In his essay "Starship Stormtroopers" Michael Moorcock claims that sci-fi is overrun with authoritarianism and fascism. Is this a fair assessment of the genre?
Here's the essay in question:
http://flag.blackened.net/liberty/moorcock.html
Pic somewhat related.
to an extent yeah the 'big three' but not all of scifi
PKD and Ursla K le guin are two major examples of left and anti-authoritarian scifi authors
No,I don't think so. Certainly for some books (like Heinlein's ouvre) but not the genre in its entirety.
I think there's this tendency in academia to be overly wary of anything that could be potentially viewed as Hilter-esque. It's like a hyper-Hitler-awareness. Fascism has been the western academic boogeyman over the last half-century; writers from within leftist frameworks seem to see it in every shadow, and stretch credibility to the breaking point to reveal the secret fascist threat that hides in plain sight.
Any time a work of fiction - sci-fi/fantasy or not - celebrates basic and often considered to be desirable ideals like individualism and honor, there's a backlash from within the academic left against the perceived fascist threat returning from the grave, as if it's impossible to write classical hero narratives without harboring secret desires to kill the Jews. It's a real sort of paranoia.
And I think irrational paranoia has been the central element contributing to America's current social climate. Fear the terrorist Muslims, fear the internet sexists, fear the Nazi Trump, fear the communist Bernie, fear the church, fear the state, fear for your way of life. The reason I sound so bitter is that academia pretends to be elevated from this, and yet contributes to the paranoia that pervades the left, only adding fuel to the fire.
I've read Iron Dream! It was a hilarious joke that quickly got boring.
Afterword with the fake life history was good tho.
>>7835331
>as if it's impossible to write classical hero narratives without harboring secret desires to kill the Jews.
The big comic bookmovie boom is nothing but classical (boring) hero narratives, and no-one's shouting Hitler
Why should I care about Moorcock's opinions? Has he ever written anything that isn't absolute dung?
>>7835194
I don't see what the problem is.
>>7835443
Moorcock wrote solid genre edgy fantasy stories but what he really wanted to do was write a "leftist" Lord of the Rings, something that would change SFF forever in his desired political direction. Unfortunately he didn't have the talent and he knew it, so he had to content himself with writing angry essays. That's what's wrong.
>>7835340
The Iron Dream either needed to be a lot shorter or Moorcock needed to put some actual thought into it.
Yea some scifi play on the illusion of freedom quite a bit and the segregation of the true techno-communism from the rest of humanity and so on
>>7835428
i liked behold the man
Maybe American scifi? I'm only eurotrash but it has been my impression that one prominent difference between scifi and fantasy is that the former is often progressive and revolutionary while the latter is often authoritarian and reactionary. Beyond the obvious being set in a pseudo future or pseudo past bit, although that can be indicative of an underlying desire to return or progress.
>>7835331
>as if it's impossible to write classical hero narratives without harboring secret desires to kill the Jews.
Learn Critical Theory
>>7835331
I feel you
>>7835848
Soz m8, even someone relatively liberal like Asimov still has p. strong authoritarian leanings. And arguably Conan is more morally/politically progressive than a lot of scifi (except the racism).
>>7835194
>Michael Moorcock
>Moorcock
middle school must've been tough for him
>>7836210
Most people or works of art aren't just one extreme or the other but the extend of his authoritarian leanings doesn't really warrant a "soz m8" to me. Especially if compared to fascists.
>>7835194
Moorcock is actually an idiot who wrote one fun novel.
Sf has had a nice amount of both traditionalists, communists, atheists, Catholics, anarchists and just about every political view is represented by a major author.
>>7835859
>Learn Critical Theory
Critical Theory is a giant circlejerk perpetuated by people who have never experienced the world outside of academia.
Stop trying to bring people into your cult.
>>7836261
LE MEME FACE
>>7835428
> bitch hasn't read "Gloriana"
> bitch has never fapped to the broad-hipped Queen of Granbretan fucking anything she can get her legs around but still can't reach orgasm until she fucks Captain Quire, who is betraying her
well, sir, the John Norman section is over there. don't touch me.
>>7836255
>Moorcock is actually an idiot who wrote one fun novel.
which one? let me guess, "Ilian of Garathorm", where the eternal champion is reincarnated as a woman? heh
>>7837468
Just the first Elric
>>7837468
>2016
>not hacking the planet
>>7837478
> 2016
> not reading sarcastic anti-hero fantasy written fifty years ago
although Elric at the End of Time was pretty funny.
>>7835340
>The big comic bookmovie boom is nothing but classical (boring) hero narratives, and no-one's shouting Hitler
That's because these comic book movies assert that the hero (and the audience) is the hero that (sometimes, literally) is punching Hitler in the face.
>>7836216
I hear that Gaiman likes Moorcock.
>http://flag.blackened.net/liberty/moorcock.html
>blackened
>Moorcock
What is the subtext lads
>>7837946
Michael Moorcock took on the unenviable task of trying to bring SF out of the ghetto of "giant rocket ships with rivets down the sides full of colonial exploiters" and into the modern era. pretty much ran New Worlds which published a lot of experimental wankery, but also a lot of weird shit that would never have seen the light of day otherwise. the sort of thing Harlan Ellison wanted to do with his Dangerous Visions books, except Moorcock actually DID it rather than keep promising he was going to.
>>7838639
But SF was not about space ships for decades before he took it upon himself.
>>7838753
Moorcock's actual problem was that SF wasn't sufficiently respected by fashionable leftist academics. The "not just rocketships" canard was the "more female protagonists" of its day.
I've only read one of his books, Phoenix In Obsidion, so hey, maybe I'm missing out on some good novels. That being said...
Phoenix In Obsidian is the worst Sci-fi, or fiction for that matter, novel I've ever read.
I only read the whole thing to see if it was ever going to get better, it doesn't.
Terrible characters, simplistic, simplistic, simplistic. The plot is completely worthless, and the book is so short it makes me wonder why he ever bothered to write it.
>>7839339
Well it still isn't, but it used to have more quality authors.
