Exploring the New Wave: SF Evolution and Impact of Philip K. Dick

1. History of the Future 7: Philip K. Dick and the New Wave

2. The “New Wave” in SF • Originates in Britain, mid-1960s • More literary & experimental approach • Darker and more pessimistic • Sex, drugs, pop-culture • New Worlds magazine • JG Ballard, Brian Aldiss, Michael Moorcock • Thomas M. Disch, Samuel R. Delaney from US • Leaves SF with more attitude & style

3. Dangerous Visions • US Anthology • Published 1967 • Edited by Harlan Ellison • Launch of “New Wave” in US • Hipper style, more sex, more religion • Revolutionary claims just hype • Writers like Ellison, Roger Zelazny start scooping up SF awards

4. SF Meets Literature • New & established authors resent limits of genre • Is it really the “literature of ideas”? • Typical New Wave author: • Read science fiction in their youth • Went to university and studied literature • Want to write SF that is real literature • Produces some excellent work • Most languishes between SF and literary communities • Push peaks in the 1970s • Science fiction first appears on college curricula

5. SF & The Future • SF authors shift away from technological extrapolation • Many work more with myth and fable • Recycle genre elements to different end • More interested in character, style • Explore science & technology through allegory • Connection is weakening • Futuristic imagery and ideas spreading • Space program & futurology usurp SF territory • Vonnegut, etc. achieving fame in “mainstream”

6. J. G. Ballard • Figurehead of New Wave in Britain • Writer of “Inner Space” • Grew up in WWII concentration camp • Fascinated by medical pathology • Disliked plot, characterization • Stories feature • The end of the world, everyone dazed & obsessed • Breakdown of civilization • American dreamscapes • Ruins of the space program • Very weird alienated sex

7. Ursula K. LeGuin • Came to prominence in late 1960s • Fixture of SF college curricula • Strong moral & feminist element • The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) • Cold war allegory; hermaphrodite society • The Dispossessed (1974) • An “ambiguous” anarchist utopia • Thoughtful, serious

8. Other New Wave Authors • Roger Zelazny • Stylish writing – sex, slang, drugs • Mythology, fable, interior of minds • Samuel R. Delaney • Dazzling, allegorical space quests in 60s • Gay, black, bohemian, fan of science fiction • Becomes post-modern academic in 70s • Thomas M. Disch • Elegant, bleak novels in 60s and 70s • 334 (1972) deals with near future urban life • Achieves broader renown as poet, critic

9. Impact of the New Wave • As a result of this literary drive • Sex & obscenity appears in the future • Entropy gets fashionable • People start name-dropping William Burroughs • Popular culture makes its way into SF • Loosens restraints on SF writers in general • Including Dick, Pohl whose books you read

10. Philip K. Dick • Not primarily identified as “New Wave” • Writing long before that • But did have a story in “Dangerous Visions” • Very influential on New Wave (and on later cyberpunk) • Writing from mid-50s to early-80s • About 50 novels written (not all published) • Best SF novels from 1960-1970 • Never famous or best selling

11. His Life • Troubled life. Influenced his work • Trouble with authority. • Drops out of college • Only jobs in record store and as DJ • Many wives. Liked unstable, dark haired young women. • Drug problems, speed (amphetamine addict) • Investigated by FBI • Constant financial problems • Mentally unstable • Fascinated by madness • Had “revelatory” experience in 1972

12. Unique Reading Experience • Mixture of ordinary and fantastical • Troubled, sympathetic people • All heroes are struggling small-timers • Weird events • Apocalyptic, existential crises • Philosophical yet trashy • Funny • Dark humor, human sympathy

13. The Future • Dick’s work clearly reflects time & place • Many unpublished “mainsteam” 50s novels • SF brings freedom from censorship? • Very little realistic science/technology • Creates twisted versions of existing world • Uses SF clichés in new ways

14. Recurring Themes • Real or Fake? • often ambiguous • wisdom, authenticity in strange places • Collapsing realities • Hidden battle of good and evil • Mental Illness • Human or Android? • Nuclear war • Drugs • Sometimes expose reality

15. The Man in the High Castle • Alternate history – Nazis win war • Only Hugo award • More carefully written than most • Commercial failure • Spurs redoubled output

16. Periods (I) • Early novels (1950s) • Including Time Out of Joint (1959) • “Mainstream” novels (late 1950s), unpublished • Flood of SF novels in 1960s • Uneven quality, highlights are • Martian-Time Slip (1964) • The Man in the High Castle (1961) • Dr Bloodmoney (1965) • The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1965) • Now Wait for Last Year (1966) • Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (“Blade Runner”) (1968) • Ubik (written 1969)

17. Periods (II) • 1960s novels marked by • Drugs • Nuclear war • Increasingly ambiguous realities • 1970s • Fewer novels • Increasingly theological tone • Several based on own “revelations

18. Periods (III) • Dick dies (1982), becomes famous • Blade Runner film appears • Academic reputation grows • Unpublished books appear • Viewed as key SF author • Attractive to Marxists, cultural studies • Cult following • Postmodern blend of high and low culture

19. Summary: late 60s, early 70s • Deepening & splintering of SF • Beginnings of sub-genre of literary SF • Much commercial work goes on as before • though much altered. • Academic favorites are not popular favorites • Role of future becomes more problematic • Used more consciously as mirror of present • Idea of progress is challenged • Symbols of future spread beyond SF