Space and Beyond: The Frontier Theme in Science Fiction

Although the exploration of space has long preoccupied authors and filmmakers, the development of an actual space program, discoveries about the true nature of space, and critical reconsiderations of America's frontier experiences have challenged and complicated conventional portrayals of humans in space. This volume reexamines the themes of space and the frontier in science fiction in light of recent scientific and literary developments. From this new perspective, we discern previously unnoticed commentaries from older authors, while newer writers either remain within a reassuring but obsolete tradition, venture into unexplored new realities, or abandon space to focus on other frontiers. The intriguing contributions to this volume include a previously unpublished interview with Arthur C. Clarke, the world's greatest living author of science fiction; examinations of space opera by veteran author Jack Williamson and scholar David Pringle; surveys of space in science fiction film, and writer and producer Michael Cassutt's account of his efforts to launch a film based on a Clifford D. Simak novel; and speculations about future developments from noted writers Gregory Benford, Jack Dann, James Gunn, and Howard V. Hendrix.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Frontiers Old and New by Gary Westfahl The Challenge of Space Space vs. Time by Jack Williamson Big Dumb Objects and Cosmic Enigmas: The Love Affair between Space Fiction and the Transcendental by Peter Nicholls Flying to the Moon in French and American Science Fiction by Danièle Chatelain and George Slusser What Is This Thing Called Space Opera? by David Pringle On The Final Frontier by Jack Williamson The Cinema of Space The True Frontier: Confronting and Avoiding the Realities of Space in American Science Fiction Films by Gary Westfahl The Art of Technology: Contours of Space in the Science Fiction Film by Ira Konigsberg Space for Resistance: The Disruption of the American Frontier Myth in 1950s Science Fiction Films by Susan A. George Way Station--The Motion Picture: A Possibly Premature Progress Report by Michael Cassutt The Pioneers of Space Flight of Passage: Space Travel as the Metaphoric Crossing of the Threshold by Jeffrey M. Wallman Take Me to Your Leader: A New Future for First Contact Stories by Patrice Caldwell Space and the Frontier in Leslie F. Stone's "The Fall of Mercury" by Batya Weinbaum Space Opera without the Space: The Culture Novels of Iain M. Banks by William H. Hardesty Re-Mythologizing Outer Space with C. S. Lewis and Cordwainer Smith by Robert Gorsch Painwise in Space: The Psychology of Isolation in Cordwainer Smith and James P. Tiptree, Jr. by Alan C. Elms Other Frontiers Social Science in Space and Time by Clyde Wilcox Space, Future War, and the Frontier in American Nuclear Apocalypse Narrative by Patrick B. Sharp Men and Women in Separate Spaces by Lynn F. Williams Cyberspace: The Moral Dimension by Janeen Webb New Worlds for Old by Donald M. Hassler Singularities: Perspectives on Space Comments on Space and Time by Gregory Benford, Jack Dann and Janeen Webb, James Gunn, and Howard V. Hendrix Sir Arthur C. Clarke: A Telephone Conversation with Eric S. Rabkin and Questions from Paul A. Carter, Gary Kern, Frank McConnell, Daryl F. Mallett, Melissa Mannion, Joseph D. Miller, and Gary Westfahl Index

About the Author :
Gary Westfahl is adjunct professor at the University of La Verne, CA. His previous books include No Cure for the Future (2002), Unearthly Visions (2002), Worlds Enough and Time (2002), Science Fiction, Canonization, Marginalization, and the Academy (2002), Science Fiction, Children's Literature, and Popular Culture (2000), Space and Beyond (2000), and Cosmic Engineers (1996), all available from Greenwood Press.

Review :
?Though wide ranging in perspectives on space and frontiers, Space and Beyond is an archive of often interesting and entertaining reading.?-SFRA Review "Though wide ranging in perspectives on space and frontiers, Space and Beyond is an archive of often interesting and entertaining reading."-SFRA Review