The Aesthetics of Literal-Minded Speculation: Notes on Science Fiction by Way of Modernism

ABSTRACT

What is the relationship between modernism and science fiction (SF)? Recent scholarship has theorized that the two literary phenomena embody parallel aesthetic responses to a common set of cultural pressures. These arguments, however, have largely neglected analyzing the question from a formal and stylistic perspective. This article participates in this debate by developing the contention that both SF and modernist writing experiment with the estranging effects of commixing metaphoric and metonymic narrative strategies. Starting with an overview of recent studies concerning the relationship between modernism, realism, and SF, the article then turns to the concept of literalized metaphor and its role in SF and to David Lodge’s analysis of modernist writing, which relies precisely on the oscillation between metaphor and metonymy. Finally, the article contextualizes its conclusions through a brief discussion of Umberto Eco’s concept of the symbolic mode, which Eco develops with specific reference to modernist writing.