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Space and Beyond The Frontier Theme in Science Fiction
(Click to Enlarge)
Gary Westfahl
ISBN: 0-313-30846-2
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-30846-8
224 pages
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 1/30/2000
List Price: $115.00 (UK Sterling Price: £79.95)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Also Available: Ebook
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Description: Although the exploration of space has long preoccupied authors and filmmakers, the development of an actual space program, discoveries about the true nature of space, and critical reconsiderations of America's frontier experiences have challenged and complicated conventional portrayals of humans in space. This volume reexamines the themes of space and the frontier in science fiction in light of recent scientific and literary developments. From this new perspective, we discern previously unnoticed commentaries from older authors, while newer writers either remain within a reassuring but obsolete tradition, venture into unexplored new realities, or abandon space to focus on other frontiers.

The intriguing contributions to this volume include a previously unpublished interview with Arthur C. Clarke, the world's greatest living author of science fiction; examinations of space opera by veteran author Jack Williamson and scholar David Pringle; surveys of space in science fiction film, and writer and producer Michael Cassutt's account of his efforts to launch a film based on a Clifford D. Simak novel; and speculations about future developments from noted writers Gregory Benford, Jack Dann, James Gunn, and Howard V. Hendrix.
Table of Contents:
  • Introduction: Frontiers Old and New by Gary Westfahl
    The Challenge of Space
    Space vs. Time by Jack Williamson
    Big Dumb Objects and Cosmic Enigmas: The Love Affair between Space Fiction and the Transcendental by Peter Nicholls
    Flying to the Moon in French and American Science Fiction by Danièle Chatelain and George Slusser
    What Is This Thing Called Space Opera? by David Pringle
    On The Final Frontier by Jack Williamson
    The Cinema of Space
    The True Frontier: Confronting and Avoiding the Realities of Space in American Science Fiction Films by Gary Westfahl
    The Art of Technology: Contours of Space in the Science Fiction Film by Ira Konigsberg
    Space for Resistance: The Disruption of the American Frontier Myth in 1950s Science Fiction Films by Susan A. George
    Way Station--The Motion Picture: A Possibly Premature Progress Report by Michael Cassutt
    The Pioneers of Space
    Flight of Passage: Space Travel as the Metaphoric Crossing of the Threshold by Jeffrey M. Wallman
    Take Me to Your Leader: A New Future for First Contact Stories by Patrice Caldwell
    Space and the Frontier in Leslie F. Stone's "The Fall of Mercury" by Batya Weinbaum
    Space Opera without the Space: The Culture Novels of Iain M. Banks by William H. Hardesty
    Re-Mythologizing Outer Space with C. S. Lewis and Cordwainer Smith by Robert Gorsch
    Painwise in Space: The Psychology of Isolation in Cordwainer Smith and James P. Tiptree, Jr. by Alan C. Elms
    Other Frontiers
    Social Science in Space and Time by Clyde Wilcox
    Space, Future War, and the Frontier in American Nuclear Apocalypse Narrative by Patrick B. Sharp
    Men and Women in Separate Spaces by Lynn F. Williams
    Cyberspace: The Moral Dimension by Janeen Webb
    New Worlds for Old by Donald M. Hassler
    Singularities: Perspectives on Space
    Comments on Space and Time by Gregory Benford, Jack Dann and Janeen Webb, James Gunn, and Howard V. Hendrix
    Sir Arthur C. Clarke: A Telephone Conversation with Eric S. Rabkin and Questions from Paul A. Carter, Gary Kern, Frank McConnell, Daryl F. Mallett, Melissa Mannion, Joseph D. Miller, and Gary Westfahl
    Index
About the Author: GARY WESTFAHL teaches at the University of California, Riverside. In addition to writing a column for the science fiction magazine Interzone, he is the author or coeditor of several books on science fiction and fantasy, including Cosmic Engineers: A Study of Hard Science Fiction (1996), and Space and Beyond: The Frontier Theme in Science Fiction (2000), both available from Greenwood Press.
LCC Class: 813
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