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Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel?

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In article <20171205c@crcomp.net>, D B Davis  <g@crcomp.net> wrote:
>
>Dorothy J Heydt <djheydt@kithrup.com> wrote:
>> In article <6dc0628f-463e-40a8-9434-e2044a127b7d@googlegroups.com>,
>> <lenona321@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>Some articles. Only trouble is, I'm not sure if the publication date was
>>>on January 1st or March 11th of 1818. (I'm in a rush.)
>>
>> Hm.  I looked at the Subject line and thought, "1817, a year
>> after eighteen-hundred-and-froze-to-death?  Frankenstein?
>>
>> It's always a relief when I discover my brain still works.
>>
>
>    The University of Cambridge reminds me of MIT. A militaristic vibe
>seems present at both places. Whig historiography's scientific
>progression to a better place resonates with the vibe.
>    _The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction_ (James, Mendlesohn)
>says that "the Gothic trappings of _Frankenstein_ place it firmly place
>it firmly within the tradition of anti-science fiction." Here's how _The
>Companion_ defines 'anti-science fiction':
>
>        The imaginary voyage was also the usual narrative form
>    of scathing satirical fantasies, and scientists became
>    satirical targets in Margaret Cavendish's _The Blazing World_
>    (1666) and the third book of Jonathan Swift's _Gulliver's Tavels_
>    (1726). Such works founded a tradition of 'anti-science fiction',
>    whose reliance on similar motifs and narrative strategies has
>    always resulted in its subsumption within the genre whose
>    ambitions it opposes. Given the importance of scepticism and
>    theoretical dissent to the advancement of science and the
>    near-oxymoronic quality of the 'science fiction' label, this
>    confusion is not entirely inappropriate.
>
>    _Frankenstein_'s science does not lead to a happy outcome. And its
>unhappy ending makes the story anti-science fiction from the Whig
>historiography perspective. But how the heck do Gothic trappings fit
>into the scheme of things?

It was the early 19th century.  Gothic trappings were in style.

As to anti-science fiction, I'm reminded of an Asimov essay
entitled "The Sin of the Scientist."  He notes that at the dawn
of the twentieth century everyone was enthusiastic about the
wonders that science was going to produce.  By 1920, science was
distrusted and scientists were portrayed as mad, working to
destroy the world.  "What," he inquires rhetorically, "happened
between 1900 and 1920?  World War I happened between 1900 and
1920."

-- 
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com

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Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? lenona321@yahoo.com - 2017-12-05 12:02 -0800
  Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2017-12-05 20:35 +0000
    Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? D B Davis <g@crcomp.net> - 2017-12-06 01:51 +0000
      Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2017-12-06 13:48 +0000
        Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? Peter Trei <petertrei@gmail.com> - 2017-12-06 10:31 -0800
        Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? Leo Sgouros <adravirgo@gmail.com> - 2017-12-06 13:33 -0800
          Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2017-12-06 13:49 -0800
            Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? Leo Sgouros <adravirgo@gmail.com> - 2017-12-06 14:00 -0800
              Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2017-12-07 00:58 -0800
            Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2017-12-07 00:13 +0000
              Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? Cryptoengineer <treifamily@gmail.com> - 2017-12-06 19:25 -0600
      Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? mcdowell_ag@sky.com - 2017-12-06 22:10 -0800
        Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2017-12-07 01:06 -0800
          Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2017-12-07 14:26 +0000
            Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? Peter Trei <petertrei@gmail.com> - 2017-12-07 08:05 -0800
              Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2017-12-07 16:33 +0000
                Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> - 2017-12-07 12:21 -0800
                Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? "Michael R N Dolbear" <me@privacy.net> - 2017-12-08 19:37 +0000
        Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? D B Davis <g@crcomp.net> - 2017-12-07 15:48 +0000
          Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? mcdowell_ag@sky.com - 2017-12-07 12:05 -0800
            Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? D B Davis <g@crcomp.net> - 2017-12-07 22:14 +0000
              Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? hamish.laws@gmail.com - 2017-12-07 14:50 -0800
  Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? lenona321@yahoo.com - 2018-01-05 14:46 -0800

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