Science Fiction in the United States

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how science fiction in the United States has gone through three main periods: Introduction, Golden Age, and Post-War Era. The paper points out that, in the United States, the beginning of science fiction was vague, starting in the nineteenth century. The paper then takes a look at Edgar Allan Poe as one of the first American science fiction authors. The paper concludes that, although the genre of science fiction had a humble beginning, in a short period of time it surfaced into an extremely popular type of literature.

From the Paper:

"Therefore there was an interim in the immense success that science fiction had experienced in the Golden age. However, immediately when the war ended, there came "another boom time for science fiction." Major writers who were involved in the war began writing again. Many talented new writers came into the spotlight. Magazines that made it past the difficult times of World War II were now more popular than ever (American). Some authors of this time period were A.E. Van Vogt, J.G. Ballard, Ray Bradbury, Poul Anderson, and Frank Herbert. Post-war science-fiction authors had some new approaches in their works. Most of their works became about predictions of future societies on Earth, the consequences of space travel, and "imaginative explorations of forms of intelligent life and their societies in other worlds" (Science Merriam). Ray Bradbury was a key figure from the post-war era. He was one of the most illustrious science-fiction writers of his generation. Even though Bradbury's works verged on fantasy, most of them are considered science fiction. Two of his most famous works were The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451. The Martian Chronicles was a series of linked short stories, and Fahrenheit 451 began as a short story named "The Fireman. A major change occurred in the science-fiction industry when the paperback industry overtook the "pulp" magazine's "exclusive hold on science fiction" (American). This significantly increased the popularity of science fiction."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "American Science Fiction Enjoys Its Golden Age, 1938-1950." DISCovering U.S. History. Gale Research, 1997. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC>.
• "Science Fiction." AAAI. 25 February 2008. 2 March 2008. <http://www.aaai.org/aitopics/html/ scifi.html>.
• "Science Fiction." The Hutchinson Dictionary of the Arts. 2004. Discus. 2 March 2008. <http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMYDISCUS-0-5496&artno=0000073475&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=&title=Science%20Fiction&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=Y&ic=N>.
• "Science Fiction." Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature. 1995. Discus. 2 March 2008. <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitRC?vrsn=3&locID=scschools&srchtp=eol&c=1&ste=102&ES=science+fiction&docNum=H1480008254>
• Taormina, Agatha. "The History of Science Fiction: a Chronological Survey." Science Fiction History. Northern Virginia Community College. 1 November 2003. 2 March 2008. <http://www.nvcc.edu/home/ataormina/scifi/default.htm>.

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