INTRO TO SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY

FANTASY REALM OF THE IMPOSSIBLE

DEFINITION Literary genre that cannot occur in real life Usually involves witchcraft or some magic taking place on an undiscovered planet of/in an unknown world Important for increasing power of imagination and growing minds, especially in children They related to our deepest desires and dreams

FANTASY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT The folk (fairy) stories of Germany, etc. were handed down through the ages The Brothers Grimm Hans Christian Anderson Children’s fantasy stories Developed and became popular during the 1800s A few fantasy stories aimed at adults, but the genre considered to be lower quality than traditional drama writing Alice in Wonderland

DEVELOPMENT (CONT.) Science fiction- significant subgenre in late 1800s H.G. Wells and Jules Verne Beginning of the 20 th Century, “lost world” fantasies developed and became popular adult fantasy Horror films popular in the 1930s and beyond The ‘high fantasy’ works of C.S. Lewis (1949) and J. R. R. Tolkien (1954) raised fantasy to a high literary standard and increased its popularity

NEXT TO LAST SLIDE… 1950s science fiction films and TV shows enhanced the popularity of fantasy Continuing interest in science fiction fantasy until Star Trek franchise and then Star Wars film series Expanded interest in fantasy, especially with J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series

KOVAR’S NERD SLIDE… Fantasy video, card, and other games among the most popular, especially in the role-playing genre (RPGs) Dungeons and Dragons Final Fantasy Elder Scrolls Pokémon Curse the island…

DIVIDED INTO… Low Fantasy world governed by the laws of this world but inexplicable things occur Harry Potter Game of Thrones Lightening Thief Artemis Fowl Twilight High Fantasy set in a secondary world of magic and inhabited by supernatural beings or creatures LOTR Game of Thrones Graceling Wheel of Time Chronicles of Narnia

SCIENCE FICTON REALM OF THE POSSIBLE

DEFINITION: Literature of the human species encountering change, whether it arrives via scientific discovers, technological innovations, natural events, or societal shifts.

IT IS ALSO… Literature of ideas and philosophy “ What if?” “If this goes on…” Exploring ideas of what would happen to us as a group rather than developing a plot or character or what might happen to the individual Provides an approach to understanding the universe We can safely simulate experiments that we can’t or should not conduct in the real world Brave New World- we are not going to purposely dumb down people in order to work menial jobs we are not going to take away emotion Cast with believable characters, and we can simulate what might happen if it were real

AND AGAIN… Literature of the Other Provides alternative points of view on familiar topics in order to give us a clearer perspective A community of thinkers and creatives All come together to better understand and share our visions of how humans might be changed Members must feel welcome, free, and safe to express true selves in our exploration of the human condition encountering change

EARLY DEVELOPMENTS Before 1500’s- elements found in early fantasy works 1500’s-1700’s (ish)- scientific discoveries that characterized the Enlightenment Thomas More’s Utopia Johannes Kepler's Somnium (The Dream, 1634) Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726)

OK…SO. 1800’S 19 th Century sees science propelled forward Mary Shelley Frankenstein (1818) – “mad scientist” genre which experiments with putting human bodies together The Last Man (1826)- apocalyptic novel- future world that has been ravaged by a plague

THE BELIEVED BEGINNINGS- VERNE AND WELLS Jules Verne Mixed adventure with technology in the modern day or propelled into the future Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) From the Earth to the Moon(1865) Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1869) H.G. Wells Uses science fiction to critique his society Uses Darwinian evolution and Marxism The Time Machine (1895) The War of the Worlds (1898)