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1 Science Fiction As a Worldwide Phenomenon PROCEEDINGS, COINs13 SCIENCE FICTION AS A WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON: A STUDY OF INTERNATIONAL CREATION, CONSUMPTION AND DISSEMINATION Elysia Celeste Wells Savannah College of Art and Design 342 Bull St Savannah, GA 31402 USA e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT Companion to Science Fiction almost exclusively This paper examines the international nature of focuses on American science fiction (James & science fiction. The focus of this research is to Mendlesohn, 2003). Julies Verne is one of the few determine whether science fiction is primarily non-English speaking authors to be named in many English speaking and Western or global; being of the books reviewed for this research. (Clarke, created and consumed by people in non-Western, 1999; James & Mendlesohn, 2003; Kelly et al., non-English speaking countries? Science fiction's 2009, p. 10). Does this mean that science fiction is international presence was found in three ways, by a genre that is found primarily in the English network analysis, by examining a online retailer speaking West2 or are there science fiction stories and with a survey. Condor, a program developed being written all around the world that simply have by GalaxyAdvisors was used to determine if not been addressed by the reviewed literature? science fiction is being talked about by non-English speakers. An analysis of the international Amazon.com websites was done to discover if it Literature Review was being consumed worldwide. A survey was In an essay written by James Gunn for World also conducted to see if people had experience with Literature Today he states that "American science science fiction. All three research methods fiction is the base line against which all the other revealed similar results. Science fiction was found fantastic literatures in languages other than English to be international, with science fiction creators must be measured." He goes on to explain "That is originating in different countries and writing in a because science fiction, as informed readers host of different languages. English and non- recognize it today, began in New York City in English science fiction was being created and 1926" (Gunn, 2010) Other sources stated similar consumed all over the world, not just in the English things. Science fiction developed during times of speaking West. great technological growth and change (James & Mendlesohn, 2003). Science Fiction: A Historical INTRODUCTION Anthology states that "[s]cience fiction emerged, The main question addressed in this paper is if quite properly, when science did"(Rabkin, 1983, p. science fiction is primarily a English speaking 9). Major American science fiction magazines Western phenomenon or are people actively such as Astounding Science Fiction and Fact, creating science fiction cross culturally and in Galaxy Science Fiction and Amazing Stories were different languages? This question was asked as founded in the late 1920s and 1930s at the part of a larger research project1, and was asked in beginning of the nuclear age (IEEE, 2012; Lehrer, order to ascertain if a business tool derived from 2010). The literature also stated that science fiction science fiction has potential global applications. and popular science developed together, the During the course of doing research the author founding of the magazine Popular Science began encountered few references to global science when the first science fiction stories were being fiction. The author observed that most of the published (Popular Science, 2002; Rabkin, 1983, p. science fiction authors, H. G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, 221). "The [science fiction] stories printed on pulp Isaac Asimov and so forth that were focused on had something, besides economics, in common came from the English speaking western world and with the newspaper. In a world of conflict made science fiction was addressed as a genre of the possible by science, the fictions of science became 3 western world (Rabkin, 1983). The Cambridge daily fare " (Rabkin, 1983, p. 221). 2 1 This research was originally done as part of For the purpose of this paper the English speaking research for a Masters of Fine Arts thesis. This West is defined as the US, Canada, England, thesis was unpublished at the time when this was Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. 3 written. (Wells, 2013). The term "pulp" refers to inexpensive magazines. 1 PROCEEDINGS, COINs13 International Survey The term science fiction is a modern construction. A survey was created to ascertained if people were It was not used until the twentieth century, even for aware of science fiction. It was created using stories that are considered to be science fiction Google Documents (Writely Team, 2010). The now. Science fiction did not emerge as a named participants were found in a variety of places, most literary genre until the 1930s with the start of of the participants answered the questions online "science fiction pulp magazines (James & via posts on personal Facebook walls and on a Mendlesohn, 2003, p. xvi). Wells' stories were Facebook page associated with an international "scientific romances” and Jules Verne's were student organization. (Facebook.com, 2012). "extraordinary voyages" until they were Participants were also found in a Dutch as a second reclassified and reprinted (Rabkin, 1983, p. 221). language class, these participants were asked identical questions as the online participants. The In the essay Science Fiction Around the World it survey consisted of mostly open-ended questions. was explained that "After World War II, the genre Few personal question were asked because the got exported to Western Europe and then, more survey was designed to insure anonymity. slowly, to Eastern Europe and the Far East, generally following the progress of Amazon.com industrialization" (Gunn, 2010). The history of Amazon.com was used to discover if science science fiction would indicate that the genre is fiction is being produced and sold worldwide. If based in the English speaking West. multiple Amazon websites are selling science fiction products created by someone who is from The subject of science fiction is rarely found as an the same country as an Amazon site it would infer academic subject outside of literary studies. that science fiction is global and not just a construct Despite the history and the popularity of the genre, of the English speaking Western World. the scholarship of science fiction did not emerge until the 1950s (James & Mendlesohn, 2003, p. The online retail site Amazon.com was chosen xvii). Science Fiction Studies began with night because of its worldwide presence and because classes but then expanded into scholarly journals each international site offers some unique goods and became its own field of study in the 1970s dependent on the geographical location it is serving (Kelly et al., 2009, p. 9). The academic field has (Amazon.com, 2012). The company has websites grown since that time but primarily focuses on in nine different countries: the United States of literary critique and cultural relevance to modern America, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great society. Literature that analyses science fiction Britain, Italy, Japan, and Spain.4 There are itself rather than the subjects and the stories within potential biases in the data. It should be noted that it are still limited. Amazon.com is based out of the United States, and this might artificially inflate how much American METHODS media shows up in the search results, Each research method employed was designed to complement the two others. The information The top 10 results of each country’s Amazon.com gained from the Condor search was used to website were identified. This was done as a filter supplement the Amazon.com data and the in order to find the products that were popular. The international survey to show the global nature of top ten results were used to determine if the science science fiction. fiction being consumed in a particular region was primarily English speaking and Western in origin, Before starting the research, the expectation was or it was based on the native language and culture. that science fiction was global, but was limited. This expectation was made because of the lack of To ensure that results came up in the language of literature on the subject and because the history of the specific Amazon site, "science fiction" was science fiction focused on its origins in the United translated into the language of each of the sites. States and Great Britain. It was discovered that The "top" results in all categories were searched for science fiction is indeed global and more wide using "science fiction" in the appropriate language. spread than expected. The Amazon.com data Google Translate was used to translate the word indicated that science fiction is being written by science fiction into the different languages (Google Chinese authors and sold to Chinese audiences; the Developers, 2012). condor data suggested that science fiction is being talked about in Hindi and in Russian. Most of the survey participants had heard of or consumed science fiction. 4 The international sites were found on "Amazon International: Around The World," published by Amazon inc. (Amazon.com, 2012). 2 PROCEEDINGS, COINs13 other but to a different group of websites, you get a galaxy formation. Figure 2: A Stars Pattern Versus a Galaxy Pattern (Gloor, 2006) Figure 1: Are the Writers/Creators of Science What Types of Searches Were Done? Fiction from the same country that their products As mentioned previously, Condor is a computer are sold in? program that was developed to analyze online networks enabled to find communication networks (GalaxyAdvisors, 2010). Searches using keywords Condor are done to locate communication networks. The In addition to the survey and the Amazon.com network searches for this thesis were done using results Condor was used (GalaxyAdvisors, 2010). the Google search engine. Condor is a program developed by GalaxyAdvisors that is primarily used to locate Galaxy patterns and Many searches were conducted but the most collaborative networks in databases via an online relevant ones paired translated terms to look at source (Gloor, 2006, p.
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