Mary Cody: "What defines a genre?"

What defines a genre?

By

Mary Cody

When dealing with genre fiction, there are two genres which often go together, whether it’s shown by the placement of these genres next to each other in bookstores or by the readers and authors sometimes dabbling in both. These genres are science fiction and fantasy. The similarities of these two genres often lead to some questioning of what exactly divides them. When you compare them, there really isn’t a whole lot of difference between their structures. The major differences lay in how the ideas are developed and the fans’ response to the genres.

For both science fiction and fantasy, world building is an important aspect to creating a story. In both genres, the limitations of these worlds are defined by human imagination. Any idea is acceptable, as long as it can be integrated. The differences in the worlds arise when you examine how the ideas are developed and explained. Science fiction attempts to develop and explain the world through science (what a shocker), while fantasy establishes a magic system based on logic. In both cases, the world is established through a logic based system. This is cause for much similarity between the worlds. It is similar to what Thor said, “Your ancestors called it magic, but you call it science. I come from a land where they are one and the same.” Magic and science are seen as different because we can explain science but not magic. This leads to differences arising when you ask why things happen. In fantasy, the author often shrugs of the explanation with an “I don’t know. Magic!” (waves hands about) response. Even if they detail the rules of using magic, such as was done in The Inheritance Cycle, the specific cause is never explained. To a degree, science fiction also shrugs off the explanation. It never explains things in as much depth as a text book might, but it still gives some form of explanation, even if it contains a rather large amount of phlebotinum or is based on pseudoscience. The big difference in fantasy and science fiction worlds arise as the different types of systems on which the worlds are based is put into effect and the worlds evolve. This often leads to a very futuristic science fiction world and an older fantasy world.

Have you ever noticed how people tend to set themselves in boxes? If you have ever dived into the depths of tumblr or explored any fandom too deeply, you will probably have noticed that these fandoms are boxes of their own. In the case of these fandoms, that box comes from a rather strong sense of individuality and importance surrounding their source of pleasure. This sense of self importance can even be seen in the works of authors, such as David Hartwell’s The Golden Age of Science Fiction is 12, where science fiction readers are described as almost being better than none science fiction readers. In its own way, this sense of self as a fandom is what divides science fiction and fantasy. Because the people who read science fiction and fantasy have such a strong identification with their respective reading material, they often prevent the two from mixing. Some people will read Tolkien and discuss it in such depth that they can detail the Elven politics in Elvish or even be able to identify when Missandei is not actually saying what the subtitles say when she is translating for Daenerys, but they will never touch science fiction. Similarly, there are many people who know Klingon and take part in the science fiction subculture, such as the characters in The Big Bang Theory, but they never really explore the fantasy world too deeply. This division in the fan base is also a large cause for the division of science fiction and fantasy.

In the world of science fiction and fantasy, there are two major dividing factors between the genres. One of these factors is the basis for which the worlds are built, with fantasy not really offering an explanation for why things work while science fiction creates their own explanation. The second factor is the mindset of the fans of both genres. Because people view science fiction and fantasy as two different genres, they are two different genres. Even though they are relatively similar, there is a relatively thin divide between science fiction and fantasy.