American Science Fiction TV: Star Trek, Stargate and BeyondFrom "The Next Generation" and "The X-Files", to "Farscape" and "Enterprise", sci-fi television series in the US have multiplied since the 1980s. Jan Johnson-Smith shows how, in line with national political upheavals, this vibrant and perplexing genre set about expanding the myth of the Western frontier into deep space. She looks at the "sense of wonder" or sublime that infuses much Frontier art and science fiction, and traces a possible historical precedent to the genre in the fabulous and heroic journeys of the Classical epic. She discusses narrative styles and their influences, from the overarching narrative of "Babylon 5" to the episodic formula of "The Outer Limits", considers how experimental series such as "Twin Peaks" challenge conventional structures, and how and why sci-fi television has adopted new technologies. She also explores the juxtaposition of arcane language and technological jargon in modern American sci-fi television, revealing the extraordinarily alien, yet curiously familiar arena it creates. |
From inside the book
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Page 1
... Western genre rides into the sunset, science fiction is proving a seductive replacement. A handful of individual series have received detailed critical attention, in particular The X-Files and Star Trek in its various guises, and a ...
... Western genre rides into the sunset, science fiction is proving a seductive replacement. A handful of individual series have received detailed critical attention, in particular The X-Files and Star Trek in its various guises, and a ...
Page 5
... western frontier: aspects of these are examined here briefly as context and precursors to preoccupations prevalent in sf television narratives. Science fiction and the 'final frontier' of space offer an alternative progression to a ...
... western frontier: aspects of these are examined here briefly as context and precursors to preoccupations prevalent in sf television narratives. Science fiction and the 'final frontier' of space offer an alternative progression to a ...
Page 10
... Western. There is a clear fascination with those staples of sf: time travel, wormholes and parallel universes, subjects that predominate in the longer sf stories reaching our screen and new means of creating sfx and cgi allow them to be ...
... Western. There is a clear fascination with those staples of sf: time travel, wormholes and parallel universes, subjects that predominate in the longer sf stories reaching our screen and new means of creating sfx and cgi allow them to be ...
Page 16
... Western need not contain beleaguered pioneers in wagon trains, Apaches and the Seventh Cavalry, gunfighters and ... Westerns. Equally, a science fiction story need not be set in the future as Dark Skies (1996–1997) demonstrates, nor must ...
... Western need not contain beleaguered pioneers in wagon trains, Apaches and the Seventh Cavalry, gunfighters and ... Westerns. Equally, a science fiction story need not be set in the future as Dark Skies (1996–1997) demonstrates, nor must ...
Page 19
... Western and a science fiction text, demonstrating the communality between apparently disparate genres and removing a huge obstacle to progress within genre theory. CREATING WORLDS A more practical approach is to simply ask what it is ...
... Western and a science fiction text, demonstrating the communality between apparently disparate genres and removing a huge obstacle to progress within genre theory. CREATING WORLDS A more practical approach is to simply ask what it is ...
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Common terms and phrases
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