Herbert George Wells

Howard Phillips Lovecraft

Isaac Asimov

a cura di M. Barbero e C. Gelli
 
 Five stories written by some of the most famous science-fiction authors: H.G. Wells - the English father of this genre - with a story of a crystal egg which enables the owner of a curiosity shop to see the Martians; H.P. Lovecraft with the Cthulhu literary mythology; A. Porges who writes a story in which humanity is freed from space invaders by man's traditional enemy: the devil; A.C. Clarke with Sentinel of Eternity, from which S. Kubrick's film "2001: A Space Odyssey" drew inspiration; I. Asimov with a tale in which a space war is won by means of a not very orthodox strategy…
 A presentation on the history and themes of science-fiction introduces the book; stimulating inserts enrich each story. 
 
 Teacher's Resources available online: Answer Key - Audioscripts - Summing-up Activities.
 
 Cinque racconti di alcuni dei più famosi autori di fantascienza: il capostipite H. G. Wells con un racconto su un uovo di cristallo da cui si vedono i marziani; H. P. Lovecraft con la mitologia letteraria Cthulhu; A. E. Van Vogt si inserisce nel filone dell'alieno mostruoso e ostile; A. Porges racconta dell'umanità che viene liberata dagli invasori grazie al diavolo; A. C. Clarke con The Sentinel, da cui fu tratto il film di S. Kubrick "2001: Odissea nello spazio"; I. Asimov con una guerra stellare vinta con una strategia non proprio ortodossa…

Introduction:

What is Science Fiction?

History of Science Fiction?

Main Themes and Characters

Popularity of Sci-Fi in Films or TV Series

H.G. Wells

Story 1 – The Crystal Egg

Extension: Is there life on Mars?

H.P. Lovecraft

Story 2 – The Call of Cthulhu

Extension: Excuse me, Cthulhu who?

A. Porges

Story 3 – The Liberator

Extension: A deal with the Devil

A.C. Clarke

Story 4 – Sentinel of Eternity

Extension: 2001: A Space Odyssey

I. Asimov

Story 5 – The Machine That Won the War

Extension: Technology at risk or the risks of technology?

Summing-up activities

Glossary

After World War II, the British tradition of scientific romance was almost coming to an end. Its pessimistic tone, intensified by Hiroshima, culminated in George Orwell s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), a novel about a humanity controlled by an ever-present Big Brother. The most successful of the British postwar writers of science fiction, Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), was strongly influenced by the American optimistic tradition. In the USA, the popularity of science fiction increased with the publication of paperbacks6 and there was a change from the shortstory form towards the novel, and then towards the novel series. The most important American writers in the 1950s and early 1960s were: Ray Bradbury with The Martian Chronicles (1950) and Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and Robert Silverberg with Revolt on Alpha C (1955). Science fiction changed around 1960. There were more writers and readers, the subject matter was wider, the language and technique were more sophisticated. Modern science fiction increasingly explored failures, limits, ends, and final things. In 1971, A Clockwork Orange, a 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess set in a dystopian7 future England, became a famous film by Stanley Kubrick. Frank Herbert s Dune (1965) was a detailed work of fiction about political intrigue8 in a future galaxy, strange and mystical religious beliefs, and the eco-system of the desert planet Arrakis. Other important modern sci-fi writers were Kurt Vonnegut with Slaughterhouse-5 (1969) and Philip Dick, whose works include The Man in the High Castle (1962) and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968). By the early 1980s, as new personal computing technologies became an integral part of society, science fiction writers developed Cyberpunk fiction. These two elements, cyber and punk, suggest an artificial human with old and used clothes and spiky9 hair. This fiction, expressing the feeling that man is dominated by machines in a technological world, depicts10 a society alienated from nature. Cyberpunk authors like William Gibson turned away from traditional optimism and support for progress. Gibson s Neuromancer (1984) announced the cyberpunk movement to the literary world. Today, classifying the genre is more difficult than before. Some novelists have begun to use elements of science-fiction in their work. This reflects a considerable evolution from the days when it was virtually an esoteric literary cult. Its metaphors are used throughout contemporary culture and have become familiar to everyone. 8. intrigue: secret plan. 9. spiky: straight on your head. 10. depicts: describes, portrays. 6. paperbacks: cheap books with a cover made of thin paper. 7. dystopian: see note 11. 6 

MAIN THEMES AND CHARACTERS Science fiction themes are many and varied. They range from cosmology and possible futures, such as the creation of the universe, ecology, parallel worlds or universes, the ultimate fate of the universe, alien invasions, apocalypses or world-wide disasters, post-apocalyptic life and the new societies that develop after such an event. Other themes are based on military strategy and weapons, ray guns and space wars, or about the role of technology, with an optimistic or pessimistic point of view. Science fiction also deals with other important topics: mind reading and mind control, political structures, such as galactic empires or interstellar federations of planets, utopias (outopias or dystopias11 and eutopias12), totalitarianism vs. libertarianism, colonization of other planets, moons, asteroids, etc., space exploration and faster-than-light travel and communications. Sci-fi stories are often populated by non-human intelligences: androids and gynoids, cyborgs, robots and humanoids, clones, extraterrestrial life, super-humans and mutants. Xenophobia or nonxenophobia are themes which are expressed through the attitudes of humans towards alien life forms. Some contrasting character archetypes are the absent-minded13 professor, the scientist or the mad scientist, the brave astronaut but even ordinary people. POPULARITY OF SCI-FI IN FILMS OR TV SERIES Science fiction films were immensely popular in the 1950s and the 1960s. They made a lot of money and audiences crowded the cinemas and asked for more. UFO sightings, reports of flying saucers14 or strange visitors from outer space became Hollywood commonplaces, such as in Howard Hawks s science-fiction film The Thing from Another World (1951). Many sci-fi films of the 1950s represented the human race as victimized and in the hands of mysterious, hostile, and unfriendly forces. The War of the Worlds (1953), the greatest alien invasion movie, is a famous example. Cold War politics contributed to suspicion, anxiety and paranoia of anything  other  or  unAmerican , and the extraterrestrial invaders were a metaphor for the Communist threat15. 11. outopia, dystopia: negative utopia, i.e. a dreadful society. 12. eutopia: positive utopia, i.e. good, almost perfect society. 13. absent-minded: tending to forget things. 14. flying saucer: 15. threat: menace, danger. 7 

Narrativa inglese, livello B1 pre-intermedio. Cinque racconti di alcuni dei più famosi autori di fantascienza.

Tales from Outer Space - Collana RAINBOWS

Level B1 • Pre-Intermediate - Collana RAINBOWS

Tales from Outer Space

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