Re: OT - good essays on science fiction?

[Jeremy Markowitz <jeremymarkowitz@xxxxxxxxx>]

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>i'm particularly interested in the ways in
>which people began to think of the Future as something quite different
>and distinct than their own present, the compression of time, the
>acceleration of history, that sort of thing, depending on how one 
look's
>at it. there's a lot of stuff dealing with specific works, but nothing
>in general, about how and why sci-fi came into being... any help or
>suggestions here would really appreciated!

Interesting... SF is just like any other art form -- it reflects the culture that spawned it, often "the future" is a mask for the present.  The genre definitely stems from social commentary like the fanciful "gulliver's travels" which uses unexplored geography as the trope.  Orwell used both talking animals and "the future" as tropes to comment on his present.  It would be interesting to try and pinpoint when "the future" became a stock trope.  H.G. Well's "The Time Machine" was written in an era when technology was shaping sweeping changes in society, culture, and even landscape within one's own lifetime -- the evolution was marked and visible to a generation.  H.G. Well's lifetime also probably saw the increased ownability of a timepiece by the middle class, and the growing awareness of stuff like train schedules by the bourgeoiusie.

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