January journal: science fiction periodization

[ursula]

glowingfish asked:

The Golden Age of published science-fiction was more or less from 1955 to 1975 (lets say). Why did it end when it did? Do you think that science-fiction (or fantasy) published after 1975 was different, or do you just think it had less ability to become part of the "canon"?

This is really non-standard periodization! Wikipedia has the Golden Age of science fiction starting in the late 1930s, in connection with sci-fi magazine publishing history; the end of your period is solidly New Wave.

The counter-argument is the aphorism that the Golden Age of science fiction is twelve; by that rule, it's interesting to think about who was twelve in 1955-1975, or whatever guidelines you want to pick, and what influence they might have had on defining a canon, once they reached their twenties or thirties. The people who were twelve between 1955 and 1975 were mostly baby boomers, in the standard US generational framework; that was my parents' generation (and glowingfish's parents', I'm guessing), and it makes sense that the stories they considered formative would seem quasi-canonized to our generation.

Comments

[davidgillon]

The counter-argument is the aphorism that the Golden Age of science fiction is twelve; by that rule, it's interesting to think about who was twelve in 1955-1975

Meeee!! Just ;)

OTOH, I think I'm disqualified from the argument because I'd argue SF got much better much later, so never really considered the Golden Age, whether 30s or 55-75, to be all that Golden

I did see an interesting suggestion this week that we trailing edge Boomers are a separate cultural group (Generation Jones) because we missed the whole hippie/Vietnam thing.

OTOH 55-75 would give you Asimov, Heinlein and Clarke at their peak, which would influence a lot of vocal 'classic SF' fans to argue for that period as their Golden Age.

[ursula]

I'm on the other side of the Gen X generational cusp from you! I like the "Oregon Trail" label.