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Mundane science fiction (MSF) is a niche literary movement within
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
that developed in the early 2000s, with principles codified by the "Mundane Manifesto" Geoff Ryman ''et al''. (2004), "The Mundane Manifesto". The manifesto was originally posted to the internet on a site no longer extant, but is available multiple places, such a
SFGenics
(retrieved 9 Nov. 2021).
in 2004, signed by author Geoff Ryman and the "2004 class" of the
Clarion West Writers Workshop Clarion West is a non-profit organization best known for their intensive six-week workshop for writers preparing for professional careers in speculative fiction. The Six-Week Workshop is a space for writing short stories and learning how to worksho ...
. The movement proposes "mundane science fiction" as its own
subgenre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
of science fiction, typically characterized by its setting on
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
or within the
Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...
; a lack of
interstellar travel Interstellar travel is the hypothetical travel of spacecraft between star systems. Due to the vast distances between the Solar System and nearby stars, interstellar travel is not practicable with current propulsion technologies. To travel between ...
, intergalactic travel or human contact with extraterrestrials; and a believable use of technology and science as it exists at the time the story is written or a plausible extension of existing technology. There is debate over the boundaries of MSF and over which works can be considered canonical.
Rudy Rucker Rudolf von Bitter Rucker (; born March 22, 1946) is an American mathematician, computer scientist, science fiction author, and one of the founders of the cyberpunk literary movement. The author of both fiction and non-fiction, he is best known f ...
has noted MSF's similarities to
hard science fiction Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell's ''Islands of Space'' in the Novemb ...
and Ritch Calvin has pointed out MSF's similarities to
cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting said to focus on a combination of "low-life and high tech". It features futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberwa ...
. Some commentators have identified science fiction films and television series which embody the MSF ethos of near-future realism. MSF has garnered a mixed reception from the science fiction community. While some science fiction authors have defended the proposed subgenre, others have argued that MSF is contrary to the longstanding imaginative tradition of science fiction, or questioned the need for a new subgenre.


History and origins


Mundane Manifesto

The MSF movement, which was inspired by an idea from British computer programmer Julian Todd, was founded in 2004 during the 2004 Clarion West class by novelist Geoff Ryman among others. The beliefs of the movement were later codified as the Mundane Manifesto.The authors of the Manifesto stated that they were "pissed off and needing a tight girdle of discipline to restrain our sf imaginative silhouettes". Ryman and his collaborators believed that much of science fiction was too escapist, and they thought that setting their stories in a world closer to our own would give the narratives more political and social power. Kit Reed's 2004 interview with Ryman states that the "young writers decided they wanted to limit themselves to the most likely future. This meant facing up to what we know is coming, dealing with it, and imagining good futures that are likely." Ryman explained the MSF Manifesto in a speech to BORÉAL’s 2007 Science Fiction convention in Montreal."Take the Third Star on the Left and on til Morning" by Geoff Ryman, '' New York Review of Science Fiction'', June 2007. https://mundane-sf.blogspot.com/2007/09/take-third-star-on-left-and-on-til.html Ryman claims that the MSF Manifesto was "jokey" and that it was not intended to be a "serious" statement. The authors of the MSF Manifesto, apart from Ryman, are anonymous.


Precursor movements: 1930s–1970s

Lisa Yaszek states that in the early 1930s, the editor of ''
Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...
'', scientist and science journalist T. O'Conor Sloane, wrote mundane science fiction' before that term ever existed, and he banned faster-than-light travel from science fiction stories" in the magazine, so writers began using " dream narratives... as a way to travel through time and space and time." Nataliya Krynytska states that in the 1940s and 1950s, Soviet literature had a genre called "near-future science fiction". Describing the context for the emergence of MSF, Christopher Cokinos cites Chris Nakashima-Brown in noting that a considerable body of science fiction entails fantasies about escape from scientific reality: "the escape from the subtly Nihilistic dominion of reason in the post- Enlightenment West, into a generically unbound Jungian Disneyland...". He argues that in the Golden Age of Science Fiction, stodgy tales of
space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes Space warfare in science fiction, space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, i ...
"bland prose" and "formulas of planetary romances, über-
robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...
s, and cold equations" dominated. He also points out that SF writer Thomas Disch has similarly opined that the preference for weak, implausible depictions of science in sci fi is an "American aspect of our 'lie-loving' culture" used by readers for escapism. Some Golden Age writers, however, such as
Theodore Sturgeon Theodore Sturgeon (; born Edward Hamilton Waldo, February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American author of primarily fantasy fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and Horror fiction, horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 ...
,
Philip José Farmer Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy fiction, fantasy novels and short story, short stories. Obituary. Farmer is best known for two sequences of novels, t ...
, and
Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury ( ; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, Horror fiction, horr ...
did transcend these formulas and developed nuanced characters and stories. Cokinos goes on to state that in the 1960s, various authors launched science fiction's New Wave, when "stylistic experimentation" in the writing and new topics meant less formulas and clichés. The authors had a profound "skepticism about science and technology", and there was an examination of "inner space" ( J. G. Ballard), "
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
...critiques, and
ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...
(
Frank Herbert Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science-fiction author, best known for his 1965 novel Dune (novel), ''Dune'' and its five sequels. He also wrote short stories and worked as a newspaper journalist, ...
’s ''
Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...
''). Similarly, BBC TV critic Hugh Montgomery notes that J.G. Ballard believed that the Golden Age’s focus on advanced interstellar spaceships was "clichéd and unilluminating", preferring to write stories about humans’ "next five minutes" and "near future", which is "immediately recognisable to us, but invariably with a pretty unpleasant twist or three." In Damon Knight's essay entitled "Goodbye, Henry J. Kostkos, Goodbye", from the 1972 Clarion II workshop, he criticizes "old guard" science fiction, including space operas and stories about travel between stars and
space colonization Space colonization (or extraterrestrial colonization) is the human settlement, settlement or colonization of outer space and astronomical bodies. The concept in its broad sense has been applied to any permanent human presence in space, such ...
. Knight states that "it ouldperhaps be better to stay on this planet, clean it up a little, and reduce our numbers to some reasonable figure".


1990s–2000s

In Nader Elhefnawy's book ''The End of Science Fiction?'', he cites John Horgan's 1996 book ''The End of Science'', which claims that science will not achieve a new scientific revolution of similar significance to past revolutions to claim that this may lessen science fiction writers' potential use of new scientific discoveries as a source of inspiration. Elhefnawy says this "end of science" may be behind Ryman et al's disinterest in hypothetical future science such as FTL travel and their shift to MSF. Ritch Calvin argues that the goals of MSF were predated by sociologist Wayne Brekhus, who in 2000 published "A Mundane Manifesto", calling for "analytically interesting studies of the socially uninteresting." He argues for a focus on the "mundane" because the "extraordinary draws disproportionate theoretical attention from researchers", which weakens the development of theory and creates a distorted image of reality. He stated that he hoped that the humanities would also focus on the mundane. Calvin noted that in 2001, the sci-fi website Futurismic came out against the traditional forms of SF, and instead called for an examination of the impact of scientific discoveries on human society. Futurismic is against all "fantasy, horror, and space opera, as well as off-world SF, distant futures, aliens, alternate histories, and time travel". Futurismic accepts fiction that is mundane, "post-cyberpunk sf, satirical/ gonzo futurism, and realistic near future hard sf." In his book review of "Dust", scholar Paul McAuley described
Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author, screenwriter and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavil ...
's 1990 novel ''
Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton, centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of De-extinction#Cloning, cloned dinosaurs. It bega ...
'' as an example of mundane science fiction.


Style and ethos

MSF is a postulated science fiction subgenre:60 that exists between science fiction and the mainstream. American SF author Nancy Kress defines MSF as a strict form of hard SF. She states that " rd SF has several varieties, starting with really hard, which does not deviate in any way from known scientific principles in inventing the future"; she says "this is also called by some “mundane SF.”" According to the Manifesto, MSF writers believe it is unlikely that alien intelligence will overcome the physical constraints on interstellar travel any better than we can. As such, the Manifesto imagines a future on Earth and within the Solar System. The Manifesto states that alternative universes, parallel worlds, magic and the supernatural (including
telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...
and telekinesis), time travel and teleportation are similarly avoided. MSF rarely involves
interstellar travel Interstellar travel is the hypothetical travel of spacecraft between star systems. Due to the vast distances between the Solar System and nearby stars, interstellar travel is not practicable with current propulsion technologies. To travel between ...
or communication with alien civilization. In the MSF ethos, unfounded speculation about interstellar travel can lead to an illusion of a universe abundant with planets as hospitable to life as Earth, which encourages wasteful attitude to the abundance on Earth. MSF thus focuses on stories set on or near the Earth, with a believable use of technology and science as it exists at the time the story is written or which is a plausible extension of existing technology. MSF works explore topics such as enhanced genomes,
environmental degradation Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...
,
nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing propertie ...
,
quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is the fundamental physical Scientific theory, theory that describes the behavior of matter and of light; its unusual characteristics typically occur at and below the scale of atoms. Reprinted, Addison-Wesley, 1989, It is ...
,
robotics Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...
, and
virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...
. MSF claims to describe change "already in effect" and claims "ideological significance". The boundaries between the proposed mundane subgenre and other genres, such as
hard science fiction Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell's ''Islands of Space'' in the Novemb ...
,
dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...
s, or
cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting said to focus on a combination of "low-life and high tech". It features futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberwa ...
are not defined. With MSF, the canonical works are vaguer than with
cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting said to focus on a combination of "low-life and high tech". It features futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberwa ...
. Science fiction author
Aliette de Bodard Aliette de Bodard (born November 10, 1982) is a French-American speculative fiction writer. She has received accolades including the British Fantasy Award, BSFA Award, Ignyte Award, Locus Award, and Nebula Award. Writing De Bodard published he ...
said in an interview with ''
Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
'' that "Science fiction has moved into the mainstream in step with the infusion of science into the everyday; thus, it can risk losing its outlandish feel, even as other fictional forms borrow its tropes." In its issue on mundane science fiction, British science fiction magazine '' Interzone'' attempted a checklist of topics that cannot be included for a work to be considered "mundane": Faster-than-light travel, psionic powers, nanobots, aliens, computer consciousness, profitable space travel,
immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some species possess "biological immortality" due to an apparent lack of the Hayflick limit. From at least the time of the Ancient Mesopotamian religion, ancient Mesopotamians, there has been a con ...
, mind uploading, teleportation, or
time travel Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...
.


Media


Reception and controversy

In 2007 science fiction writer
Rudy Rucker Rudolf von Bitter Rucker (; born March 22, 1946) is an American mathematician, computer scientist, science fiction author, and one of the founders of the cyberpunk literary movement. The author of both fiction and non-fiction, he is best known f ...
, author of the 1983 ''Transrealist Manifesto'', blogged a response to the Mundane Manifesto. Rucker stated that he "prefer to continue searching for ways to be less and less Mundane". He pointed out that alternate universes are "quite popular in modern physics" and stated that perhaps other worlds exist in other dimensions. He noted that fiction writers outside of SF use stories about time travel, so while implausible, it was worth exploring. While Rucker also rejected SF's " escapist" tendencies, and called for transrealism, he argued that elements of SF which MSF advocates reject are "symbolic of
archetypal The concept of an archetype ( ) appears in areas relating to behavior, History of psychology#Emergence of German experimental psychology, historical psychology, philosophy and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a stat ...
modes of perception" that are needed in SF. In the March 2008 issue of '' Asimov's Science Fiction'' magazine, in writer Jim Kelly's ongoing "On the Net" column he agreed with many elements of MSF. At the same time, he wondered, "how was Mundane SF all that different from what had up until then been called
hard science fiction Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell's ''Islands of Space'' in the Novemb ...
?".Asimov's Science Fiction, March 2008, ON THE NET: MUNDANE by James Patrick Kelly Kelly states that too many of his favorite works fall outside the tenets of MSF. Both Kelly and Calvin mention the criticism by British author Ian McDonald, and his fundamental objection, that much good science fiction is being written without any awareness of or need for the manifesto.
Niall Harrison Niall Sidney Harrison is a British medical writer and science fiction editor, critic and publisher. He was a judge of the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2006 and 2007 and Guest of Honour at Eastercon 2023. Biography Harrison read biochemistry at Ma ...
argued that ''Interzone'' #216's collection of MSF stories does not develop "a convincing case for mundane sf." Also in 2008, Chris Cokinos described The Mundane Manifesto as anthropocentric. He noted that the concern in MSF about wasting the abundance of Earth is influenced by the "...moral climate that permeates North American and British nature writing", adding that MSF is intended "more as compass than chimera". In 2009, writer Kate McKinney Maddalena noted that the MSF blog was first used as a forum for debate about the new subgenre and that by 2009, bloggers were identifying MSF from the SF literature, and looking for newly published MSF ("mundane spotting"). Maddelena added that Ryman's naming of MSF "only marks (and encourages) a high point in SF’s social and ecological consciousness and conscience.” Also in 2009, SF writer Claire L. Evans called it a "controversial recent sub-genre"; while stating MSF was a "useful category for an already-existing genre of science fiction". Evans disagreed with MSF in that it was often "the wildest, least likely prognostications that come to pass". She also criticized Ryman for disrespecting SF’s tradition of creating prophecies, thus influencing real life, which she stated means he "completely misses the point of cience fiction. In a 2015 interview, when science fiction author Scott H. Jucha was asked his views about MSF, in light of Jucha's depiction of interstellar colonization in his ''The Silver Ships'' series, he said he has "two opinions on the Mundane Science Fiction Movement’s premise." Jucha says that as "someone focused on our environment, I believe space exploration and habitation throughout our system will yield inventions that will aid our planet’s resource management, recycling efficiency, and environmental cleanup." At the same time, Jucha supports "science fiction speculation" arguing that " o would have thought that sixty or seventy years ago, we would have landed on the Moon or owbe planning a mission to Mars…". Commentary on MSF continued in the 2010s. In 2011 a ''Fantastic Worlds'' journal critic criticized the "very selective" use of science in MSF and its depressing nature. In 2012, Emmet Byrne and Susannah Schouweiler called MSF the Dogme 95 of science fiction, a reference to a realist Danish film manifesto.https://walkerart.org/magazine/julian-bleecker-design-fiction-the-future-never-gets-old Julian Bleecker: The Future Never Gets Old, Emmet Byrne and Susannah Schouweiler, Oct 17, 2012 Byrne and Schouweiler also called MSF the inverse of " design fiction", a type of writing advocated by Julian Bleecker which explores the "symbiotic relationship between science fiction and science fact" by focusing on a specific artifact. Bruce Sterling defines design fiction as the "deliberate use of diegetic prototypes to suspend disbelief about change". In 2013 Linda Nagata noted the relationship between hard science fiction and MSF, but stated, "the term 'mundane' has the 'implication of "boring'? To me, the term is another marketing disaster." Also in 2013, The New Museum's digital art arm Rhizome published Martine Syms' "The Mundane Afrofuturist Manifesto", which asserts that "Mundane Afrofuturism is the ultimate laboratory for
worldbuilding Worldbuilding is the process of constructing an imaginary world or setting (narrative), setting, sometimes associated with a fictional universe. Developing the world with coherent qualities such as a history, geography, culture and ecology is a k ...
outside of imperialist, capitalist, white patriarchy." In 2019, Roger Luckhurst, a professor in Modern and Contemporary Literature at
Birkbeck, University of London Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a Public university, public research university located in London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London. Establ ...
, stated the MSF movement was developed because writers did not want "…to imagine shiny, hard futures ut [rathergive a">ather.html" ;"title="ut [rather">ut [rathergive asense of sliding from one version of our present into something slightly alienated". In 2013, Nick Foster, a designer and futurist from California, was inspired by Ryman's MSF principles to propose a new form of industrial design for films set in the future called "The Future Mundane." Just as MSF is against fanciful speculation, Foster's "The Future Mundane" is "counter to the fantasy-laden future worlds generated by our [industrial design] industry." It consists of designing everyday objects (e.g., corkscrews and milk packaging) for background characters in films; depicting technology as an "accretive space", where advanced technologies sit side by side with dusty antique devices and tools; and the technologies should not function seamlessly (they should be shown having glitches). Science fiction author August Cole advocates the use of "Fictional Intelligence" ("FicInt"), which he defines as “useful fictions." FicInt, a concept developed by Cole in 2015, combines “fiction writing with intelligence to imagine future scenarios in ways grounded in reality."


Literature

In 2007 the British sci fi magazine ''Interzone'' devoted an issue to the subgenre. Science fiction author Ted Chiang states that Ryman's 2004 novel '' Air'', while "taken by some readers to be an example of Mundane sf" due to its author, was initially not classified by Ryman as mundane science fiction. However, in 2007, Ryman referred to it as a "Mundane fantasy" novel (it depicts an "Air technology" that has no scientific basis). Brian Attebery argues that ''Air'' is "largely mundane", and he asserts that Ryman's use of some fantasy elements (an "impossible pregnancy" and "time slippage") strengthen the novel's themes and make the story more interesting, so he says that a "test" for MSF status need not be used. The 2009 short story collection ''When It Changed: Science Into Fiction'', edited by Ryman, is a collection of mundane science fiction stories, each written by a science fiction author with advice from a scientist, and with an endnote by that scientist explaining the plausibility of the story. In 2015 a reviewer from ‘’Boing Boing’’ called Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel ''
Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...
'', a
generation ship A generation ship, generation starship or world ship, is a hypothetical type of interstellar ark starship that travels at sub- light speed. Since such a ship might require hundreds to thousands of years to reach nearby stars, the original occup ...
novel, MSF's "most significant novel". In 2019 Robert Harris' ''The Second Sleep'' was described as the best MSF novel of the year. In Jeff Somers' 2015 article for Barnes and Noble, he identified six novels: Geoff Ryman's '' Air'', which he calls "low-key, small-scale science fiction" that exemplifies the movement; Kim Stanley Robinson's '' Red Mars'', about "an attempt to terraform and establish a colony on Mars" that leads to a revolution; Elizabeth Moon's '' The Speed of Dark'', about "genetic procedures that remove disease and deformity"; Andy Weir's '' The Martian'', about an astronaut accidentally stranded on Mars who has to learn to survive on the lifeless planet using leftover equipment; Maureen McHugh's '' China Mountain Zhang'', an alternate future in which the "United States has experienced a communist revolution after a period of economic decline", and China has become the superpower; and Charles Stross' '' Halting State'', which is set in a
virtual world A virtual world (also called a virtual space or spaces) is a Computer simulation, computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many simultaneous users who can create a personal Avatar (computing), avatar and independently explore th ...
, enabling him to depict cyber-created orcs and dragons while still respecting the limits of MSF. In the 2016 edition of ''SFX'' (#277, September) it calls Nicholas Soutter's '' The Water Thief'' (2012) an example of "Mundane SF future-history". In November 10, 2020, Nina Munteanu listed Kim Stanley Robinson’s '' New York 2140'' as one of the top 15 eco-fiction novels, referring to it as "an impeccable climate-novel of mundane SF." Solarpunk fiction can include elements of mundane science fiction. In ''Solarpunk Futures'' interview with Nina Munteanu regarding her solarpunk novel ''A Diary in the Age of Water'', a "climate-induced journey... ffour generations of women...against a global giant that controls and manipulates Earth’s water", she added elements of mundane science fiction to add the "gritty realism of “the mundane” to the story. She says the "diary-aspect of the book characterizes it as “mundane science fiction” in that it presents "an “ordinary” setting for characters to play out" in.


Films and television

In 2008, Christopher Cokinos stated that films such as '' Gattaca'' (1997), about a society based on
genetic testing Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...
and ranking, and ''
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
'' (2009), about a lonely one-man mining operation on the Moon, "fit the Mundane Manifesto’s interest in near-future realism, even if they don’t directly deal with the beauties and heartbreaks of the Earth". Other examples Cokinos cited are French filmmaker Chris Marker’s '' Sans Soleil'' (1983) and the film version of '' Children of Men'' (2006), which shows a "heart-wrenching film of a grim, near-future Earth". Film reviewer Rick Norwood states that '' The Time Traveler's Wife'' is a "very good example" of MSF. '' After Yang'' is a 2021 film by Kogonada about a couple who buy a realistic, sophisticated android named Yang who they treat like a member of the family. Yang helps look after their adopted Chinese daughter Mika and give her a culturally-appropriate upbringing. Yang teaches her about her Chinese heritage and helps her feel less anxious about being adopted. When Yang starts malfunctioning and has to be taken to the android repair shop, Mika misses his emotional support. When they learn he cannot be fixed, the entire family has to come to terms with losing Yang's presence in their lives. ''Paste'' reviewer Elijah Gonzalez states that the appeal of this film's "mundane science fiction" is that its "low-key" approach "shrink the scope of conflict, o thatrelatively commonplace concerns gain increased impact, emulating the worries we deal with in the here and now." Gonzalez states that by "combining the ci-figenre’s ability to realize far-flung technology with Kogonoda’s precise imagery, ''After Yang'' proves that there is fertile ground for moving, mundane science fiction." In 2019, UK television critic Hugh Montgomery identified MSF television series and films which are set in the near future and which use plausible technologies; his list includes '' Black Mirror''; '' The Handmaid’s Tale'' (a dystopian drama set in a totalitarian, misogynist theocracy); ''
Osmosis Osmosis (, ) is the spontaneous net movement or diffusion of solvent molecules through a selectively permeable membrane, selectively-permeable membrane from a region of high water potential (region of lower solute concentration) to a region of ...
'' (about a dating app that requires a bodily implant for users); '' Years and Years'' (a family drama set over the next 15 years, in a world facing ecological disasters); and ''Children of Men''.


Related genres

In Ritch Calvin's opinion, MSF shares "characteristics with cyberpunk, postcyberpunk, and near-future science fiction". For instance, William Gibson’s novels show a "near future urban" world, while Bruce Sterling’s '' Schismatrix'' depicts the impacts of global capitalism.


See also

* Lab lit * Pastoral science fiction


References


Further reading

* Kelly, James Patrick. "On the Net: Mundane". ''Asimov’s Science Fiction''. 2007. 2 June 2009. * Knabe, Susan; Pearson, Wendy Gay. " Introduction: Mundane Science Fiction, Harm and Healing the World". ''Extrapolation'' (pre-2012); Brownsville Vol. 49, Iss. 2, (Summer 2008): 181–194,179-180. * Nattermann, Udo. "Mundane Boundaries: Eco-political Elements in Three Science Fiction Stories", ''ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment'', Volume 20, Issue 1, Winter 2013, Pages 112–124, . * Rucker, Rudy. "To Be or Not to Be: Mundane SF." ''New York Review of Science Fiction'' 230 (October 2006): 18–19.


External links


The full text of "The Mundane Manifesto"

Mundane SF blog
{{Science fiction 2004 introductions Fiction about the Solar System Literary movements Science fiction genres Science fiction themes