Terrorism in Sci fi - Thesis Question Help Appreciated!

[Alienweirdo]

Hello once again, I have returned with another topic.

My thesis is still going well, I have three chapters done and I received positive feedback from my tutors regarding my draft that I handed in last week. I’m doing my fourth and fifth chapter at the moment. For those who need reminding, my thesis title thus far is 'How the Real World Has Affected Mainstream Science Fiction'.

It’s a touchy subject, but I want to do my fifth chapter on Terrorism and the terrorist attacks/threats we currently face, and how it may affect Science Fiction. By that, I mean more or less the attitudes and events that have spawned since 9/11, and how more people are aware of Terrorism now then before even though the threat has always been there (such as the IRA bombings etc). I wanted to do this as a subject, as it is one of the (not necessarily THE) major subjects of today’s society, along with global warming and (at least in the UK) the NHS.

I know there have been films made about 9/11, but I wouldn’t classify them as Science fiction. The only definite Sci fi thing I’ve discovered is an Issue of Spider-man where it prominently features the 9/11 attacks. I was toying with the idea of mentioning Lost with regards to the character Sayid, who was once an Iraqi torturer.

Does anyone have any suggestions at what else I could look at? I intend to write at most 1600 words in this chapter.

Thanks again all!

[j. d. worthington]

If it is something written since 9/11... Michael Moorcock's Firing the Cathedral would fit. It is a (fairly) recent Jerry Cornelius story, and can be found in the revised version of The Lives and Times of Jerry Cornelius.

Terrorism itself has cropped up in SF several times, including The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, by Heinlein, though that was more than 30 years before the events you're mentioning... will you be considering terrorism in sf from other periods, or only since the attacks?

[j. d. worthington]

There's also the recent Glorifying Terrorism, edited by Farah Mendlesohn....

[iansales]

9/11 is not the only terrorist act to have impacted literature or cinema. Iain Banks wrote a story about the Lockerbie Disaster, for example (I forget the title, and it's not sf anyway). Most sf written about terrorism, I suspect, will have been of the flag-waving kill-the-nasty-terrorists variety. Popular entertainment tends to reflect social concerns, after all.

Of more recent vintage, there Battlestar: Galactica, of course. And, while it's an indirect connection, there's also Glorifying Terrorism (see http://rackstrawpress.nfshost.com/).

[j. d. worthington]

Yes... we had a Press Release about this one a short while ago:

http://www.chronicles-network.com/fo...ying+Terrorism

[The Ace]

TNG series 3 episode "The High Ground was banned in the UK for its support of the IRA, only a highly -edited version being shown on Sky 1, but generally, terrorism is a difficult subject to define because of differing viewpoints.

[Parson]

Another treatment of terrorism can be found in David Weber's Honor Harrington series the book: Flag in Exile has terrorism as a serious side plot. In the afterward he speaks of the Oklohoma City Bombing.

[Alienweirdo]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

Terrorism itself has cropped up in SF several times, including The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, by Heinlein, though that was more than 30 years before the events you're mentioning... will you be considering terrorism in sf from other periods, or only since the attacks?

I would prefer to write about post 9/11 subjects as that would fit my criteria better, but i may have to consider others time periods if i struggle to find the research material.

[iansales]

Originally Posted by Alienweirdo

I would prefer to write about post 9/11 subjects as that would fit my criteria better, but i may have to consider others time periods if i struggle to find the research material.

Why only post 9/11? what criteria have you set that excludes earlier acts of terrorism?

[Dr. Atomic]

Ben Bova's got a new book that deals with terrorists, if not overtly dealing with terrorism. I can't remember the title, though... I saw it at the bookstore yesterday. I THINK it's called POWERSTAT. You'd have to double check.

[iansales]

Just remembered: terrorists feature in Iain M Banks' The Algebraist too.

[The Ace]

[quote

Terrorism itself has cropped up in SF several times, including The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, by Heinlein, though that was more than 30 years before the events you're mentioning... will you be considering terrorism in sf from other periods, or only since the attacks?[/quote]

They weren't terrorists, they were freedom fighters.

[Locksmith]

The rebels in Star Wars series were clearly terrorists, who committed their own 9/11 in blowing up the Death Star. One question you could explore is whether Star Wars could be made today, given the political climate, or whether the themes are too close to home.

[Alienweirdo]

Originally Posted by iansales

Why only post 9/11? what criteria have you set that excludes earlier acts of terrorism?

I'm not excluding earlier acts of terrorism, my reasons are simply due to the previous content of my dissertation/thesis, and how i have layed it out (if that makes any sense..). in my four previous chapters, i have chronologically covered science fiction from the turn of the century up until now, looking at early sci fi writings (hence HG wells etc in previous topics), World War II, The Atomic Age and The Space Age (including modern technology) respectively. i am also going over my allocated word quota on some subjects, so to cover previous terrorism (a subject that doesn't seem to have affected science fiction as much as the previous subjects) would seem a bit of a waste.

I suggested to my tutor that my final chapter looks at 9/11 and the war on terror, as it is a major world event. They eagerly approved, hence why i would like to focus on this subject. Hope that makes sense!

The rebels in Star Wars series were clearly terrorists, who committed their own 9/11 in blowing up the Death Star. One question you could explore is whether Star Wars could be made today, given the political climate, or whether the themes are too close to home.

lol that’s a good way of looking at it!

Terrorists can think they are freedom fighters, and the antagonists of the freedom fighters may believe the freedom fighters to be terrorists.

[BookStop]

Zenith Angle by Bruce Sterling - satiric post 9/11 tecno security
Empire by OSC - american civil war - terrorist kill pres
Terror...Irustan by Marley - terror from another angle