Golden Age of Science Fiction

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The Golden Age of Science Fiction, often recognized as a period from the early 1940s through the 1950s, was an era during which the science fiction genre gained wide public attention and many classic science fiction stories were published. According to historian Adam Roberts, "the phrase [Golden Age] valorises a particular sort of writing: 'Hard SF', linear narratives, heroes solving problems or countering threats in a space-opera or technological-adventure idiom."[1]

The saying "The golden age of science fiction is twelve", from the science fiction fan Peter Graham [Hartwell 1996], means that many readers use "golden age" to mean the time when they first developed a passion for science fiction, often in adolescence.

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[edit] From Gernsback to Campbell

One leading influence on the creation of the Golden age was John W. Campbell, who became legendary in the genre as an editor and publisher of many science fiction magazines, including Astounding Science Fiction. Under Campbell's editorship, science fiction developed more realism and psychological depth to characterization than it exhibited in the Gernsbackian "super science" era. The focus shifted from the gizmo itself to the characters using the gizmo. The July 1939 issue of Astounding Science Fiction [1] containing the first published stories of both A. E. van Vogt and Isaac Asimov is widely considered to be the start of the Golden ages of science fictions.

[edit] Cultural significance

As a phenomenon that affected the psyches of a great many adolescents during World War II and the ensuing Cold War, science fiction's Golden Age has left a lasting impression upon society. The genre, particularly during its Golden Age, had significant, if somewhat indirect, effects upon leaders in the military, information technology, Hollywood and science itself, especially biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry.

The impression of many parents at the time, however, was often tinged with dismay and intolerance, sometimes sparked by the racy cover illustrations of pulp science fiction. The stereotypical cover of a science fiction pulp magazine depicted a brass-bikini-clad woman at the mercy of a bug-eyed monster.

[edit] Prominent Golden Age authors

Many fans of the '40s and '50s would have named A. E. van Vogt, Robert A. Heinlein, and Isaac Asimov as the three greatest science fiction writers. Sometimes Arthur C. Clarke or Ray Bradbury would be substituted for Vogt. Beginning in the late 1930s, a number of highly influential science fiction authors began to emerge, including:

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Roberts, The History of Science Fiction, p 195
  • Adam Roberts. The History of Science Fiction. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. ISBN 0-333-97022-5

[edit] External links

  • CS.colorado.edu - 'Astounding SF Golden Age Authors'
  • InfinityPlus.co.uk - 'Fear of Fiction: Campbell's World and Other Obsolete Paradigms', Claude Lalumière
  • NVCC.edu - 'A History of Science Fiction: the Golden Age'
  • SciFi.com - 'John W. Campbell's Golden Age of Science Fiction: An irreplaceable documentary illuminates the man who invented modern science fiction', Paul Di Filippo
  • TestermanSciFi.org - 'The "Golden Age" of Science Fiction (circa 1930-1959)'
  • Tor.com - 'Age of Wonders Chapter One: The Golden Age of Science Fiction is Twelve', David G. Hartwell (October, 1996)
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