The Colliding Worlds

Science fiction is a comparatively new literary genre. And the term "science fiction" itself sounds somehow strange when we think over the contrasting features of science, commonly understood as systematic and precise investigation and study of the world around us, and those of fiction, generally conceived as something created by writers based on sheer imagination. Is science fiction realistic? And if so, how?This thesis attempts to explore into the core of science fiction and finds out the way science fiction concerns itself with the reality of the human world. The works of Herbert George Wells, the most prominent figure in the English science fiction realm, are studied in detail to detect their realistic significance.Wells' achievement in reflecting the real world with depictions of the imagined horizon is astounding. His concern about his contemporary world is best represented by his description of a world of fantasy. However, it's not an escape from the reality. Quite contrarily, it's a more profound meditation and endeavor for solutions.This thesis is mainly focused on the following issues: (1) The definition of science of science fiction; (2) the relationship between realism and science fiction (in other words, in what way does science fiction have to do with reality); and (3) the particular realistic significance of the science fiction of H. G. Wells.By detailed analysis of the definition of science fiction and realism and the works of H. G Wells, this thesis comes to the following conclusion: science fiction is not, as may be assumed by some, evasion form the realistic world, but rather a more profound reflection of the possible or already existing defects and disasters of the human world. And, more frequently, science fiction is the writers' desperate endeavors to find solutions to the problems of the contemporary world, either predicted or existing as reality.