Contemporary Sociological and Technical Development in Modern Science Fiction

Abstract

This thesis will examine the development of fantasy and science fiction with particular regard to the extent to which, since the 1950s, the psychological pressures experienced through technology, the population explosion, the threat of nuclear war and destruction of the environment have influenced this form of escapist literature. The choice of books has been made from those which appear to best illustrate this view ranging from the early "pulp" magazines such as Galaxy which has provided a forum for so many brilliant stories, to the humorous iconoclastic writing of Douglas Adams. The books have also been chosen to demonstrate how science fiction has changed from the days of the pulp magazine with its "sensational" image, to its present state where modern writers such as Larry Niven in Rillgworld (1972) demonstrate how increasing anxieties and new technologies can be incorporated into an excellent literary work. It is those writers of Niven's calibre who have taken us out of the pulp era and transformed the genre so that it now has a more "respectable" literary image.