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In discussion of science fiction, a Big Dumb Object (BDO) is any mysterious object, usually of extraterrestrial or unknown origin and immense power, in a story which generates an intense sense of wonder by its mere existence. To a certain extent, the term deliberately deflates the intended grandeur of the mysterious object.
Novum (Latin for new thing) is a term used by science fiction scholar Darko Suvin and others to describe the scientifically plausible innovations used by science fiction narratives. [ 1 ] Frequently used science fictional nova include aliens , time travel , the technological singularity , artificial intelligence , and psychic powers.
American science fiction author and editor Lester del Rey wrote, "Even the devoted aficionado or fan—has a hard time trying to explain what science fiction is," and the lack of a "full satisfactory definition" is because "there are no easily delineated limits to science fiction." [3] Another definition comes from The Literature Book by DK and ...
The Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction contains approximately 1800 entries at launch, [2] identifying the literature in which the term first appeared and subsequent uses of the term over time. [7] [3] The entries include terms used over three centuries. For example, the first recorded use of teleport is an 1878 mention in The Times of ...
Terraforming is well represented in contemporary literature, usually in the form of science fiction, as well as in popular culture. [1] [2] While many stories involving interstellar travel feature planets already suited to habitation by humans and supporting their own indigenous life, some authors prefer to address the unlikeliness of such a concept by instead detailing the means by which ...
"A science fiction story is a story built around human beings, with a human problem, and a human solution, which would not have happened at all without its scientific content." [13] Basil Davenport. 1955. "Science fiction is fiction based upon some imagined development of science, or upon the extrapolation of a tendency in society." [14] Edmund ...
The encyclopedic novel is a genre of complex literary fiction which incorporates elements across a wide range of scientific, academic, and literary subjects. The concept was coined by Edward Mendelson in criticism of Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, defined as an encyclopedia-like attempt to "render the full range of knowledge and beliefs of a national culture, while identifying the ...
Experimental literature is a genre of literature that is generally "difficult to define with any sort of precision." [1] It experiments with the conventions of literature, including boundaries of genres and styles; for example, it can be written in the form of prose narratives or poetry, but the text may be set on the page in differing configurations than that of normal prose paragraphs or in ...