Structural Fabulation: An Essay on Fiction of the Future

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“And what are some of the things which the traditional literary critic knows about science fiction? He knows that works of science fiction use the language clumsily, with neither grace nor wit. He knows that these works lack interesting characters, being populated by robots, some of whom are supposed to be men and women. He knows that the plotting in these fictions is either hackneyed, episodic, or both. And he knows that their subject matter is unreal, escapist, and ultimately trivial.”

Robert Scholes, a recognized expert on the theory and history of narrative literature and a critic of contemporary fiction, cites these popular generalizations as examples of the prejudices the uninformed often bring to the study of science fiction. In Structural Fabulation he presents a critical and theoretical study of the science fiction field, dispelling the misconceptions of those who know little about the fiction of the future and offering its many fanatics new insights into the characteristics of good science fiction. The first half of the book is general and theoretical. The author makes an argument for the seriousness of science fiction and its value as literature, relating the rise of this genre to the literary tradition and to modern intellectual history. The area of interest is confined to contemporary works of fiction that insist on some radical discontinuity between the world they present to us and the world of our experience. The second part of the book is practical and specific. The author presents a perspective on the varieties of modern science fiction through a discussion of certain borderline or extreme cases, such as Daniel Keyes’s Flowers for Algernon, Olaf Stapledon’s Star Maker, and Frank Herbert’s Dune. The works of Ursula Le Guin are discussed extensively to illustrate the way in which it is possible to unite speculation and fabulation in works of compelling power and beauty. Included in the book are some suggestions for reading in science fiction and a brief checklist of secondary sources, including bibliographies.