This course material copyright © 1994 Henry Jenkins. It may be reproduced for non-profit, educational uses, but publication in any profit-making form or in any book or magazine form must first be cleared with the author.

Henry Jenkins (henry3@athena.mit.edu), Literature Section, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02138.

21L 434 Science Fiction and American Culture
Henry Jenkins
14N-437
253-3068
Henry3@athena.mit.edu
Office Hours:

This course will examine science fiction both as a popular genre of literary and media texts and as a master metaphor through which contemporary American culture can be understood. While the primary focus will be upon the manifestation of science fiction in literature, film and television, we will also consider science fiction's place within a more broadly defined popular culture. Attention will be paid to the formal strategies by which writers and media artists construct alien and future worlds and on how these texts spoke to their original audiences about aspects of their own immediate social experience.
The first week of the class will pose questions about formula and science fiction, considering how two recent works, Ender's Game and Aliens dramatically rework and rethink the Space Opera tradition. The following section of the course will trace the development of the American science fiction tradition from Hugo Gernsback's pulp magazines and the technological utopians through the wider acceptance of science fiction and the "age of rebellion" (the 1960s). The last third of the course or more focuses on recent developments within the genre, examining the contemporary graphic novel (Watchman), the collectively-written "universe" (Wild Cards), cyberpunk (Mirrorshades) and recent feminist science fiction (Dawn, Born in Flames). Our earlier readings will trace the roots of these traditions back to the 1950s and 1960s, an important transitional phase within science fiction.
Science fiction films and television are often treated as at best, an independent development with little ties to literary science fiction, at worst a debasement of the literary tradition. My approach will be to consider the important interplay between film and literature in defining audience expectations and broadening the market for the genre. We will also consider the multiple audiences for science fiction literature, film and television, considering the history of science fiction fandom as an important component in the history of the genre.
The issue of genre boundaries is a crucial one in exploring science fiction. My experience has been that MIT students often enter this course with a fairly exclusive definition which tends to put particular emphasis upon hard science fiction and its focus on scientific exploration or innovation. I have structured the course around a more inclusive definition of the genre, one which includes soft science fiction works, which deal with sociological or psychological change, and experimental works, which adopt imagery from science fiction for alternative purposes. We will consider in this course a range of different definitions of the genre which have been proposed at various times as well as the diverse audiences which science fiction attracts. We will be interested in the different roles that science fiction plays in literature and the media.
This course is reading-intensive. The student is expected to stay up with the screenings and readings and to actively participate in class discussions. I have focused our readings mostly on fictional work which means that basic theoretical, historical and critical frameworks will be provided through lecture. You might anticipate an average period to consist of a 30 minute lecture followed by 60 minutes of discussion.

REQUIRED TEXTS:
Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game
Robert Silverberg (Ed.), The Science Fiction Hall of Fame
Clifford Simak, City
Frederick Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth, The Space Merchants
Ursula LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness
Henry Jenkins, Textual Poachers
Robert Heinlein, Strangers in Strange Land
George R. R. Martin (Ed.), Wild Cards
Alan Moore, Watchman
Bruce Sterling (Ed.), Mirrorshades
Octavia Butler, Dawn
Course pack (available from MIT Graphic Arts)

TH S 9 Introduction
Handout on definitions of science fiction

FORMULA, CONVENTION, GENRE: CONTEMPORARY REWORKINGS OF THE SPACE OPERA TRADITION
T S 14 Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game

W S 15 Screening: Flash Gordon; Aliens

TH S 16 (Rec.) Selection from E.E. "Doc" Smith, Galactic Patrol (Course- pack)

THE AGE OF WONDER: SCIENCE FICTION AND TECHNOLOGICAL UTOPIANISM
T S 21 Jack Williamson, "Introduction"
Neil Jones, "The Jameson Satellite" (CP)
Edmund Hamilton, "The Man Who Saw the Future" (CP)
Lloyd Arthur Eshbach, "The Voice From the Ether" (CP)
John Campbell, "Twilight" (SFHF)
Stanley Weinbaum, "A Martian Odyssey" (SFHF)

W S 22 Screenings: The Electric House;The World of Tommorrow

TH S 23 Howard Segel, "The Technological Utopians" (CP)
Andrew Ross, "Getting Out of the Gerbsback Continuum" (CP)

CLASSICAL SCIENCE FICTION: THE KNOWN AND THE UNKNOWN
T S 28 Issac Asimov; Theodore Sturgeon; Leinster; Brown (Science Fiction Hall of Fame)

W S 29 Day the Earth Stood Still; Forbidden Planet

TH S 30 Discuss Films

THE AGE OF ACCEPTANCE: FROM ENGINEER TO EVERYMAN
T O 5 Clifford Simak, City

W O 6 Red Nightmare; Twilight Zone; Invassion of the Body Snatchers

TH O 7 Robin Woods, "An Introduction to the American Horror Film" (Course Pack)

SCIENCE FICTION AS SOCIAL SATIRE
TH O 14 Frederik Pohl and K.M. Kornbluth, The Space Merchants
FIRST PAPER DUE


A NEW ERA, A NEW SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS
T O 19 Cordwainer Smith, "Scanners Live in Vain" (SFHF)
Cordwainer Smith, "The Lady Who Sailed The Soul" (CP)
C. Smith, "The Dead Lady of Clown Town" (CP)
C. Smith, "Alpha Ralpha Boulevard" (CP)
C. Smith, "A Planet Named Shayol" (CP)

W O 20 Frankenstein Unbound

TH O 21 Philip Jose Famer, A Barnstormer in Oz (Course Pack)

THE AGE OF REBELLION: SOCIAL CHANGE AND FUTURE SHOCK
T O 26 Ursula LeGuin, Left Hand of Darkness

W O 27 A Clockwork Orange

TH O 28 Selection from Alvin Toffler, Future Shock (CP)
Alan E. Nourse, "Science Fiction and Man's Adaptation to Change" (CP)

FANDOM AND SCIENCE FICTION
T N 2 Henry Jenkins, Textual Poachers (Introduction, Chapters 1-4, Conclusion)

W N 3 Star Trek; Star Cops; Blake's 7; Assorted fan videos

TH N 4 Textual Poachers (Chapters 5-8)

SCIENCE FICTION AND THE COUNTER-CULTURE
T N 9 Robert Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

W N 10 Outer Limits; Man Who Fell to Earth

POSTFUTURISM
T N 16 George R.R. Martin (Ed.), Wild Cards

W N 17 Blade Runner

TH N 18 Todd Gitlin, "Postmodernism Defined, At Last!" (CP)
Vivien Sobchack, "Postfuturism" (CP)

T N 23 Frank Miller, Give Me Liberty

W N 24 Max Headroom; Total Recall

CYBERPUNK AND ITS ROOTS
T N 30 Bruce Sterling (Ed.), Mirror Shades

W D 1 Cyberpunk documentary; Tetsuo: The Iron Man

TH D 2 Andrew Ross, "Cyberpunk in Boy's Town" (CP)
SECOND PAPER DUE

FEMINISM AND SCIENCE FICTION
T D 7 Octavia Butler, Dawn

W D 8 Born in Flames

TH D 9 THE LIMITS OF THE GENRE

EXAM DUE: TBA


Assignments:
1)The student is expected to write a 1-2 page weekly journal due each Thursday. The journal should be the student's well-considered responses to the course material, readings, and screenings. You should feel free to structure the journal in whatever way you feel appropriate. It should, however, be more than simply a gut reaction (i.e. liked it, hated it, found it boring). You want to make some
analytic or interpretive claims about the works considered, their relevence to course issues, etc. Your journal entries will be graded on the basis of their substantiveness. The journal is also a way to conduct a conversation with the instructor about the issues of the course and is a great opportunity for students who feel uncomfortable speaking in class to share what they have on their minds.

2)The student will write two short 5 page analytic papers exploring some issue of relevence to the course material. The students will select their own topics in consultation with the instructor. The topics should grow out of the course material but need not be restricted to the writers or works we have studied. These assignments are designed to allow the student to explore on their own the range of science fiction as a genre and to develop skills at interpreting science fiction narratives.

3) The student will complete a take-home final designed to offer a comprehensive summary of the issues and works covered in the course. Do not assume that this is going to be an easy exam. Questions will be probing and will require familiarity with all of the material we have covered, including readings, screenings, and lecture notes. The student should make an effort to be up to date on all of this material before we enter the final exam period. I will pass out the exam as early in the term as possible to allow you maximum time to work on the questions.

NOTE: IT IS EXPECTED THAT ALL WORK SUBMITTED FOR A GRADE IN THIS COURSE REFLECTS THE WORK OF THE INDIVIDUAL STUDENT ALONE. STUDENTS MAY EXCHANGE DRAFTS OF PAPERS TO BE READ FOR COMMENTS FROM OTHER STUDENTS BUT ONLY AFTER BOTH STUDENTS INVOLVED HAVE COMPLETED AN ORIGINAL DRAFT OF THE PAPER. STUDENTS SHOULD CITE ANY WORKS WHICH ARE REFERENCED IN WRITING THE PAPER. PLAGIARISM OR ANY OTHER FORM OF ACADEMIC DISHONESTY SHALL BE BROUGHT TO THE ATTENTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON DISCIPLINE FOR THEIR STRICT ENFORCEMENT. ANY STUDENT WHO DOES NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND THE STANDARDS OF ACADEMIC HONESTY SHOULD SPEAK TO THE INSTRUCTOR IN ADVANCE OF SUBMITTING COURSEWORK.