Extrapolation

Stars in My Pocket

SF, Philip K. Dick, and the Space Age

Extrapolation (2013), 54, (1), 47–72.

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3828/extr.2013.4
Language
English
Pages
26

Abstract

The trope of space exploration that attracted so many writers during the "golden age" of the genre remains an SF hallmark. We may, however, question its contemporary centrality after the waning of the intellectual climate that De Witt Douglas Kilgore labeled as "astrofuturism." Perhaps, just like David Hartwell argues in Age of Wonders, "When it comes true," meaning the Moon landing and other achievements from the American space program, "it's no fun anymore." This paper looks at the peculiar way Philip K. Dick embraced space exploration, anticipating its exhaustion and substituting in its place a more inner (perhaps "virtual") approach.

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Rosa, Jorge