![]() ![]() SF fans who tried escaping from the Vietnam War by diving into the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction or Galaxy Science Fiction in the spring of 1968 instead found themselves plunged right back into the conflict- in the form of two opposing advertisements about the war, each signed by scores of SF writers, artists, and editors. For American SF very explicitly defined the war, which unalterably redefined American SF. This essay focusses on a less speculative and far more overt interplay between SF and the war. ![]() 1 For a simple paradigm of the American self-images that helped engineer that war, just imagine Buck Rogers-as he uses his manly skills and 25th-century technology to lead the good fight against the Mongol hordes-sporting a Green Beret. Indeed, the war cannot be fully comprehended unless it is seen in part as a form of American SF and fantasy. Of course these streams intermingle after all, in order to fight for "truth, justice, and the American way,'' the American S-F superhero requires fantastic powers, which may be internalized (Superman) or externalized in high-tech paraphernalia (Batman). Out of American pulp, comic book, and movie SF of the 1930s, '40s, and '50s poured two streams of images that profoundly influenced how the war was conceived and conducted: fantasies of techno-wonders and of superheroes. Bruce Franklin The Vietnam War as American Science Fiction and FantasyĪmerica's war in Indochina cannot be dissociated from American SF, which shaped and was reshaped by the nation's encounter with Vietnam. Pioneer Winners - Franklin, "The Vietnam War as American Science Fiction and Fantasy" Science Fiction Studies
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