《英美科幻小說簡史》按時間順序編寫,清晰地勾勒了英美科幻小說從起源至今的發(fā)展軌跡,介紹了科幻小說發(fā)展的各個階段的歷史背景、重要作家和作品以及科幻小說的特點。
為使讀者了解科幻小說的基本類型,掌握科幻小說批評的基本術語,《英美科幻小說簡史》在各章都加入了與之有關的術語,力圖使讀者對科幻小說有更深入、更專業(yè)的了解。
在作家選取上,以各時期、各類型科幻小說的代表作家及其作品影響力為首選原則,并對所選作家的代表作品作較為詳細的介紹和評論。
作為科幻文學的重要組成部分,科幻電影和電視在科幻文學領域中的地位不容忽視。《英美科幻小說簡史》在最后一章簡要介紹了科幻電影和電視的發(fā)展軌跡,以及重要作品。
《英美科幻小說簡史》后列有三個附錄:①歷年科幻作品大獎“雨果獎”和“星云獎“的獲獎作品和作者的名單②科幻小說代表作家名單③科幻小說編年表,以方便讀者做進一步的學習和研究。
2.The New Wave
The New Wave has become a term used to describe the work of aloosely aligned group of SF writers in the 1960s and 1970s who sought to instill SF with greater social and political relevance,more mature subject matte~and high literary quality.7hey attempted to bring science fiction into the literary mainstream by emphasizing style rather than scientific accuracy.New Wave writers shared the notion that the world was notimproving and expressed a distrust of science and technology.The term New Wave sometimes has been applied only to a specific and small group of British writers--most notably Michael Moorcock.J.G Ballard and Brian Aldiss,John Brunneg and Christopher Priest.They explored in their works such controversialideas as sex,race and homosexuality.questioned the conventional values of government,capitalism,consumerism,conformity,religion,science and technology,and were more concerned with the“soft”sciences of psychology,sociology,and anthropology rather than the“hard”sciences of technology and engineering.Their works are characterized by a high degree of experimentation,both in form and in content.a(chǎn)“l(fā)iterary’’or artistic sensibility,and a new focus on“inner space’’as opposed to the“outer space”of the older SF writers.Character development becomes central to theft stories.Their plots become more complex,recursive with flashbacks and fragmented sections.Compared with the Golden Age positivism,New Wave SF is more pessimistic in its perception of the universe and technology.The differences between the New Wave and conventional SF are most commonly drawn as being a divide between science fiction and mainstream Iiterature
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