Science Fiction in France

As one of the world’s oldest and most varied literatures within the genre, the SF of France has a history that is richly heterogeneous in both theme and narrative format. From the utopian fantasy and imaginary voyages of Rabelais and Cyrano de Bergerac, through the scientifically didactic dialogues of Fontenelle and the incisive contes philosophiques of Voltaire and Diderot, through its late 19th and early 20th century “golden age” in the many romans scientifiques of Jules Verne, the futuristic caricatures of Robida, the cosmic spiritualism of Flammarion, the hybrid fantastic-SF tales of Renard, and the alien encounters of Rosny the Elder, through its derivative and pulpy post-war “space opera” phase of Fleuve Noir romans d’anticipation, to its more modern configurations of socio-psychological allegory à la Curval or post-modern surrealism à la Brussolo, French SF has witnessed considerable growth in its popularity and academic study during this latter half of the 20th century. Although largely unknown in English-language countries, French SF offers to those with a palate for speculative fiction an unusually wide assortment of narratives that are intellectually stimulating, historically important to the genre as a whole, and still relatively unexplored in literary studies. (ABE)

Art · History · Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction