Science fiction is one of the significant technological advancements in literature and film making. Though modern science has not been present for a long time, fiction literature has been in existence for many years. The history of science fiction can be viewed in three significant periods, which include the antecedents, the 19th, and 20th-century science-fiction, and postmodern fiction. Science and technology have a significant impact on the formulation of literature; the postmodern fiction dates from the aftermath of World War II to the modern world. This fiction is guided by science and technologies in this era. It is during this era that human genetic engineering was invented, and science fictions tend to show advanced levels of science and technology. Although science fiction been based on science, some fiction movies also employ some aspects of religion.
The ancient period of fiction is the antecedents, which dates back to the second century. The fiction was characterized by events such as societies free of war and hunger and visits to the moon. These events were unheard of in those days(Roberts, 2016). Modern science fiction can be dated back to the 19th and 20th centuries, and Mary Shelvey is considered the inventor of contemporary science fiction. Fiction literature during this time was dominated by the gothic novels (Roberts, 2016). During this period, the scientific romance was also introduced into science fiction. Science fiction impacted humanity and determines how they think and act. Mary Shelley writes the story of Victor Frankenstein, a German student who creates a creature during a science experiment in response to the invention of electricity (Shelley, 2012).
The postmodern history of science fiction began after the Second World War and into the cold war, where many scientific inventions were made. Science fiction in these periods was recorded in both traditional print and also in films(Roberts, 2016). The central theme in this science fiction was heroism, space travels, time travels, alien encounters, and high technologies. For instance, the film Gattaca is a film that represents a future generation of human beings that reproduces through science and advanced technologies to produce genetically modified humans. The desired society is achieved through careful choosing of genes and physical appearances of human beings. However, the film also highlights the disadvantages of genetic modifications of human beings in Vincent freeman.
Though the film Gattaca is science fiction with genetic technologies used in the production of human beings, in this case, the two Freeman sons, it takes after biblical family set up of Cain and Abel (Nicole et al., 1997). Freeman named Anton Freeman his son after himself because he had the perfect genes but added the name Vincent in the name of his second son because he had weaker genes. Though Freeman’s faith was based on genes and ended up favoring his elder son, the biblical setup of God treating all people as equal is demonstrated by the victory of the second son Vincent over Anton. The bible talks about been born again, which is seen in the life of Vincent; symbolically goes through baptism.
Science fiction has therefore been in existence for hundreds of years and has gone through three significant phases. The first phase is seen before the 19th century and dates back to the 2nd century. The other periods are experienced during the 19th and 20th centuries during the postmodern phase after the world war. It is impossible to separate fiction from humanity, and fantasy has helped in determining literature. The postmodern period of fiction is characterized by heroism and advanced technologies that define humanity. Despite the use of science in fiction, some fiction works incorporate religion.
References
Niccol, A., Hawke, E., Thurman, U., Arkin, A., Law, J., Borgnine, E., & Vidal, G. (1997). Gattaca. Culver City, CA: Columbia TriStar Home Video.
Roberts, A. (2016). The history of science fiction. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Shelley, M. (2012). Frankenstein. Broadview Press.