While it doesn’t surprise me to see a dancing stormtrooper video from Japan: … I must say I was surprised to see such a thing from Korea: and indeed there’s a whole channel of dancing Stormtrooper vids from Seoul. Anyone know who these people are?
Series: SF in South Korea
[Literary] SF: A Social Phenomenon (Plus Some Detours)
So, I recently recounted my observation that SF is a social phenomenon, which was (though somewhat buried) basically the point of a recent presentation I made. I was thinking about this fact when I had a sudden realization, or what felt like one, anyway. It had to do with being asked what attracted me personally, to SF, but I noted that I was an unusual case, since I came to the genre as an adult. (That is, if we take SF to mean science fiction. If we consider SF in the sense of “speculative” fiction, ie. including fantasy and horror …
Addendum to [Literary] SF: A Social Phenomenon (Plus Some Detours)
Over at the Livejournal mirror of this site, I was asked, just now, to clarify something about my last post, titled “[Literary] SF: A Social Phenomenon (Plus Some Detours),” why in the point I called Access I placed so much emphasis on foreign works in translation. I thought I would clarify that, as well as adding a point or two from the recent paper I presented at WorldCon. Note: I suggest you click that link, and see the original post first, before reading what follows. First: I emphasize foreign works in translation as an important part of “Access” to SF …
Addendum #2 to [Literary] SF: A Social Phenomenon (Plus Some Detours)
Note: This is an addendum to this original post, and to the first addendum I posted the other day. Some of the discussion that has cropped up in the responses to the earlier post and addendum to which this is appended (and which I want to address) is concerned with the “colonialism” or “imperialism” of the status I suggested American mainstream non-SF media have for average Korean viewers. That is to say, questions were raised as to whether this non-SF having a kind of pseudo-SFnal, utopian quality — in that it depicts a world not only radically different, but also …
Coming Soon: Gwacheon International SF Film Festival!
So I should have posted about this before, but there’s an SF Film Festival on soon. It’s starting in a few days (28 October) and runs until 7 November, down at the National Science Museum in Gwacheon, South Korea. There’s a twitter account that’s announcing events and so on, but unless you read Korean, it won’t mean much to you. Much better to head over to the website. It’s a chance to see all kinds of SF films on the big screen, from 2001: A Space Odyssey (and the sequel) to an all-night Back to the Future trilogy marathon this …