Talk:Skiffy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Science Fiction, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to articles on science fiction on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article. Feel free to add your name to the participants list and/or contribute to the discussion. |
| Start | This article has been rated as start-Class on the quality scale. |
| ??? | This article has not yet been assigned a rating on the importance scale. |
Contents |
[edit] Rewrite needed
I think it's inappropriate to call it a "pejorative" term. Especially when that then has to be followed with at "ALT MEANING" section to clarify that sometimes it's not. I don't think it was ever particularly exclusively pejorative--although it is and was almost always ironic. But what, exactly, was being ironed depended on the perspective of the speaker.
It arose out of the Great Debates on whether the term "sci-fi" was acceptable. Populists were perfectly happy with "sci-fi", or whatever, while the most extreme elitists insisted that even "science fiction" was inappropriate--the "proper" term was "speculative fiction". And the elitists decided that "sci-fi" (not "skiffy") was a pejorative. Then there was debate over how you pronounce "sci-fi" (you don't say "science fEYEction"). From all this, the term "skiffy" was born. Populists liked it because it was funny and underlined how silly the whole debate on nomenclature was. Elitists liked it because it gave them an elite, insiders' way to say "sci-fi" (which to them was already a pejorative).
A little googling will turn up many instances of writers calling themselves "skiffy writers" and the like. I think the whole article should be rewritten from a more WP:NPOV perspective, without so many conclusions that smack of WP:OR. I've added a couple of interesting links. If I find the time, I may take a stab at a rewrite, but I wanted to put down my objections to the article as it stands, while I'm here. Heck, maybe someone out there actually cares! :) Xtifr 07:37, 15 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Rewrite done
Well, since no one leaped up to do the rewrite I suggested above a few months ago, I went ahead and took a stab at it myself. It could use more references, but I think what I wrote is a good first pass. Xtifr tälk 23:57, 26 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Mild edits
Made origins a bit more precise--Heinlein used the term before Ackerman adopted it for public use; added source for origin of "skiffy" pronunciation among serious fans and writers. RLetson 19:40, 24 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Minor Edit
I deleted the term "more literate" for the New Wave, since it implies that Heinlein, Asimov et al, were "less literate". -- Noclevername 21:59, 29 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Heinlein
While I'd be surprised if he coined the term, didn't Heinlein himself spend a certain amount of ink promoting the use of "Speculative Fiction"? Brennen 18:24, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
