Week 7
1. What is the difference in emphasis between the terms science fiction and speculative fiction?
Which is The Man in the High Castle?
I found a definition of speculative fiction from Wikipedia as below:
“Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more highly imaginative fiction genres, specifically including science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history.”
According to this explanation, we can considered speculative fiction is a complex genre and very broad. Science fiction is merely a type of speculative fiction.
No doubt, The Man in the High Castle is a science fiction. It was written by American writer Philip K. Dick in 1962. It is an alternate history novel and the most representative one of his works.
2. What does Brown (2001) identify as the central themes and concerns of the novel?
This novel is not a central plot, but around a few related story. It contains a loose collection of characters. There are three characters guide their lives based on the I Ching in this novel, Nobusuke Tagomi, Frank Frink and Juliana Frink. As Brown (2001) cited Dick posits the philosophy of Tao, which offers a means of examining the universe through the principals of interconnectedness.
Brown (2001) identified “Dick used SF to explore his obsession with metaphysics, the nature of perceived reality, good and evil, and the abuse of power.” The Man in the High Castle is a great work of Dick, as all great SF, Dick created another world for us. We are comparing with our own. At the end of Brown’s introduction of Dick, he cited “The Man in the High Castle, in its depiction of little people living small lives with honour and confusion, and in its examination of the conflicting ideas of totalitarianism and Eastern philosophy.”
References
Brown, E. (2001). Introduction. In Dick, P.K., The Man in the High Castle (p.v-xii). London: Penguin.
Speculative fiction. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved October 15, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speculative_fiction
While often very useful, Wikipedia's not necessarily the best place to start your response for this question as the texts in the critical reader offer some valid definitions, and obviously we're interested in your engagement with these texts. Some interesting points in your second response, but there is an important distinction between 'plot' and 'theme'. Also it would have interesting for you to have developed this discussion a bit further. Check out Rory's response to the same question.
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