{"id":795,"date":"2014-12-03T14:58:38","date_gmt":"2014-12-03T18:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/scalexan-vsf\/?page_id=795"},"modified":"2014-12-03T16:13:50","modified_gmt":"2014-12-03T20:13:50","slug":"sf-or-not-a-debate","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/scalexan-vsf\/news-from-nowhere\/sf-or-not-a-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"SF or Not? : A Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

IT IS SF<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cNews from Nowhere\u201d by William Morris firmly fits into the genre of Victorian Science Fiction. Paul Brians, an English Professor and writer, defines SF as \u201ca subdivision of fantastic literature which employs science or rationalism to create an appearance of plausibility\u201d (Brians). \u201cNews from Nowhere\u201d is fantastical since it takes place in a non-existent society set in the England of the future. This society starkly contrasts Victorian society in a plethora of ways, with fantastical elements that include an almost complete lack of violence, a love and respect for all modes of work, and an extreme diminishment or even non-existence of illness. Rationalism is extensively employed in attempts to bring validity to the world of Nowhere. In fact, a third of the novel is devoted to an extensive examination of how and why the society of this hypothetical world functions the way it does. Therefore \u201cNews from Nowhere\u201d is by Paul Brians\u2019 standards certainly a work of science fiction.<\/p>\n

John W. Campbell, a SF writer, provides insight on the nature of science fiction by discussing how SF distinguishes itself from fantasy:\u201cthe major distinction between fantasy and science fiction is, simply, that science fiction uses one, or a very, very few new postulates, and develops their rigidly consistent logical consequences of these limited postulates. Fantasy makes its rules as it goes along\u2026 The basic nature of fantasy is \u2018The only rule is make up a new rule any time you need one!\u2019 The basic rule of science fiction is \u2018Set up a basic proposition then develop its consistent, logical consequences\u2019\u201d (Campbell). The new postulates in the world of \u201cNowhere\u201d are that communism has replaced capitalism, and that everyone loves to work. From these societal truths all the other aspects of the novel logically fall into place. Since everyone loves to work an abundance of goods are created, and economic incentive is superfluous. Since all goods are available if an inhabitant desires them, people do not covet property, which along with other factors creates an almost complete lack of violence. Logical consistency and a lack of random rule makes the novel SF and not Fantasy.<\/p>\n

Gregory Benford defines SF as:\u201c a controlled way to think and dream about the future. An integration of the mood and attitude of science (the objective universe) with the fears and hopes that spring from the unconscious. Anything that turns you and your social context, the social you, inside out. Nightmares and visions, always outlined by the barely possible\u201d (Benford). This definition speaks directly to the novel. Morris writes about a future addressing the social and political context of the time by reimagining them with the aid of political revolution. This future outlines his hopes for England in a methodical scientific manner.<\/p>\n

The primary argument against reading the novel as SF is that it does not definitively present a new tangible world to the reader. The events of the novel can be read either as a dream or as a real and physical place Guest travels to. Both of these readings of the novel are equally plausible. If \u201cNowhere\u201d is read as a creation of Guest\u2019s imagination it should still be considered SF. In this case the reader is still taken on a journey to a fantastical society in the future, and the reader still suspends their disbelief while grappling with the possibility of \u201cNowhere\u201d. An additional argument that aims to place the novel outside of the realm of SF is the lack of a scientific novum. This aspect of the SF definition is disputed and is left out of many scholars\u2019 understanding of SF. Instead of employing science, Willliam Morris employs rationalism, which Paul Brines believes should be included in the discussion of SF. \u201cNews from Nowhere\u201d is thematically relevant to many of the other SF novels of the time. Like H.G Wells\u2019s \u201cThe Time Machine\u201d it explores capitalism\u2019s exploitive nature, as well as what makes up a Utopia.<\/p>\n

The definitions of Brians, Campell, and Crispin require an SF novel to be fantastical, based on rational thought, and to explore a future that comes about from scientific advance or rationalism. \u201cNews from Nowhere\u201d meets all of these demands as well as being stylistically and thematically relevant to the other SF novels of the time.<\/p>\n

IT IS NOT<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Kinsgsley Amis, a novelist, poet and critic, \u201cNews from Nowhere\u201d should not be considered science fiction, primarily because it does not deal with science. He defines science fiction as \u201cthat class of prose narrative treating of a situation that could not arise in the world we know, but which is hypothesized on the basis of some innovation in science or technology, or pseudo-technology whether human or extra-terrestrial\u201d (Amis). The world of \u201cNowhere\u201d comes about via political reform and social upheaval. Technology or scientific discovery does not serve as the impetus for change. Additionally, ideas of science and its role in this new world are barely touched on. Amis believes \u201cNews from Nowhere\u201d is a utopian novel and a piece of speculative political fiction, but it is not SF.<\/p>\n

Paul Brines defines SF as \u201ca subdivision of fantastic literature which employs science or rationalism to create an appearance of plausibility\u201d (Brines). Morris casts doubt upon the fantastical elements he has created and explored throughout his work by denigrating \u201cNowhere\u201d to possibly just a dream or a vision. If it is to be read as a dream, then there is nothing unrealistic or fantastic about his \u201cNews from Nowhere.\u201d The telling of a story that is purely plausible in the time that it is written is not SF.
\nGordon R. Dickinson posits that SF is manufactured realism, and that it therefore \u201cmust be entirely convincing to the reader in its own right\u201d (Dickinson). The \u201cTime Machine\u201d by H.G Wells is a brilliant example of a novel that is both fantastic and entirely believable. Wells provides a scientific explanation for time travel, as well as a vividly detailed future world. He also describes the convincing and wild manner in which the time traveler tells his story at a dinner party. Although the dinner party goers struggle to believe that time travel is possible, they look on with awe and confusion as the time traveler talks. A feeling of the uncanny is present in the gathering. On the other hand the realism of \u201cNowhere\u201d is immediately questioned by the lacking development regarding how Guest comes to be in \u201cNowhere\u201d. He simply falls asleep in Victorian England and wakes up in a changed world set in the same location in the year 2003. The reader also questions \u201cNowhere\u2019s\u201d plausibility due to how unfathomably idealistic Morris\u2019s vision of the future is.<\/p>\n

The novel reads less as a story and more as propaganda. Thus, the reader doesn\u2019t believe Morris because his writing seems to be pleading for communism, which he was vocally in favor of. Instead of presenting a possible future, Morris presents what he wants the world to look like, and he does so in a preachy manner.<\/p>\n

A lack of science, and a lack plausibility to “Nowhere”, places William Morris\u2019s \u201cNews from Nowhere\u201d outside of the genre of SF. Instead, Morris creates a Utopian novel of a world that he desires<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IT IS SF \u201cNews from Nowhere\u201d by William Morris firmly fits into the genre of Victorian Science Fiction. Paul Brians, an English Professor and writer, defines SF as \u201ca subdivision of fantastic literature which employs science or rationalism to create an appearance of plausibility\u201d (Brians). \u201cNews from Nowhere\u201d is fantastical since it takes place in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2425,"featured_media":819,"parent":104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-795","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/scalexan-vsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/scalexan-vsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/scalexan-vsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/scalexan-vsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2425"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/scalexan-vsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/scalexan-vsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":853,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/scalexan-vsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/795\/revisions\/853"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/scalexan-vsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/104"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/scalexan-vsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/scalexan-vsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}