Psience Fiction

The Paranormal in Science Fiction Literature

Damien Broderick (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

244 Seiten

2018
McFarland & Co Inc (Verlag)
978-1-4766-7228-1 (ISBN)

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Until now, no scholarly study has dealt specifically with the abrupt shift of emphasis away from space travel, atomic weapons, robots, and other once-imaginary technologies, and into the realm of the paranormal treated as science. Damien Broderick surveys this long-ignored terrain, reading a series of influential or characteristic psience fiction novels and short stories, from the 1930s to now.

Science fiction has often been considered the literature of futuristic technology: fantastic warfare among the stars or ruinous apocalypses on Earth. The last century, however, saw, through John W. Campbell, the introduction of "psience fiction," which explores such themes of mental powers as telepathy, precognition of the future, teleportation, etc.--and symbolic machines that react to such forces.

The author surveys this long-ignored literary shift through a series of influential novels and short stories published between the 1930s and the present. This discussion is framed by the sudden surge of interest in parapsychology and its absorption not only into the SF genre, but also into the real world through military experiments such as the Star Gate Program.

Damien Broderick is an Australian writer, editor and critical theorist who lives in San Antonio, Texas.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction

1. Donald Macpherson (George Humphrey), Go Home, Unicorn (1935)

2. Olaf Stapledon, Odd John (1935)

3. E.E. Smith, The History of Civilization (1937/1951)

4. A.E. van Vogt, Slan (1940/1946/1968)

5. James Blish, Jack of Eagles (1949/1952)

6. James H. Schmitz, The Witches of Karres (1949/1966)

7. Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man (1952)

8. Zenna Henderson, The People (1952)

9. J.T. McIntosh, The ESP Worlds (1952)

10. Theodore Sturgeon, More Than Human (1953)

11. Mark Clifton and Frank Riley, They’d Rather Be Right (1953–1956)

12. Mark Clifton, “What Thin Partitions” to “Remembrance and Reflection” (1953–1958)

13. Wilson Tucker, Wild Talent (1954)

14. James H. Schmitz, The Ties of Earth (1955)

15. John Wyndham, The Chrysalids/Re-Birth (1955)

16. Robert A. Heinlein, Time for the Stars (1956)

17. Frank M. Robinson, The Power (1956) and Waiting (1999)

18. George O. Smith, Highways in Hiding (1956)

19. Alfred Bester, The Stars My Destination (1956–57)

20. Lan Wright, A Man Called Destiny (1958)

21. Marion Zimmer Bradley, Darkover Series (1958–)

22. Jack Vance, “Parapsyche,” “The Miracle Workers” and “Telek” (1958)

23. Short Stories (1940s–1950s)

Katherine MacLean, “Defense Mechanism” (1949)

C.M. Kornbluth, “The Mindworm” (1950)

Walter M. Miller, Jr., “Command Performance” (1952)

Isaac Asimov, “Belief” (1953)

Algis Budrys, “Riya’s Foundling” (1953)

Cordwainer Smith, “The Game of Rat and Dragon” (1955)

Brian W. Aldiss, “Psyclops” (1956)

J.T. McIntosh, “Empath” (1956)

Poul Anderson, “Journeys End” (1957)

24. Mark Phillips (Randall Garrett and Laurence M. Janifer), Brain Twister, Impossibles and Supermind (1959–1961)

25. Arthur Sellings, Telepath (1962)

26. Keith Woodcott, a.k.a. John Brunner, Crack of Doom/The Psionic Menace (1962–1963)

27. John Brunner, Telepathist/The Whole Man (1964)

28. Dan Morgan, The Sixth Perception Series (1967–75)

29. Richard Cowper, Breakthrough (1967)

30. Anne McCaffrey, Talents Universe (1968–)

31. Philip K. Dick, Ubik (1969)

32. Colin Wilson, The Philosopher’s Stone (1969)

33. Joanna Russ, And Chaos Died (1970)

34. Lester del Rey, Pstalemate (1971)

35. Robert Silverberg, Dying Inside (1972)

36. Katherine MacLean, Missing Man (1975)

37. Robert Silverberg, The Stochastic Man (1975)

38. Octavia Butler, Mind of My Mind (1976)

39. Joan D. Vinge, Psion (1982)

40. Lucius Shepard, Life During Wartime (1987)

41. Carrie Vaughn, After the Golden Age (2011) and Dreams of the Golden Age (2013)

42. Connie Willis, Crosstalk (2016)

43. Two Novels by Psychics (1978, 1998)

44. Short Stories (1960s–1990s)

Poul Anderson, “Night Piece” (1961)

Robert Silverberg, “Something Wild Is Loose” (1971)

C.J. Cherryh, “Cassandra” (1978)

Brian M. Stableford, “The Oedipus Effect” (1991)

Conclusion

Appendix 1: A Brief Guide to Paranormal Research

Appendix 2: Psi and Afterlife in Psience Fiction

Chapter Notes

References

Index

Erscheinungsdatum	08.12.2017
Zusatzinfo	appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Verlagsort	Jefferson, NC
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	313 g
Themenwelt	Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Science Fiction
	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Esoterik / Spiritualität
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Psychologie
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Anglistik / Amerikanistik
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft
	Naturwissenschaften
ISBN-10	1-4766-7228-8 / 1476672288
ISBN-13	978-1-4766-7228-1 / 9781476672281
Zustand	Neuware