Science Fiction - An Escape From Reality

When I first came into this course I considered myself a fantasy novel writer, mainly because my understanding of science fiction was that it had to do mainly with science jargon and and scientific discovery plots, but as the course went on, I learned that science fiction is so much more than that. I learned that science fiction as a speculative genre, not only encompasses themes of science, but also technology, futuristic technology, futuristic worlds, space, extraterrestrials, and there are different levels of science fiction, soft, hard and cyberpunk.

Science fiction is a genre that allows readers to explore different ideas of future, technological advancements and create an escape from reality. It imagines the future while also critiquing the present (Lecture 1: What is Science Fiction & What does it do?). Science fiction gives people the power to create a new reality, one that may be a utopia, a paradise, a techno city or a supernatural fantasy world. Science fiction stories, such as The Time Machine, allows readers to imagine a future that is divided and possibly warn readers of the impact of societal class divide and the consequences of class segregation. As a writer, I feel that it is more palatable for readers to engage with a story that explores the mistreatment of another worldly entity by humans, while using those characters as an analogy for real life society. Readers may be able to relate to the protagonist better simply because their existence, story or species may be made up, but once they understand the parallels between the fictional character and reality, it may be easier for them to notice the present issues in real society and sympathize with the communities being affected. At the least allowing them to see real world issues through a fantastical perspective that reigns true in reality. The responsibility of a creator in general, is to create a respectful piece that allows all people to engage with it. It should be mindful of any stereotypes or unsavory social binaries that it might be perpetuating. As a writer, specifically a black female writer, I feel that it is important for me to include in my book stories that stay true to my experience as a person of colour and a woman, without perpetuating any harmful stereotypes that have been normalized throughout history. It is important as creators to understand the era we are living in and the audience we intend to reach with our work. 

The power of speculation allows the writer to send the reader into a new world that either shows them a utopia of what could be or warns them of a dystopia that is evolving, while making them aware of present issues that may aid to bring this dystopia about. I enjoyed exploring Indigenous science fiction, because it showed me another way to write, science fiction does not always have to centre eurocentric ideas, or even be heavily based in technological advancements and scientific discoveries. Sometimes it can just be a story that shows an alternative scenario for a certain community, when reading Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time: An LGBT and two-spirit sci-fi anthology, I realized that many of the stories had the supernatural, alien, science fiction element as a background plot, the real story was meant to convey a world that showed what it might be like had the colonizers not come and committed mass genocide against their people. It also uplifted and highlighted Indigenous lore that is not widely known due to cultural genocide. I like to imagine this with my work too, though my literary world is more of fantasy realism, a realistic setting with fantastical elements such as supernatural beings or magic, I imagine what it would be like if black people had not encountered colonizers, if there was never any segregation or disparities between other races or classes at all, a world where everyone had an equal opportunity to be powerful and magical. Putting race to the side, I allow my fantasy world to imagine what it would be like if the world was sustainable, with compassionate patrons, who instead of taking from the earth, collaborated with it instead to form a fully functioning society and environment that had no greed, criminals, and overall less pain. Not a perfect utopia, but a better idea of how the world could work if certain people in history had chosen differently. Overall, science fiction can open our eyes to new worlds, to some it may leave a longing that we may never achieve such amazing things, but to others it may serve as a beacon of hope for better times. 

When I first started this course I thought science fiction was boring, though I eagerly wanted to learn more about it and understand the genre better. I thought science fiction had to be heavy with scientific analogies and technology, while some are like this, it is not the basis for all. I learned that science fiction is more than just a speculative genre, but also a reflective genre. It allows readers to look into the future and hope for a better world, or critique the past and present. I also came to the conclusion that my book is soft science fiction, while the plot does not center around the intricacies of technological or scientific advancements, I introduce extraterrestrial beings and the main characters are all supernatural beings going through an identity crisis’ as they discover their purpose and rediscover their humanity. Though science fiction can convey stories far from feasible possibilities, it is an escape from reality, we imagine the world in a better way, with magic, robots and aliens, scenarios that may never happen, but keep us hopeful anyway.