Posted by
PG on Thursday, December 28, 2006 5:03:33 PM
Can science fiction be literature?
Joseph Bottum seems to doubt that there is a work of science fiction that stands near Homer, Virgil, Dante, Shakespeare, and Goethe. And rightly so.
But, asks
Mark Brumley, does the fact that sci fi has yet to produce a work "standing near" the greatest geniuses of literature mean that sci fi has been disqualified as literature?
I think we must turn to Chesterton:
"All art is born when the temporary touches the eternal."
I would argue that this is something that could occur also in works of science fiction. For example, in Declare by Tim Powers.