Table Of ContentH. G. WELLS
and
Modern
Science Fiction
Edited by
DARKO SUVIN
with
ROBERT M. PHILMUS
Associate Editor
\.
H. G. WELLS
and
Modern
Science Fiction
Edited by
DARKO SUVIN
with
ROBERT M. PHILMUS
Associate Editor
LEWISBURG
BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON: ASSOCIATED UNIVERSITY PRESSES
H. G. WELLS
and
MODERN SCIENCE FICTION
OTHER BOOKS BY DARKO SUVIN:
Dva vida dramaturgije (Two Aspects of Dramaturgy), Zagreb, 1965.
Od Lukijana do Lunjika (From Lucian to the Lunik: An Outline of
Science Fiction Literature), Zagreb, 1965.
Bertolt Brecht: Dijalektika u Teatru (Dialectics in the Theatre), Bel
grade, 1966.
Uvod u Brechta (An Introduction to Brecht), Zagreb, 1970.
Other Worlds, Other Seas: Science Fiction From Socialist Countries,
New York 1970 and 1972 (also trans. Munich, 1972 and 1975,
Paris, 1973, The Netherlands, 1976 and Tokyo in print for 1976).
A Production Notebook to Brecht's "St. Joan of the Stockyards,"
Montreal, 1973 (with Michael D. Bristol).
Science-Fiction Studies: Selected Articles, Boston, 1976 (with R. D.
Mullen).
Russian Science Fiction 1956-1974, Boston, 1976.
Pour une poetique de la science-fiction, Montreal 1977.
OTHER BOOKS BY ROBERT M. PHILMUS:
Into the Unknown: The Evolution of Science Fiction from Francis
Godwin to H. G. Wells, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1970.
H. G. Wells: Early Writings in Science and Science Fiction, Berkeley
and Los Angeles, 1975 (with the collaboration of David Y.
Hughes).
@ 1977 by Associated University Presses, Inc.
Associated University Presses, Inc.
Cranbury, New Jersey 08512
Associated University Presses
Magdalen House
136-148 Tooley Street
London SEI 2TT, England
Jorge Luis Borges, LABYRINTHS. Donald E. Yates and
James E. Irbyeds. Copyright@ 1962, 1964 by New Directions
Publishing Corporation. Reprinted by permission of New
Directions Publishing Corporation.
Jorge Luis Borges, OTHER INQUISITIONS. Copyright@
1964 by the University of Texas Press. Copyright© 1965 by
Jorge Luis Borges. Reprinted by permission of the Univer
sity of Texas Press and J. L. Borges.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
H. G. Wells and modern science fiction.
Revised papers from an international symposium
held at McGill University in 1971.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
l. Wells, Herbert George, 1866-1946-Congresses.
2. Science fiction-Congresses. I. Suvin, Darko,
1930- II. Philmus, Robert M.
PR5777.H25 1976 823'.9'12 75-18696
ISBN 0-8387-1773-X
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Contents
Acknowledgments 7
Introduction by DARKO SUVIN 9
The Folktale, Wells, and Modern Science Fiction
by TATYANA CHERNYSHEVA 35
The Garden in Wells's Early Science Fiction
by DAVID Y. HUGHES 48
Evolution As a Literary Theme in H. G. Wells's
Science Fiction
by J. P. VERNIER 70
A Grammar of Form and a Criticism of Fact: The Time
Machine as a Structural Model for Science Fiction
by DARKO SUVIN 90
"I Told You So": Wells's Last Decade, 1936-1945
by R. D. MULLEN 116
Imagining the Future: Wells and Zamyatin
by PATRICK PARRINDER 126
The Shadow of Men Like Gods: Orwell's Coming Up for Air
as Parody
by HOWARD FINK 144
Borges and Wells and the Labyrinths of Time
by ROBERT M. PHILMUS 159
H. G. Wells and Japanese Science Fiction
by SAKYO KOMATSU 179
A Selective Bibliography (with Abstracts) of H. G. Wells's
Science Journalism, 1887-1901
by DAVID Y. HUGHES and ROBERT M. PHILMUS 191
An Annotated Survey of Books and Pamphlets
by H. G. Wells
by R. D. MULLEN 223
Contributors 269
Index of H. G. Wells's Works 271
Index of Authors 275
Acknowledgments
The international symposium "Wells and Modern Sci
ence Fiction" from which this volume resulted would not
have happened but for the support from McGill University,
in particular the then Chairman of the Department of
English, Dr. Donald F. Theall, and Academic Vice
Principal, Dr. Michael Oliver, both science-fiction buffs.
Financial assistance was provided by the McGill Depart
ment of English and the McGill Sesquicentennial Commit
tee, chaired by Mr. David Bourke, whose staff helped in
organizing the sessions. My sincere thanks are due to all of
them. I also wish to acknowledge the financial support of
the Canada Council for the research that resulted in my
own essay, and of the Committee on Research and Re
sources, Humanities Division, McGill University, for par
tially defraying the costs of editorial work.
My special thanks go to Dr. Robert M. Philmus, who not
only efficiently took over the ungrateful task of administra
tive correspondence during my leave year but also brought
to the final editing a fresh energy and a critical glance. Ms.
Mary E. Papke combined secretarial and editorial assistance
with unusual precision and cheerfulness.
Earlier and somewhat different versions of some con
tributions have appeared in the following periodicals, to
which acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint
7
8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
copyrighted material: to Comparative Literature Studies, for
the essay by Darko Suvin; to Science-Fiction Studies, for the
essays by Patrick Parrinder and Robert M. Philmus, and the
bibliographies by R. D. Mullen, and David Y. Hughes
Robert M. Philmus; to Strumenti critici, for the essay by
Darko Suvin; and to Studies in the Literary Imagination, for
the essay by Howard Fink.
To quote material from the following volumes by George
Orwell: Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters (4 vols.);
Coming Up for Air; Nineteen Eighty-Four; The Road to Wigan
Pier; published in U.K. by Seeker and Warburg and in
U.S.A. by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Professor Fink
gratefully acknowledges the permission of Sonia Brownell
Orwell and A. M. Heath & Co.
To quote material from Jorge Luis Borges's works,
Professor Philmus gratefully acknowledges the permis
sions: for Labyrinths, of New Directions Publishing Corp. and
their U.K. affiliate Lawrence P. Pollinger Ltd.; for Other
Inquisitions 1937-1952, of the University of Texas Press and
Senor Borges.
D. S.
Introduction
by DARKO SUVIN
1
This book is the result of the eponymous international
symposium "H. G. Wells and Modern Science Fiction,"
which I had the honor of organizing and presiding over at
McGill University, Montreal, as part of that university's
sesquicentennial celebrations in 1971. Participants from
Canadian and American universities, joined by Sakyo
Komatsu (Japan) and J.-P. Vernier (France), read their
papers during three days (11 to 13 October), of sessions,
which were open to the public and included discussions
between participants and audience as well as among the
participants themselves. Professor Chernysheva and Dr.
Parrinder could not attend the symposium but submitted
their contributions to this volume later. The two annotated
bibliographies, also compiled subsequently, originated
from public and private exchanges during the symposium
itself.
The genre of the symposium-if I may call it that-has
certain characteristics peculiar to it. It attempts to outline
9
