Science Fiction, An Other Kind Of Cultural Fable

Science fiction is a type of marginal literature, which has been regarded as “subculture” in the west. Besides of the imaginative stories, science fiction also requires relatively solid cores that can be proved scientifically. And no matter how far science fiction looks like to be linked to the reality, it does pay close attention to the real world and social cultural in its own way. This article will mainly take Nancy Kress’ s novel "Beggars in Spain" as an example, with the guidance of “structural fabulation” theory from Robert Scholes, to discuss and analyze the fable characteristics of science fiction and its possible functions to social culture.This paper is mainly written in four parts, includes forewords and three chapters. Forewords will focus on the definition and characteristics of science fiction, and the research at the present situation of science fiction as well as Nancy and her works briefly, explains the research purpose and method of this paper. The first chapter will work on the structural fabulation theory, and narrow down the subject investigated in this paper. The second and third chapters will separately discuss two aspects of structural fabulation, which are fictitious way of writing and reviews of modern social culture. Analyzing metaphors in the novel and demonstrating the cognitive characteristics of science fiction will also be made in those chapters. Since we are now living in the era of science and technology, science has been changing the world and culture in a speed faster than ever in human history. Also,science has been changing literature, therefore, much more attention should be paid to the study of science fiction.