The Sci-Fi Literature track at Dragon Con convened a panel Sunday afternoon at 4PM in their track room (Hyatt Embassy AB) to grapple with the issue of “classics” in Science Fiction. Jean Marie Ward moderated the panel which brought Storm Humbert, Gray Rinehart, Robert J. Sawyer, Alison Tracy, and Ben Yalow together for a passionate hour of discussion and debate.
At the very beginning of the session Ward laid out her position, arguing that when she was young the genre’s classics did not speak to her. Further, because we now live in a different world, one that recognizes and embraces the multiplicity of voices and diversity, they have even less place and (by implication) relevance. She then asked the group: “where are we on this?” Yalow answered very quickly that we’re now at a point where you’ll see different sets of “classics” for different people. Nevertheless, it was important to understand that the vocabulary of modern SF was literally being written during the early twentieth century.
Sawyer, a Hugo and Nebula award winning writer, was the most passionate about the topic. He recognized (and insisted we do as well) that many of the classic works of SF include racism, sexism, and discriminatory content, but they also have “nuggets of gold.” What drew him to the genre in the first place was the “sense of wonder and mind-expanding quality” of SF. He added that authors writing in the early twentieth century did not know they were on the wrong side of history. We should approach these authors by taking the good and rejecting the rest.
Rinehart in turn asked the essential question: What is a classic? His answer was longevity. Those books that continue to get read over the span of decades often deal with qualities that are fundamental to the human equation (courage, loyalty, love, etc.). Stories that focus on these qualities are best positioned to become and remain a classic. Humbert pointed out that every author is in conversation with their predecessors. This inevitably leads them to the classical corpus. Tracy repackaged the topic to ask about periodization, asking if/when there was a “classical” period as opposed to a “modern” one. As a Sociologist, she too is interested in what books say that can be carried over from generation to generation.
With the changing media landscape, the older classics of the genre have found it increasingly difficult to find shelf space in bookstores. The dominance of media tie-ins, particularly Star Wars and Star Trek have taken up all the space. This makes it increasingly difficult to find classics in print. Rinehart, who is an editor for Baen Books, pointed out that his company is anxious to publish classic works when they have the rights to them. His company is open to all avenues of getting the work out, including online and digital publication. The challenge is often securing the rights. Many of these works are owned by the estates of authors and their descendants can be much more difficult to work with. Many have unreasonable expectations about the commercial value of the books. It is a different and difficult challenge.
The hour brought no definitive answers but everyone in attendance appreciated the opportunity to consider the question as well as the breadth and depth of opinion. It was a fascinating hour.
