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Is Science Fiction Inherently Hopeful?
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I don’t know if I’d say “inherently hopeful.” Sturgeon’s approach to science fiction was “ask the next question” which is sometimes not so hopeful. I do think a lot of golden age and even new wave (which Ellison defined) is very hopeful. I think genres like cyberpunk and more modern interpretations of dystopian science fiction explore less hopeful situations. You also have stuff like “The Heat Death of the Universe” by Pamela Zoline which could be evaluated from many perspectives on hope.
Okay, that Zoline story kinda broke me for about half an hour.
It’s a really powerful story and shows up a lot in SF academia. I was introduced to through Dr James Gunn’s histories.