Fantasy Over SF: Trends in the US versus the UK
Adam Roberts, UK author of the forthcoming SF book Gradisil, has an interesting interview at SFRevu.com. One of the many things that caught my eye was this particular snippet:
SFRevu: Fantasy seems to be running roughshod over SF here in the US, though less so in the UK. You lot went and started the whole thing off with Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and all those others ...yet now you're writing sensible stuff while we're running amok with elves. Why is that?
Adam: That's a real big question you're asking, there. Long answer short, then shortened some more, and finally boiled down to the point where it becomes impossibly over-condensed, would have to do with the difference between a literature of the fantastic that refracts the actual world back to us in informative or beautifully-strange new ways, and a literature of the fantastic that provides nothing more than wish-fulfillment escapism. You think there's any reason that America, in general, wants to, you know, escape an unpleasant reality right now, and fly away to a magic land where they can ride dragons and slay evildoers with swords and so on?
I agree that this is a very generalized question and answer. After all, there's quite a bit of SF that is really nothing more than "wish-fulfillment escapism" (aka action-adventure, etc), and there's plenty of fantasy that "refracts the actual world back to us in informative or beautifully strange ways". So maybe, while considering this statement, it would be better to consider the authors of fantasy and SF. Is British fantasy and SF more "serious" in nature, and American fantasy and SF more "escapist" in nature? I'm going to say no off the bat: after all, J.K. Rowling did bring us Harry Potter. However, generally speaking, especially in light of Roberts' quote about Americans wanting to "escape an unpleasant reality," what are your thoughts?
By the way, Roberts seems to be quite the scholar when it comes to the genre. I haven't read any of his fiction yet, and I'm interested in doing so, thanks to this interview. Definitely check it out, because he talks about a variety of issues, including media influence on SF and fantasy.
SFRevu: Fantasy seems to be running roughshod over SF here in the US, though less so in the UK. You lot went and started the whole thing off with Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and all those others ...yet now you're writing sensible stuff while we're running amok with elves. Why is that?
Adam: That's a real big question you're asking, there. Long answer short, then shortened some more, and finally boiled down to the point where it becomes impossibly over-condensed, would have to do with the difference between a literature of the fantastic that refracts the actual world back to us in informative or beautifully-strange new ways, and a literature of the fantastic that provides nothing more than wish-fulfillment escapism. You think there's any reason that America, in general, wants to, you know, escape an unpleasant reality right now, and fly away to a magic land where they can ride dragons and slay evildoers with swords and so on?
I agree that this is a very generalized question and answer. After all, there's quite a bit of SF that is really nothing more than "wish-fulfillment escapism" (aka action-adventure, etc), and there's plenty of fantasy that "refracts the actual world back to us in informative or beautifully strange ways". So maybe, while considering this statement, it would be better to consider the authors of fantasy and SF. Is British fantasy and SF more "serious" in nature, and American fantasy and SF more "escapist" in nature? I'm going to say no off the bat: after all, J.K. Rowling did bring us Harry Potter. However, generally speaking, especially in light of Roberts' quote about Americans wanting to "escape an unpleasant reality," what are your thoughts?
By the way, Roberts seems to be quite the scholar when it comes to the genre. I haven't read any of his fiction yet, and I'm interested in doing so, thanks to this interview. Definitely check it out, because he talks about a variety of issues, including media influence on SF and fantasy.