What World Is This? Who Am I (in It)?: The Structure of the Ontological Formation in Science Fiction

TLDR: In this article, the authors focus on ontology, questions of being and subjectivity, and look at historical and canonical examples of science fiction to demonstrate how postmodern forms of SF fit within the genre.

Abstract: This is the second chapter which demonstrates how literary postmodernism is developed practically, concentrating on genre fiction. Focusing on ontology, questions of being and subjectivity, it looks at historical and canonical examples of science fiction to demonstrate how postmodern forms of SF fit within the genre. Consequently, the chapter argues that it is possible to have both modernist and postmodernist fiction with an ontological dominant, thus such a dominant cannot function as a definition of literary postmodernism. This is done through looking at canonical examples of classical, modernist, late modernist and postmodernist science fiction, and how those stories function structurally. It also demonstrates that chronology is not a sufficient means to present the history of science fiction, as structural elements are also at play.