Nyt ja tulevaisuudessa

Tieteisfiktion kaksi tulkinnan kategoriaa ja Leena Krohnin Pereat munduksen tulkinnallinen ambiguiteetti

• Juha Raipola Tampereen yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30665/av.74887

Abstract

In the Present, in the Future: Two Categories of SF Interpretation, and the Ambiguity of Leena Krohn’s Pereat mundus

The genre of science fiction is commonly separated into two different categories: the extrapolative and the analogical/speculative SF. Traditionally, the extrapolative pole of SF has consisted of scenarios which appear to have a high probability of actually happening. The speculative branch of science fiction, for its part, has trusted on a discontinuative leap toward an entirely other state of affairs. The worlds of speculative SF exist in analogical relation with the empirical world of the author, eliciting metaphorical or allegorical readings that are not predicated upon the linear logic of “if this goes on”.

Today, it often appears difficult to maintain this seemingly crucial distinction between the extrapolative and the speculative branches of the genre. The new possibilities opened up by scientific advances in such fields as computer science, nanotechnology or genetic engineering are often so extensive in their scope that even the near-future scenarios of real science are taking more and more speculative forms. This article examines the relationship between the two categories of SF interpretation and recognizes the role of both analogical and prefactual elements in the genre. The issue is further examined through the example of Leena Krohn’s Pereat mundus. Romaani eräänlainen (1998). I argue that the opening chapter of the book is based on both prefactual and analogical elements, and that the unavoidable ambiguity between the two categories is intrinsic to the work.