Weeks 7 and 8
Science fiction - PKD
1) What is the difference in emphasis between the terms science fiction and speculative fiction? Which is The Man in the High Castle?
2) According to Mountfort (2006), what role does the I Ching have as an organisational device in the structure of Man in the High Castle? How does the use of this device illuminate the character of the novel’s protagonists?
3What does Brown (2001) identify as the central themes and concerns of the novel? What elements conform to the wider generic features of science fiction?
4) What does Dick(1995) himself theorise about the I Ching?
5) A Scanner Darkly is not really Science Fiction but a thinly disguised autobiography.
A Scanner Darkly is true Science Fiction in that it takes a trend in society, in this case surveillance, and takes it to its logical extreme.
Comment on these two different views with reference to the film and/or the novel and what you can discover about the author's life.
Although speculative fiction and science fiction are similar, there are subtle differences that separate the two. According to Your Dictionary Online (2017), science fiction can include real scientific phenomenons, speculative scientific discoveries, changes in the environment, aliens and space exploration. Speculative fiction takes away their readers completely from reality and puts them in a world where anything can happen (Hunter, 2013). Another way to understand what speculative fiction is is to break down the term and define the word “speculative”. The definition of speculative is “based on conjecture rather than knowledge” (English Oxford Living Dictionaries online, 2017). This gives the impression that speculative fiction is entirely theoretical and made up. It emphasises on speculation. Science fiction does have speculation in it, such as the fact that aliens could exist, or the technology such as a laser weapons could be possible and exist in the future, however it is not the dominant element of the genre.
ReplyDeleteThe Man in the High Castle is speculative fiction. This is Phillip K. Dick’s own interpretation of what the post World War II world would look like if Nazi Germany had won and there is no facts to suggest that the I Ching would exist. The book “Grasshopper Lies Heavy” which is a book in their reality about what it may look like if the allies won the war is a speculative fiction novel in their world. Their version of how the allies won against axis did not happen in our reality such as the Pearl Harbour tragedy that happened did not occur in the novel’s own book. Man in the High Castle has more emphasis on speculation rather than science compared to other science fiction literature.
References
English Oxford Living Dictionaries online. (2017). Retrieved from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/speculative
Hunter, J. M. (2013). Mormons and popular culture: The global influence of an American phenomenon. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
Your Dictionary online. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.yourdictionary.com/science-fiction#websters
Dick (1995) theorises that the I Ching explores the idea of a shared world. Shows commentary on energy in current situation, says it is analytical and diagnostic over fortune telling, but compares it to a medical exam – an experienced doctor can interpret the results and give guidance. He also explores the idea that the I Ching can show us the configuration of the koinos kosmos (our shared world), so users can decide how they should react.
ReplyDeleteThis is how Dick used the I Ching in The Man in the High Castle – consulting the I Ching on behalf of his characters so they choose which action to take next to drive the narrative (Mountfort, 2006), for example, near the end of the novel after Juliana Frink left Joe bleeding to death in the hotel room, she asks the I Ching to tell her what to do. The I Ching produces the Hexagram 42, which leads her to proceed to Abendsen’s High Castle.
Dick (1995) also talks about how the I Ching reflects the idea that our koinos kosmos is synchronized and timeless, reflected in the novel by the entwining of the characters lives, although they never meet – for example, Mr. Tagomi desperately holding onto one of Frank Frink’s new world artistic pins, almost as a talisman, as he wanders through the city park before his return to work.
I like how Dick is firm in his belief that users of the I Ching should only do so sparingly, and to not let the book dictate your life – to do so would be living in static time, as the book only commentates on the present. The user has to look forward and make the most of their situation (1995). Frank Frink seems to move from one who’s life is dictated and fully engrossed in the I Ching and it’s readings, to the moment he decides to take a leap of faith to pursue his business opportunity making “new world” trinkets.
Dick (1995) is very honest about his use of the I Ching, and how he thinks he should rely on it less. It makes me wonder if he projected much of himself into Frink’s character… would be interested to hear your thoughts!
Dick, P.K. (1962) The Man in the High Castle. London: Penguin.
Dick, P.K. (1995). Schizophrenia and the I Ching. In Sutin, L. (ED.), The Shifting Realities of Philip K Dick (pp. 175 – 182). New York: Vintage.
Mountfort, P. (2006). Oracle-text/Cybertext in Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. Conference Paper, Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association annual joint conference, Atlanta, 2006.
1) What is the difference in emphasis between the terms science fiction and speculative fiction? Which is The Man in the High Castle?
ReplyDeleteSpeculative Fiction - Speculative fiction refers to elements, characters and settings which are created from the imagination, rather than being based on reality. Stories in the speculative fiction genre, include elements that are beyond the reality of real life and our world, and thus, may include themes of fantasy and magic, (Brown, 2001). The speculative genre also includes philosophical, historical and psychological features and elements. Arguably then, speculative fiction is an umbrella term, in which many other genres, such as fantasy, fall under.
Science fiction - Science fiction is more primarily concerned with including scientific features, based on made up story lines that include a lot of scientific referencing. Science fiction stories often depict adventures in space, and can include futuristic cities, alternative dimensions, and often include paranormal activities and behaviours such as aliens or robots. The theme of artificial intelligence is almost always prevalent.
Although while both definitions are seemingly, incredibly similar to one another, the underlying difference, as suggested by Brown, is that, speculative fiction makes the audience ask the question of “What if?,” whereas science fiction focuses more on telling the story as it is occurring in the present, (2001).
The story of the ‘The Man In The High Castle,’ I would then argue falls under both categories of science fiction and speculative fiction. Notable however, that I would lean more towards speculative fiction, with themes or possibly the sub-genre of science fiction included into the plot.
Firstly, it is a speculative work of fiction, as the story takes place in the real world, and is based on real life, alternative historical events of WWII, which are different to real life. The story presents to the audience a world where America and Britain, along with its allies lost the war. As a result, Japan and Germany now occupy American land, with only the middle of the states being free from control. In doing so, Dick is making the audience question, ‘what if,’ and speculating what would have happened if the plot of the story happened in real life.
Within the book however, Dick introduces a novel within the plot of the book, called ‘The Grasshopper Lies Heavy,’ by Hawthorn Abensden. The novel shows an alternative universe where the Axis lost to the allies. This is where the science fiction genre comes into play, as it takes the reader into an alternative universe, of what the world would have been, if the events of the book had a different outcome. Dick, describes it as, “the world presented here is but an illusion so that other better world’s might exist.” (p.5, 2001).
To conclude, I think white the book is mostly speculative, however there is no denying that Dick crosses paths, especially within the story of the grasshopper, and includes science fiction themes into the mix as well.
Reference:
Brown, E. (2001). Introduction. In Dick, P.K., The Man in the High Castle (p.v-xii). London: Penguin.
Dick, P.K. (2001; 1962). The Man in the High Castle. London: Penguin.