Is there a term to describe fiction about the space race and planetary colonization?

December 2, 2007 9:29 AM

Is there a single term to describe fiction stories that are focused on the space race and planetary colonization?

I'm thinking mostly along the lines of movies/books like "Gattaca" and "Starship Troopers," where the planet Earth (or a very, very similar planet in terms of appearance and human culture) is still a major setting but interplanetary travel is a routine thing, main characters have an obsession with rockets and leaving Earth, etc. Even "Alien" and the "System Shock" games could fall under this category by the first criteria, I suppose.

Suggestions for other media are cool but mainly I'm looking for a catchy term to describe it all, like "cyberpunk" or "steampunk" or "dystopian" or something.

"Spacepunk" perhaps?

Thanks

posted by Ziggy Zaga to writing & language (9 comments total)

Starship Troopers is Space Opera. Gattaca is Biopunk.
posted by Jairus at 9:36 AM on December 2, 2007

Hard SF?
posted by TheophileEscargot at 9:48 AM on December 2, 2007

"Offworld travel-capable setting"? No, I don't think there's a real/believable term for those.
posted by hjo3 at 9:55 AM on December 2, 2007

Diasporic
Exodus
posted by Mr_Crazyhorse at 10:30 AM on December 2, 2007

I think I know what you're talking about, but as hjo3 says, that's just setting the work in an "offworld travel-capable" milieu. It doesn't rise to the level of being a sub-genre unto itself, I don't think, without stylistic or political leanings thrown into the mix. Mind, I'm not quite clear on what you mean by the main characters having an "obsession with rockets" ... that sounds more like 50's Heinlein juvenals.

There's certainly "colonization" sf, which tends to focus on rugged-individualism and frontiers with a sheen of sci-fi on top, but you're talking about something broader. Clarke's "Imperial Earth" fits into the setting you describe, I think; I might appropriate its name for the category you're defining ... sci-fi that's near-future enough that Earth is the central, powerful player in an ongoing outward migration. Your references to n-punk and dystopianism, and examples of Gattaca, Alien and Starship Troopers make me wonder if there's a certain darkness required as well.
posted by mumkin at 10:35 AM on December 2, 2007

Mostly what you're talking about is basic fronterism - where protagonists encounter challenges based on either the harsh environment and/or dangerous inhabitants.

Sci-Fi isn't really sophisticated enough to be divided into hard sub-genres, but what you're getting at falls under labels of "frontier," "space opera," "habitat," (as in dome cities, colony ships, etc.) or "Voyages Extraordinaires." There are more here at the Science fiction genre Wiki entry.

My own phrase: Spaceward-Expansion, of course.
posted by wfrgms at 12:12 PM on December 2, 2007

I think that anything that uses FTL (faster than light) and takes place "in the galaxy" is a kind of Space Opera.

Stories that take place in the solar system (John Varley, Kim Stanley Robinson) could use a special name ("in system", "sol bound"?).

A case could be made for stories involving other star systems with slower than light travels (with hibernation, so called "generation ships" or poetry à la Cordwainer Smith).

Otherwise, "Space Conquest" seems to cover all aspects of "space race and planetary colonization".
posted by bru at 4:46 PM on December 2, 2007

There's not really a catchy term for exactly what you're describing, but Campbellian science fiction is compromised of a lot of the SF archetypes you describe (ie space adventures).

Campbellian science fiction (similar to, but not exactly like, 'Hard' SF) is the early body of SF that dealt with the environment in very cold and logical terms. Campbellian SF is never sentimental or cheesy, but always had characters that recognized their role their environment, making the choices that were necessary, regardless of any emotional angle they might take.

In general, Campbell liked his writers to put their characters into situations that tested the limits of human reasoning by forcing them to make choices that went against what 'felt right;' happy endings are hard to come by in the genre. Space, a lethal vacuum, is a very convenient setting for this sort of thing, so there is a significant body of Campbellian SF that takes place in space. A quintessential example would be Tom Godwin's short story "The Cold Equations" (later adapted into an episode of The Twilight Zone).

So, if I were writing a paper and wanted convenient shorthand for what you're saying, I'd probably call it "space-faring Campbellian science fiction."
posted by anifinder at 6:01 PM on December 2, 2007

With a tip of the hat to Mr_Crazyhorse, Manifest Destiny.
And what could be more Western/evocative of the clash between manifest destiny and native inhabitants than Crazy Horse?
posted by Joe Invisible at 7:33 PM on December 2, 2007