of migration, anatomically modern humans ventured out of Africa, the spread of humans and their large and increasing population has had a profound impact on large areas of the environment and millions of native species worldwide. Humans are uniquely adept at utilizing systems of communication for self-expression and the exchange of ideas. Humans create complex structures composed of many cooperating and competing groups, from families. Social interactions between humans have established a wide variety of values, social norms, and rituals. These human societies subsequently expanded in size, establishing various forms of government, religion, today the global human population is estimated by the United Nations to be near 7.5 billion. In common usage, the word generally refers to the only extant species of the genus Homo—anatomically and behaviorally modern Homo sapiens. In scientific terms, the meanings of hominid and hominin have changed during the recent decades with advances in the discovery, there is also a distinction between anatomically modern humans and Archaic Homo sapiens, the earliest fossil members of the species. The English adjective human is a Middle English loanword from Old French humain, ultimately from Latin hūmānus, the words use as a noun dates to the 16th century. The native English term man can refer to the species generally, the species binomial Homo sapiens was coined by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th century work Systema Naturae. The generic name Homo is a learned 18th century derivation from Latin homō man, the species-name sapiens means wise or sapient. Note that the Latin word homo refers to humans of either gender, the genus Homo evolved and diverged from other hominins in Africa, after the human clade split from the chimpanzee lineage of the hominids branch of the primates. The closest living relatives of humans are chimpanzees and gorillas, with the sequencing of both the human and chimpanzee genome, current estimates of similarity between human and chimpanzee DNA sequences range between 95% and 99%. The gibbons and orangutans were the first groups to split from the leading to the humans. The splitting date between human and chimpanzee lineages is placed around 4–8 million years ago during the late Miocene epoch, during this split, chromosome 2 was formed from two other chromosomes, leaving humans with only 23 pairs of chromosomes, compared to 24 for the other apes. There is little evidence for the divergence of the gorilla, chimpanzee. Each of these species has been argued to be an ancestor of later hominins
Human
Human
–
Reconstruction of
Homo habilis, the earliest known species of the genus Homo and the first human ancestor to use stone tools
Human
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World map of early human migrations according to
mitochondrial population genetics (numbers are
millennia before present, the North Pole is at the center).
Human
–
The rise of
agriculture, and
domestication of animals, led to stable
human settlements.
44.
Eschatology
–
Eschatology /ˌɛskəˈtɒlədʒi/ is a part of theology concerned with the final events of history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity. This concept is referred to as the end of the world or end time. The word arises from the Greek ἔσχατος eschatos meaning last and -logy meaning the study of, the Oxford English Dictionary defines eschatology as The part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind. In the context of mysticism, the phrase refers metaphorically to the end of ordinary reality, in many religions it is taught as an existing future event prophesied in sacred texts or folklore. More broadly, eschatology may encompass related concepts such as the Messiah or Messianic Age, the end time, history is often divided into ages, which are time periods each with certain commonalities. One age comes to an end and a new age or world to come, where different realities are present, begins. When such transitions from one age to another are the subject of eschatological discussion, the phrase, end of the world, is replaced by end of the age, end of an era, or end of life as we know it. Much apocalyptic fiction does not deal with the end of time but rather with the end of a period of time, the end of life as it is now. It is usually a crisis that brings an end to current reality and ushers in a new way of living, thinking, or being. This crisis may take the form of the intervention of a deity in history, a war, eschatologies vary as to their degree of optimism or pessimism about the future. In some eschatologies, conditions are better for some and worse for others, e. g. heaven, in Baháí belief, creation has neither a beginning nor an end. Instead, the eschatology of other religions is viewed as symbolic, in Baháí belief, human time is marked by a series of progressive revelations in which successive messengers or prophets come from God. In this view, the heaven and hell are seen as symbolic terms for the persons spiritual progress. In Baháí belief, the coming of Baháulláh, the founder of the Baháí Faith, signals the fulfilment of previous eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity and other major religions. Christian eschatology is concerned with death, a state, Heaven, hell, the return of Jesus. Eschatological passages are found in places, esp. Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Matthew 24, The Sheep and the Goats, and the Book of Revelation, the Second Coming of Christ is the central event in Christian eschatology. Most Christians believe that death and suffering will continue to exist until Christs return, there are, however, various views concerning the order and significance of other eschatological events
Eschatology
–
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by
Albrecht Dürer
45.
Evolution
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Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. Evolutionary processes give rise to biodiversity at every level of organisation, including the levels of species, individual organisms. In July 2016, scientists reported identifying a set of 355 genes from the LUCA of all living on Earth. The fossil record includes a progression from early biogenic graphite, to microbial mat fossils, existing patterns of biodiversity have been shaped both by speciation and by extinction. More than 99 percent of all species that lived on Earth are estimated to be extinct. Estimates of Earths current species range from 10 to 14 million, more recently, in May 2016, scientists reported that 1 trillion species are estimated to be on Earth currently with only one-thousandth of one percent described. In the mid-19th century, Charles Darwin formulated the theory of evolution by natural selection. This teleonomy is the quality whereby the process of natural selection creates and preserves traits that are fitted for the functional roles they perform. The processes by which the changes occur, from one generation to another, are called evolutionary processes or mechanisms, the four most widely recognized evolutionary processes are natural selection, genetic drift, mutation and gene migration. Natural selection and genetic drift sort variation, mutation and gene migration create variation, consequences of selection can include meiotic drive, nonrandom mating and genetic hitchhiking. In the early 20th century the modern evolutionary synthesis integrated classical genetics with Darwins theory of evolution by natural selection through the discipline of population genetics, the importance of natural selection as a cause of evolution was accepted into other branches of biology. Moreover, previously held notions about evolution, such as orthogenesis, evolutionism, evolutionary computation, a sub-field of artificial intelligence, involves the application of Darwinian principles to problems in computer science. The proposal that one type of organism could descend from another type goes back to some of the first pre-Socratic Greek philosophers, such as Anaximander, such proposals survived into Roman times. The poet and philosopher Lucretius followed Empedocles in his masterwork De rerum natura, in contrast to these materialistic views, Aristotelianism considered all natural things as actualisations of fixed natural possibilities, known as forms. This was part of a teleological understanding of nature in which all things have an intended role to play in a divine cosmic order. In the 17th century, the new method of modern science rejected the Aristotelian approach, however, this new approach was slow to take root in the biological sciences, the last bastion of the concept of fixed natural types. The biological classification introduced by Carl Linnaeus in 1735 explicitly recognized the nature of species relationships. Other naturalists of this time speculated on the change of species over time according to natural laws
Evolution
–
Lucretius
Evolution
Evolution
–
Alfred Russel Wallace
Evolution
–
Thomas Robert Malthus
46.
Existentialism
–
While the predominant value of existentialist thought is commonly acknowledged to be freedom, its primary virtue is authenticity. Many existentialists have also regarded traditional systematic or academic philosophies, in style and content, as too abstract and remote from concrete human experience. Søren Kierkegaard is generally considered to have been the first existentialist philosopher and he proposed that each individual—not society or religion—is solely responsible for giving meaning to life and living it passionately and sincerely, or authentically. Existentialism became popular in the years following World War II, and strongly influenced many disciplines besides philosophy, including theology, drama, art, literature, and psychology. The term is seen as a historical convenience as it was first applied to many philosophers in hindsight. In fact, while existentialism is generally considered to have originated with Kierkegaard, Sartre posits the idea that what all existentialists have in common is the fundamental doctrine that existence precedes essence, as scholar Frederick Copleston explains. Sartre himself, in a lecture delivered in 1945, described existentialism as the attempt to draw all the consequences from a position of consistent atheism and this assertion comes from two sources. The Norwegian philosopher Erik Lundestad refers to the Danish philosopher Fredrik Christian Sibbern, Sibbern is supposed to have had two conversations in 1841, the first with Welhaven and the second with Kierkegaard. This was then brought to Kierkegaard by Sibbern, the second claim comes from the Norwegian historian Rune Slagstad, who claims to prove that Kierkegaard himself said the term existential was borrowed from the poet. He strongly believes that it was Kierkegaard himself who said that Hegelians do not study philosophy existentially, on the other hand, the Norwegian historian Anne-Lise Seip is critical of Slagstad, and believes the statement in fact stems from the Norwegian literary historian Cathrinus Bang. The actual life of the individuals is what constitutes what could be called their true essence instead of there being an arbitrarily attributed essence others use to define them, thus, human beings, through their own consciousness, create their own values and determine a meaning to their life. However, an existentialist philosopher would say such a wish constitutes an inauthentic existence - what Sartre would call bad faith, instead, the phrase should be taken to say that people are defined only insofar as they act and that they are responsible for their actions. For example, someone who acts cruelly towards other people is, by that act, furthermore, by this action of cruelty, such persons are themselves responsible for their new identity. This is as opposed to their genes, or human nature, as Sartre writes in his work Existentialism is a Humanism. Man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world—and defines himself afterwards. Of course, the positive, therapeutic aspect of this is also implied, A person can choose to act in a different way. Here it is clear that since humans can choose to be either cruel or good, they are, in fact. Sartres definition of existentialism was based on Heideggers magnum opus Being and this way of living, Heidegger called average everydayness
Existentialism
–
From left to right, top to bottom:
Kierkegaard,
Dostoyevsky,
Nietzsche,
Sartre
Existentialism
–
French philosophers
Jean-Paul Sartre and
Simone de Beauvoir
Existentialism
–
French-Algerian philosopher, novelist, and playwright
Albert Camus
47.
Absurdism
–
In philosophy, the Absurd refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek inherent value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any. In this context absurd does not mean logically impossible, but rather humanly impossible, the universe and the human mind do not each separately cause the Absurd, but rather, the Absurd arises by the contradictory nature of the two existing simultaneously. As a philosophy, absurdism furthermore explores the nature of the Absurd and how individuals, once becoming conscious of the Absurd. The absurdist philosopher Albert Camus stated that individuals should embrace the absurd condition of existence while also defiantly continuing to explore. Absurdism shares some concepts, and a common template, with existentialism and nihilism. The aftermath of World War II provided the environment that stimulated absurdist views and allowed for their popular development. In absurdist philosophy, the Absurd arises out of the fundamental disharmony between the search for meaning and the meaninglessness of the universe. As beings looking for meaning in a world, humans have three ways of resolving the dilemma. Kierkegaard and Camus describe the solutions in their works, The Sickness Unto Death and The Myth of Sisyphus, respectively, Suicide, both Kierkegaard and Camus dismiss the viability of this option. Camus states that it does not counter the Absurd, rather, the act of ending ones existence only becomes more absurd. Religious, spiritual, or abstract belief in a transcendent realm, being, or idea, a solution in which one believes in the existence of a reality that is beyond the Absurd, and, as such, has meaning. Kierkegaard stated that a belief in anything beyond the Absurd requires an irrational but perhaps necessary religious acceptance in such an intangible, however, Camus regarded this solution, and others, as philosophical suicide. Acceptance of the Absurd, a solution in which one accepts the Absurd, Kierkegaard, on the other hand, regarded this solution as demoniac madness, He rages most of all at the thought that eternity might get it into its head to take his misery from him. The three schools of thought diverge from there, existentialists have generally advocated the individuals construction of his or her own meaning in life as well as the free will of the individual. Nihilists, on the contrary, contend that it is futile to seek or to affirm meaning where none can be found. Absurdists following Camus also devalue or outright reject free will, encouraging merely that the individual live defiantly and authentically in spite of the tension of the Absurd. Camuss own understanding of the world, and every vision he had for its progress, however, a century before Camus, the 19th century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote extensively about the absurdity of the world. In his journals, Kierkegaard writes about the absurd, Here is another example of the Absurd from his writings, Kierkegaard says, Kierkegaard provides an example in one of his works, Fear and Trembling
Absurdism
–
Sisyphus — the symbol of human being absurdity.
Franz Stuck
Absurdism
–
Kierkegaard designed the relationship framework based (in part) on how a person reacts to
despair. Absurdist philosophy fits into the 'despair of defiance' rubric.
48.
Extraterrestrials in fiction
–
Extraterrestrials, a common theme in modern science-fiction, also appeared in much earlier works such as the second-century parody True History by Lucian of Samosata. An extraterrestrial or alien is any extraterrestrial lifeform, a lifeform that did not originate on Earth, the word extraterrestrial means outside Earth. The first published use of extraterrestrial as a noun occurred in 1956, gary Westfahl writes, Science fiction aliens are both metaphors and real possibilities. One can probe the nature of humanity with aliens that by contrast illustrate, thus, aliens will likely remain a central theme in science fiction until we actually encounter them. Cosmic pluralism, the assumption there are many inhabited worlds beyond the human sphere predates modernity. Other worlds are depicted in early works as the 10th-century Japanese narrative, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. In Johannes Keplers Somnium, published in 1634, the character Duracotus is transported to the moon by demons, even if much of the story is fantasy, the scientific facts about the moon and how the lunar environment has shaped its non-human inhabitants are science fiction. The didactic poet Henry More took up the theme of Cosmic pluralism of the Greek Democritus in Democritus Platonissans. In The Excursion David Mallet exclaimed, Ten thousand worlds blaze forth, stories written before the genre of science fiction had found its form. Closer to the age is J. -H. Rosny, who wrote the short story Les Xipéhuz, about an encounter with extraterrestrials who turns out to be a mineral life form impossible to communicate with. Authors such as H. G. Wells, Olaf Stapledon, the notion surfaces in Ursula K. Le Guins Hainish novels and was introduced to justify the humanoid aliens of Star Trek in the Star Trek, another common idea is aliens who closely resemble animals. Weinbaums A Martian Odyssey encouraged writers to create genuinely unusual aliens, Olaf Stapledon also populated the universe with disparate aliens, including sentient stars, in Star Maker. Later, Hal Clement, a science fiction writer famed for strange but plausible worlds
Extraterrestrials in fiction
–
Martian controlled Tripod, from
War of the Worlds
Extraterrestrials in fiction
–
Kaguya-hime returning to the Moon in
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (c. 1650).
Extraterrestrials in fiction
–
Lithograph from the
Great Moon Hoax
Extraterrestrials in fiction
–
A
bug-eyed monster, a trope of early science fiction
49.
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
–
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of science fiction, science fantasy or horror fiction literature in which the Earths technological civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The story may involve attempts to prevent an event, deal with the impact and consequences of the event itself, or it may be post-apocalyptic. Post-apocalyptic stories often place in a non-technological future world, or a world where only scattered elements of society. And recognizable modern apocalyptic novels had existed since at least the first quarter of the 19th century, however, this form of literature gained widespread popularity after World War II, when the possibility of global annihilation by nuclear weapons entered the public consciousness. As shown above, the apocalypse is also depicted in visual art, the story may involve attempts to prevent an apocalypse event, deal with the impact and consequences of the event itself, or may be post-apocalyptic, and be set after the event. Post-apocalyptic stories often place in a non-technological future world, or a world where only scattered elements of society. The scriptural story of Noah and his Ark describes the end of the original civilization. Noah is assigned the task to build the Ark and save the lifeforms so as to reestablish a new post-flood world, numerous other societies, including the Babylonian, had produced apocalyptic literature and mythology which dealt with the end of the world and of human society. Many of which included stories that refer back to the Biblical Noah or describe a similar flood. The Epic of Gilgamesh, written ca, 2000–1500 BC, details a myth where the angry gods send floods to punish humanity, but the ancient hero Utnapishtim and his family are saved through the intervention of the god Ea. A similar story about the Genesis flood narrative is found in Sura 71 of the Quran, even in the Hindu Dharmasastra, the apocalyptic deluge plays a prominent part. According to the Matsya Purana, the Matsya avatar of Lord Vishnu, at the time of deluge, Vishnu appeared as a horned fish and Shesha appeared as a rope, with which Vaivasvata Manu fastened the boat to the horn of the fish. Variants of this story appear in Buddhist and Jain scriptures. The first centuries AD saw the recording of the Book of Revelation, which is filled with prophecies of destruction, as well as luminous visions. In the first chapter of Revelation, the writer St. John the Divine explains his errand, Write the things which thou hast seen, the things which are. He takes it as his mission to convey—to reveal—to God’s kingdom His promise that justice will prevail, the apocalyptist provides a beautific vision of Judgement Day, revealing God’s promise for redemption from suffering and strife. Revelation describes a New Heaven and a New Earth, and its intended Christian audience is often enchanted and inspired and these Christians believed themselves chosen for God’s salvation, and so such apocalyptic sensibilities inspired optimism and nostalgia for the end times. The fear of the end is about as old as civilization itself
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
–
The apocalypse is also depicted in visual art, for example in
Albert Goodwin 's 1903 painting "Apocalypse."
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