Speculative Fiction is an umbrella genre for stories that are other-worldly. For example, fantasy, science-fiction, dystopian fiction, paranormal fantasy and more. I think it would be interesting to discuss the genre as a whole, in terms of story dynamics. A lot of speculative fiction has one foot in reality and another in a fantasy-like setting. Often speculative fiction has a lot to tell us about our reality, whether this is reflecting our reality or subverting reality to reveal new truths about the world. It would be great to look at the varying degrees to which this occurs in speculative fiction.
Good topic! The author might want to consider the main elements of speculative fiction, and discuss and give examples. You bring up the mesh of reality and fantasy, so there's a good start. I personally think the best example of speculative fiction is Black Mirror. Maybe the author could even use Black Mirror as the article focus, then break down how it is, in fact, speculative fiction from there. – Christina Legler7 years ago
An interesting topic: another contentious element of speculative fiction is its exact definition. I briefly remember Margaret Atwood and Ursula K. Le Guin (very respectfully) contesting each other's definitions of speculative fiction, and what they considered science fiction and by extension fantasy. The lines are blurry and constantly redrawn, so perhaps that is something you might want to address. – Matchbox7 years ago
In short, what Le Guin means by “science fiction” is what I mean by
“speculative fiction,” and what she means by “fantasy” would include some
of what I mean by “science fiction.” So that clears all up, more or less. When it comes to genres, the borders are increasingly undefined, and things slip
back and forth across them with insouciance." This is the exact quote. You might want to investigate further. – Matchbox7 years ago
Looking forward to reading an article about this. – Stephanie M.7 years ago
Sounds like a great topic - I would consider the differences between speculative genre and other genres.We use the realist genre to reflect our reality in a 'believable' way. However, speculative fiction can often offer a depth to this reflection that simply isn't possible in realism; speculative fiction is valuable in its capacity to reveal truths about society in 'unbelievable' scenarios. – louisemiolin7 years ago
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