Indian Sci-Fi writer Dr. Arvind Mishra view on science
fiction :
Let we discuss the very hybrid nature of SF –the marriage of
science and fantasy, the unison of seemingly two opposite humane attributes. But how to define SF academically? I am too
little an authority to attempt doing such an academic exercise but there seems
no harm in making at least a try? Isn't it? We are already familiar with many literary
forms of social fictions i.e. stories, novels, novelettes etc, which depict
several shades of our society in a lucid and interesting manner.
The themes and
plots of such social fictions are based only on past or present happenings
related to man and his society. That is why the oft repeated adage,
"literature is the mirror of society". Science fiction on other hand
is the portrayal of man's future. And here lies the difference between social
and science fictions, notwithstanding the many similarities of both the genres
as they entail identical ways of storytelling, selection of a theme and
structuring a plot around it and above all engaging the readers with a
continuous and sustained flow of suspense leading ultimately to the climax of
the story.
But the million dollar question still remains unanswered, “how to
honour this genre by giving it a proper and intelligible academic
definition"?
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