DTIC AD1003712: Science Fiction as a Prism pdf

DTIC AD1003712: Science Fiction as a Prism

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This paper argues that because science fiction accurately reflects the characteristics of the geopolitical era in which it is written, it can offer insights into the nature of our contemporary geopolitical era. For roughly the first 80 years (1890 – 1970) of its existence as a recognizable genre, English-language science fiction exhibited a left-of-center political viewpoint. During the first half of this period, the writings of H. G. Wells and Jack London manifested the evolutionary and racial aspects, respectively, of John Agnews Naturalized Age of geopolitics (1875 1945). Later, Isaac Asimovs classic The FoundationTrilogy reflected an emphasis on central planning and vanguard leadership characteristic of the Ideological Age of geopolitics (1945 – 1990). Starting in the 1970s, the rise of military science fiction, exemplified by Jerry E. Pournelle, signaled a turn to more traditional themes and values that hearken back to the Civilizational Age of geopolitics (1815 1875).

This paper demonstrates that contemporary science fiction represents a right-wing, post-Ideological orientation that lacks the ambitious utopianism of its left-wing antecedents. In view of the fact that science fiction has accurately reflected the geopolitical era in which it is embedded in the past, this paper concludes by arguing that the current era of geopolitics may eventually become known as the Neo-Civilizational Age

• Creator/s: Defense Technical Information Center
• Date: 4/1/2015
• Year: 2015
• Book Topics/Themes: DTIC Archive, Webster, James K, AIR COMMAND AND STAFF COLLEGE Maxwell Air Force Base United States, GEOPOLITICS, IDEOLOGY, LITERATURE

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