In other words, science fiction, as Lem implies, actualizes literary metaphors. Joanna Russ applies this attitude implicitly in 'Toward an Aesthetic of Science Fiction,' insofar as she recognizes that much of what science fiction deals with as didactic realism is treated as metaphor by the large traditional body of modern literature. 2 She argues that fantasy fiction is successful or unsuccessful directly as a result of the effectiveness of the writer's use of a particular style of prose, and that it is this use of style which identifies fantasy fiction and differentiates it from other forms of imaginative writing. Le Guin in her speech to the 1972 Science Fiction Writers' Workshop, published as From Elfland to Poughkeepsie. A stylistic analysis of Delany's fiction does assist the reader in understanding the larger fictive concerns at work in his novels.Īn early argument for the significance of style as a determinant of genre was offered by Ursula K. Whether or not they are universally applicable, these recent linguistic definitions do help shed light on one of the field's most enigmatic and controversial writers, Samuel R. Within the last few years, there have been additions to the anthology of science-fiction definitions which are not rooted in archetypes, themes, or emotional responses, but in the way language is used in science fiction. Roger Zelazny has said that whenever he hears a reasonable definition for science fiction, he writes a science fiction story violating that definition. Yet all these definitions are acknowledged as either too vague or too restrictive. Others stress the 'sense of wonder' generated by science fiction. Some definitions rely upon the unique themes and motifs of science fiction, such as rockets, alien creatures, and wars between the galaxies.

Most of these definitions rely upon science fiction's unique concern with the future, as predictive or utopian/dystopian.

Almost every writer has, at one time or another, tried to define science fiction. One of the longest critical struggles in science fiction has been the attempt to define and identify just what it is. Alterman The Surreal Translations of Samuel R.

Nova by samuel delany