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Scientific romance

Scientific romance is an archaic, mainly British term for the genre of fiction now commonly known as science fiction. The term originated in the 1850s to describe both fiction and elements of scientific writing, but it has since come to refer to the science fiction of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, primarily that of Jules Verne, H. G. Wells and Arthur Conan Doyle. In recent years the term has come to be applied to science fiction written in a deliberately anachronistic style as a homage to or pastiche of the original scientific romances.

"Maison tournante aérienne" (aerial rotating house). This drawing, by French science fiction writer Albert Robida for his book Le Vingtième Siècle, a nineteenth-century conception of life in the twentieth century, depicts a dwelling that can rotate on a post, with an airship in the distance. Ink over graphite underdrawing, c. 1883, digitally restored.

History

Early usages

The earliest use of the term "scientific romance" is thought to have been in 1845, when critics applied it to Robert Chambers's Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation, a speculative natural history published in 1844. It was used again in 1851 by the Edinburgh Ecclesiastical Journal and Literary Review in reference to Thoman Hunt's Panthea, or the Spirit of Nature.[1] In 1859 the Southern Literary Messenger referred to Balzac's Ursule Mirouët as "a scientific romance of mesmerism".[2] In addition, the term was sometimes used to dismiss a scientific principle considered by the writer to be fanciful, as in The Principles of Metaphysical and Ethical Science (1855), which stated that "Milton's conception of inorganic matter left to itself, without an indwelling soul, is not merely more poetical, but more philosophical and just, than the scientific romance, now generally repudiated by all rational inquirers, which represents it as necessarily imbued with the seminal principles of organization and life, and waking up by its own force from eternal quietude to eternal motion."[3] Then, in 1884, Charles Howard Hinton published a series of scientific and philosophical essays under the title Scientific Romances.[4]

20th century

"Scientific romance" is now commonly used to refer to science fiction of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as in the anthologies Under the Moons of Mars: A History and Anthology of "The Scientific Romance" in the Munsey Magazines, 1912–1920[5] and Scientific Romance in Britain: 1890–1950.[6] One of the earliest writers to be described in this way was the French astronomer and writer Camille Flammarion, whose Recits de l'infini and La fin du monde have both been described as scientific romances.[7] The term is most widely applied to Jules Verne, as in the 1879 edition of the American Cyclopædia,[8] and H. G. Wells, whose historical society continues to refer to his work as "scientific romances" today.[9] Edgar Rice Burroughs's A Princess of Mars (1912) is also sometimes seen as a major work of scientific romance,[10] and Sam Moskowitz referred to him in 1958 as "the acknowledged master of the scientific romance,"[11] though the scholar E. F. Bleiler views Burroughs as a writer involved in the "new development" of pulp science fiction that arose in the early 20th century.[12] The same year as A Princess of Mars, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published The Lost World,[13] which is also commonly referred to as a scientific romance.[14]

1902 saw the cinematic release of Georges Méliès's film Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon); the time period and the fact that it is based partially on works by Verne and Wells has led to its being labelled as a scientific romance as well.[15]

Modern revival

In recent years the term "scientific romance" has seen a revival, being self-applied in works of science fiction that deliberately ape previous styles. Examples include Christopher Priest's The Space Machine: A Scientific Romance,[16] published in 1976, Ronald Wright's Wells pastiche A Scientific Romance: A Novel, published in 1998, and the 1993 tabletop roleplaying game Forgotten Futures.[17] Though it uses the term, Dennis Overbye's novel Einstein in Love: A Scientific Romance[18] does not imitate science fiction of the past in the manner of the other novels mentioned.

Definitions

Brian Stableford has argued, in Scientific Romance in Britain: 1890–1950,[6] that early British science-fiction writers who used the term "scientific romance" differed in several significant ways from American science fiction writers of the time. Most notably, the British writers tended to minimise the role of individual "heroes", took an "evolutionary perspective", held a bleak view of the future, and had little interest in space as a new frontier. Regarding "heroes", several novels by H. G. Wells have the protagonist as nameless, and often powerless, in the face of natural forces. The evolutionary perspective can be seen in tales involving long time periods, such as The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine by Wells, or Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon. Even in scientific romances that did not involve vast stretches of time, the issue of whether mankind was just another species subject to evolutionary pressures often arose, as can be seen in parts of The Hampdenshire Wonder by J. D. Beresford and several works by S. Fowler Wright. Regarding space, C. S. Lewis's Space Trilogy took the position that "as long as humanity remains flawed and sinful, our exploration of other planets will tend to do them more harm than good"; and most scientific romance authors had not even that much interest in the topic. As for bleakness, it can be seen in many of the works by all the authors already cited, who deemed humanity flawed — either by original sin or, much more often, by biological factors inherited from our ape ancestors. Stableford also notes that some of the British scientific romances were saved from "being entirely gloomy" by their philosophical speculation (calling them works of "modest armchair philosophizing"). He cites E. V. Odle's The Clockwork Man, John Gloag's Tomorrow's Yesterday and Murray Constantine's Proud Man as examples of this type of scientific romance.[19]

Nonetheless, not all British science fiction from that period comports with Stableford's thesis. Some, for example, revelled in adventures in space and took an optimistic view of the future. By the 1930s there were British authors such as Eric Frank Russell who were intentionally writing "science fiction" for American publication. At that point British writers who used the term "scientific romance" did so either because they were unaware of science fiction or because they chose not to be associated with it.[clarification needed][citation needed]

After the Second World War the influence of American science fiction caused the term "scientific romance" to lose favour, a process accelerated by the fact that few writers of scientific romance considered themselves "scientific romance" writers, instead viewing themselves as just writers who occasionally happened to write scientific romances. Even so, the influence of the scientific romance era persisted in British science fiction. John Wyndham's work has been cited as providing "a bridge between traditional British scientific romance and the more varied science fiction which has replaced it".[20] Some commentators believe scientific romance had some impact on the American variety.

See also

References

  1. ^ Before Science Fiction: Romances of Science and Scientific Romances, io9, accessed March 22, 2012
  2. ^ Southern Literary Messenger: A Magazine Devoted to Literature, Science and Art, "Balzac", H.T. Tuckerman, Making of America, accessed March 22, 2012
  3. ^ Bowen, Francis (1855), The Principles of Metaphysical and Ethical Science: Applied to the Evidences of Religion, Brewer and Tileston, p.150, Google Books, accessed March 23, 2012
  4. ^ Hinton, Charles (1884), Scientific Romances, W. Swan Sonnenschein & Co. OpenLibrary.org, accessed March 24, 2012
  5. ^ Moskowitz, Sam (1970) Under the Moons of Mars: A History and Anthology of "The Scientific Romance" in the Munsey Magazines, 1912–1920, Holt Rinehart Winston, 978-0030818585
  6. ^ a b Stableford, Brian (1985), Scientific Romance in Britain, 1890–1950 Palgrave Macmillan, 978-0312703059
  7. ^ The Encyclopedia of Science, Flammarion, (Nicolas) Camille (1842–1925), accessed March 24, 2012
  8. ^ The American Cyclopædia (Vol. VII, 2nd ed.). New York: D. Appleton and Company. 1879. p. 407. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  9. ^ The H.G. Wells Society, accessed March 23, 2012.
  10. ^ Voyages Extraordinaire, "1912: Zenith of the Scientific Romances", accessed March 22, 2012
  11. ^ EdgarRiceBurroughs.ca, "Tributes to Edgar Rice Burroughs", accessed March 22, 2012.
  12. ^ E. F. Bleiler, Science Fiction: The Early Years (1990). The Kent State University Press: Kent, Ohio. Pg. xxii.
  13. ^ Doyle, Arthur Conan, (1912), The Lost World, Hodder & Stoughton
  14. ^ The Lost World 100th Anniversary, accessed March 24, 2012
  15. ^ Spectacular Attractions - A Trip to the Moon / Le Voyage dans la Lune, accessed March 24, 2012.
  16. ^ Priest, Christopher (1976), The Space Machine: A Scientific Romance, Harper & Row
  17. ^ Forgotten Futures: The Scientific Romance Roleplaying Game, accessed March 24, 2012
  18. ^ Overbye, Dennis (2000), Einstein in Love: A Scientific Romance, Viking Adult
  19. ^ Brian Stableford, Creators of Science Fiction, Wildside Press LLC, 2009. ISBN 1434457591 (p. 57-58)
  20. ^ Ian Ousby, The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English, Cambridge University Press, 1993 (p. 1046)

Bibliography

External links

    scientific, romance, main, article, history, science, fiction, archaic, mainly, british, term, genre, fiction, commonly, known, science, fiction, term, originated, 1850s, describe, both, fiction, elements, scientific, writing, since, come, refer, science, fict. Main article History of science fiction Scientific romance is an archaic mainly British term for the genre of fiction now commonly known as science fiction The term originated in the 1850s to describe both fiction and elements of scientific writing but it has since come to refer to the science fiction of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries primarily that of Jules Verne H G Wells and Arthur Conan Doyle In recent years the term has come to be applied to science fiction written in a deliberately anachronistic style as a homage to or pastiche of the original scientific romances Maison tournante aerienne aerial rotating house This drawing by French science fiction writer Albert Robida for his book Le Vingtieme Siecle a nineteenth century conception of life in the twentieth century depicts a dwelling that can rotate on a post with an airship in the distance Ink over graphite underdrawing c 1883 digitally restored Contents 1 History 1 1 Early usages 1 2 20th century 1 3 Modern revival 2 Definitions 3 See also 4 References 5 Bibliography 6 External linksHistory EditEarly usages Edit The earliest use of the term scientific romance is thought to have been in 1845 when critics applied it to Robert Chambers s Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation a speculative natural history published in 1844 It was used again in 1851 by the Edinburgh Ecclesiastical Journal and Literary Review in reference to Thoman Hunt s Panthea or the Spirit of Nature 1 In 1859 the Southern Literary Messenger referred to Balzac s Ursule Mirouet as a scientific romance of mesmerism 2 In addition the term was sometimes used to dismiss a scientific principle considered by the writer to be fanciful as in The Principles of Metaphysical and Ethical Science 1855 which stated that Milton s conception of inorganic matter left to itself without an indwelling soul is not merely more poetical but more philosophical and just than the scientific romance now generally repudiated by all rational inquirers which represents it as necessarily imbued with the seminal principles of organization and life and waking up by its own force from eternal quietude to eternal motion 3 Then in 1884 Charles Howard Hinton published a series of scientific and philosophical essays under the title Scientific Romances 4 20th century Edit Scientific romance is now commonly used to refer to science fiction of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as in the anthologies Under the Moons of Mars A History and Anthology of The Scientific Romance in the Munsey Magazines 1912 1920 5 and Scientific Romance in Britain 1890 1950 6 One of the earliest writers to be described in this way was the French astronomer and writer Camille Flammarion whose Recits de l infini and La fin du monde have both been described as scientific romances 7 The term is most widely applied to Jules Verne as in the 1879 edition of the American Cyclopaedia 8 and H G Wells whose historical society continues to refer to his work as scientific romances today 9 Edgar Rice Burroughs s A Princess of Mars 1912 is also sometimes seen as a major work of scientific romance 10 and Sam Moskowitz referred to him in 1958 as the acknowledged master of the scientific romance 11 though the scholar E F Bleiler views Burroughs as a writer involved in the new development of pulp science fiction that arose in the early 20th century 12 The same year as A Princess of Mars Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published The Lost World 13 which is also commonly referred to as a scientific romance 14 1902 saw the cinematic release of Georges Melies s film Le Voyage dans la Lune A Trip to the Moon the time period and the fact that it is based partially on works by Verne and Wells has led to its being labelled as a scientific romance as well 15 Modern revival Edit In recent years the term scientific romance has seen a revival being self applied in works of science fiction that deliberately ape previous styles Examples include Christopher Priest s The Space Machine A Scientific Romance 16 published in 1976 Ronald Wright s Wells pastiche A Scientific Romance A Novel published in 1998 and the 1993 tabletop roleplaying game Forgotten Futures 17 Though it uses the term Dennis Overbye s novel Einstein in Love A Scientific Romance 18 does not imitate science fiction of the past in the manner of the other novels mentioned Definitions EditBrian Stableford has argued in Scientific Romance in Britain 1890 1950 6 that early British science fiction writers who used the term scientific romance differed in several significant ways from American science fiction writers of the time Most notably the British writers tended to minimise the role of individual heroes took an evolutionary perspective held a bleak view of the future and had little interest in space as a new frontier Regarding heroes several novels by H G Wells have the protagonist as nameless and often powerless in the face of natural forces The evolutionary perspective can be seen in tales involving long time periods such as The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine by Wells or Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon Even in scientific romances that did not involve vast stretches of time the issue of whether mankind was just another species subject to evolutionary pressures often arose as can be seen in parts of The Hampdenshire Wonder by J D Beresford and several works by S Fowler Wright Regarding space C S Lewis s Space Trilogy took the position that as long as humanity remains flawed and sinful our exploration of other planets will tend to do them more harm than good and most scientific romance authors had not even that much interest in the topic As for bleakness it can be seen in many of the works by all the authors already cited who deemed humanity flawed either by original sin or much more often by biological factors inherited from our ape ancestors Stableford also notes that some of the British scientific romances were saved from being entirely gloomy by their philosophical speculation calling them works of modest armchair philosophizing He cites E V Odle s The Clockwork Man John Gloag s Tomorrow s Yesterday and Murray Constantine s Proud Man as examples of this type of scientific romance 19 Nonetheless not all British science fiction from that period comports with Stableford s thesis Some for example revelled in adventures in space and took an optimistic view of the future By the 1930s there were British authors such as Eric Frank Russell who were intentionally writing science fiction for American publication At that point British writers who used the term scientific romance did so either because they were unaware of science fiction or because they chose not to be associated with it clarification needed citation needed After the Second World War the influence of American science fiction caused the term scientific romance to lose favour a process accelerated by the fact that few writers of scientific romance considered themselves scientific romance writers instead viewing themselves as just writers who occasionally happened to write scientific romances Even so the influence of the scientific romance era persisted in British science fiction John Wyndham s work has been cited as providing a bridge between traditional British scientific romance and the more varied science fiction which has replaced it 20 Some commentators believe scientific romance had some impact on the American variety See also EditPlanetary romance Edisonade Romanticism in science Voyages ExtraordinairesReferences Edit Before Science Fiction Romances of Science and Scientific Romances io9 accessed March 22 2012 Southern Literary Messenger A Magazine Devoted to Literature Science and Art Balzac H T Tuckerman Making of America accessed March 22 2012 Bowen Francis 1855 The Principles of Metaphysical and Ethical Science Applied to the Evidences of Religion Brewer and Tileston p 150 Google Books accessed March 23 2012 Hinton Charles 1884 Scientific Romances W Swan Sonnenschein amp Co OpenLibrary org accessed March 24 2012 Moskowitz Sam 1970 Under the Moons of Mars A History and Anthology of The Scientific Romance in the Munsey Magazines 1912 1920 Holt Rinehart Winston 978 0030818585 a b Stableford Brian 1985 Scientific Romance in Britain 1890 1950 Palgrave Macmillan 978 0312703059 The Encyclopedia of Science Flammarion Nicolas Camille 1842 1925 accessed March 24 2012 The American Cyclopaedia Vol VII 2nd ed New York D Appleton and Company 1879 p 407 Retrieved 25 January 2013 The H G Wells Society accessed March 23 2012 Voyages Extraordinaire 1912 Zenith of the Scientific Romances accessed March 22 2012 EdgarRiceBurroughs ca Tributes to Edgar Rice Burroughs accessed March 22 2012 E F Bleiler Science Fiction The Early Years 1990 The Kent State University Press Kent Ohio Pg xxii Doyle Arthur Conan 1912 The Lost World Hodder amp Stoughton The Lost World 100th Anniversary accessed March 24 2012 Spectacular Attractions A Trip to the Moon Le Voyage dans la Lune accessed March 24 2012 Priest Christopher 1976 The Space Machine A Scientific Romance Harper amp Row Forgotten Futures The Scientific Romance Roleplaying Game accessed March 24 2012 Overbye Dennis 2000 Einstein in Love A Scientific Romance Viking Adult Brian Stableford Creators of Science Fiction Wildside Press LLC 2009 ISBN 1434457591 p 57 58 Ian Ousby The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English Cambridge University Press 1993 p 1046 Bibliography EditFlatland by Edwin Abbott Abbott more of a fantasy but see its subtitle The Hampdenshire Wonder by J D Beresford The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson The Purple Cloud by M P Shiel Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon Last Men in London by Olaf Stapledon Odd John by Olaf Stapledon Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne The Time Machine by H G Wells The War of the Worlds by H G Wells The Island of Dr Moreau by H G Wells The Invisible Man by H G Wells Frankenstein by Mary ShelleyExternal links Edit The Victorian Bookshelf The First Century of the Scientific Romance and other Related Works Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Scientific romance amp oldid 1120540290, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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