Finding a definition for science fiction is either the simplest thing in the world, or it is an impossible feat to accomplish, depending on who you ask. Author and critic Damon Knight is infamous for stating that \u201cScience fiction is what we point to when we say \u2018science fiction’\u201d (viii), whereas author Samuel Delaney polemically called a definition of science fiction a \u201cwholly imaginary object of the same ontological status as unicorns\u201d (148). Both are right and in essence it all boils down to the question for what purpose a definition is needed. Publishers need it better sell books. Authors might be afraid of it because they can get stigmatized and readers use it to make sense of a given piece of art. In the introductory essay \u201cWhat is SF?\u201d John Rieder explores the different functions of genre and how they relate to SF, starting from Darko Suvin\u2019s famous (and probably to date most used definition) of science fiction as a literature of \u201cestrangement and cognition\u201d (3) he ends up closer to Damon Knight\u2019s dictum than one would expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the lecture \u201cWhat is SF? \u2013 Some Thoughts on Genre\u201d by Prof. Dr. John Rieder (University of Hawai\u2019i):<\/p>\n\n\n\n