Science Fiction, Canonization, Marginalization, and the Academy

Science fiction occupies a peculiar place in the academic study of literature. For decades, scholars have looked at science fiction with disdain and have criticized it for being inferior to other types of literature. But despite the sentiments of these traditionalists, many works of science fiction engage recognized canonical texts, such as the Odyssey, and many traditionally canonical works contain elements of science fiction. More recently, the canon has been subject to revision, as scholars have deliberately sought to include works that reflect diversity and have participated in the serious study of popular culture. But these attempts to create a more inclusive canon have nonetheless continued to marginalize science fiction. This book examines the treatment of science fiction within the academy.

The expert contributors to this volume explore a wide range of topics related to the place of science fiction in literary studies. These include academic attitudes toward science fiction, the role of journals and cultural gatekeepers in canon formation, and the marginalization of specific works and authors by literary critics. In addition, the volume gives special attention to multicultural and feminist concerns. In discussing these topics, the book sheds considerable light on much broader issues related to the politics of literary studies and academic inquiry.

Introduction by Gary Westfahl
Overviews: Science Fiction and the Academy
Literary Gatekeepers and the Fabril Tradition by Tom Shippey
Seven Types of Chopped Liver: My Adventures in the Genre Wars by Frank McConnell
The Things Women Don't Say by Susan Kray
Why the Academy Is Afraid of Dragons: The Suppression of the Marvelous in Theories of the Fantastic by Jonathan Langford
Mechanisms of Canonization
The Arthur C. Clarke Award and Its Reception in Britain by Edward James
Popes or Tropes: Defining the Grails of Science Fiction by Joseph D. Miller
Science Fiction Eye and the Rebellion Against Recursion by Stephen P. Brown
Authority, Canons, and Scholarship: The Role of Academic Journals by Arthur B. Evans
Case Studies in Marginalization
Multiculturalism and the Cultural Dynamics of Classic American Science Fiction by George Slusser
Science Fiction in the Academies of History and Literature; Or, History and the Use of Science Fiction by Farah Mendlesohn
(E)raced Visions: Women of Color and Science Fiction in the United States by Elyce Rae Helford
Hard Magic, Soft Science: The Marginalization of Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason's Assemblers of Infinity and Bruce Boston's Stained Glass Rain by Howard V. Hendrix
White Men Can't. :(De)centering Authority and Jacking into Phallic Economies in William Gibson's Count Zero by Joseph Childers, Townsend Carr, and Regna Meenk