Daniel Collins: "Fantasia in F minor: A Solution to the SF/F Genre Debate"

Fantasia in F minor:

A Solution to the SF/F Genre Debate

By Daniel Collins

            The concept of a fantasia, as applied to music, dates back to the 16^th Century, when it was used to describe a particularly imaginative musical idea. Over time, the term began to be applied to musical compositions which often had their roots in improvisation and were therefore more free and expressive in nature. From the Baroque Era onwards, this genre, which was not bound by the same formal considerations as many of its counterparts, met with great success at the hands of such composers as Bach, Mozart, Schubert, and Vaughan Williams. In literature, the notion of fantasy predates its appearance in music, dating back at least until the ancient Greeks. Yet fantasy, despite its long and distinguished history, is more often than not shelved under the derisive label of speculative fiction, along with its bastard brother, science fiction. Together, these two genres succeed in catching the majority of the writing which is not classified as “real literature.” Between them, though, there exists some ambiguity as to what constitutes one over the other. Though the classification can be, and often is, clear cut, there do exists some works which defy genre categorization, and this inevitably leads to debate about their efficacy if the first place. A solution to this problem is to conclude that, at their cores, these two genres are not that dissimilar: science fiction is, in fact, just an offshoot of fantasy which adheres to a different set of rules.

            In order to appreciating the relationship between science fiction and fantasy, one must consider their respective definitions. In his essay “Toward a Definition of Science Fiction,” James Gunn offers a fascinating appraisal of speculative fiction: “What my definition [of science fiction] suggested was that fantasy and science fiction belong to the same general category of fiction – that is, the fictional world represented is not the world of the here and now or even the there and then but the fantastic world of unfamiliar events or developments.” This perspective is intriguing in that it considers science fiction and fantasy to be members of the same family. In fact, he even goes so far as to describe speculative fiction in general as being “fantastic” in nature. When this is considered along with Philip Martin’s essay “Fantasy and Belief,” the details of science fiction’s connection to fantasy begin to fall into place. Martin observes that, “In fantasy, wonder and wishes overcome knowledge and explanation. Belief rules over science…. Magic as a force replaces the natural laws of science.” Hence, science fiction is really just a type of fantasy in which the governing system of magic just happens to be.

Figure 1. Stephen Colbert having his mind blown by the awesome realization that fantasy and science fiction are really the same thing. From http://media1.giphy.com/media/gLRDi5KnA3Fte/giphy.gif.

This conclusion is further supported by the third of Arthur C. Clarke’s Three Laws: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Clarke, an acclaimed writer of science fiction, obviously considers science and magic to be related to one another and interchangeable after a certain point. Thus, depending on your perspective, any fantastic world could be considered the product of a science too advanced to comprehend, or any science fictional world could really be built on magic which we, as humans, have come to understand.

Figure 2. Jon Stewart is taken aback by the brilliance of my argument. From http://media.giphy.com/media/E2pW8wzN83Jy8/giphy.gif.

            Now the question becomes how these two branches of the same tree become so disparate from one another. To get a taste of the animosity present between these two factions, look no further than a statement made by Madeleine L’Engle, which Martin quoted in his essay: “The world of fairy tale, fantasy, myth, is inimical to the secular world, and in total opposition to it, for it is interested not in limited laboratory proofs, but in truth.” What L’Engle fails to recognize here is that fantasy and science fiction are not at odds with one another, they are simply approaching the same issues from different angles. The “truth” for which fantasy is questing by means of belief is the same which science fiction is considering rationally. Indeed both genres are really united in their desire to question humanity and its place in the universe, and it is that which makes them neither fantasy nor science fiction, but speculative fiction.

Figure 3. Stephen Colbert celebrating the Reunification of Science Fiction and Fantasy. From http://giphy.com/gifs/funny-gif-reaction-tv-ByrnnQjftThnO.