In the Golden Age, science fiction often took for its setting Venus or some far advanced century. By the 1950s, authors set their sights closer to home, envisioning a new form of Hell next door and next year. Mass consumerism and enforced conformity were the social problems of the day. McCarthyism, blind patriotism, suburbia, and the hegemony of the nuclear family attacked individualist beatniks, homosexuals, and all other manner of social misfits. Many science fiction authors of the 1950s saw these societal trends and reacted with alarm, clearly expressed in their stories.
The following is a list of works that best express 1950s angst over where society was heading:
1) Damon KnightHell's Pavement (1955). A psychological dystopia of universal mind-control.
"The Country of the Kind" (1955). Glorifies the maverick or deviant, as a reaction.
A for Anything (1959). Generally considered to be Knight's finest novel. Erosion of the individual's role in society as society itself becomes wealthier and more powerful.
2) Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth
The Space Merchants, serialized as "Gravy Planet" (1952) when first published. One theme is erosion of the individual's role in society as society itself becomes wealthier and more powerful.
"The Marching Morons" (1951). By Cyril Kornbluth alone. Expresses revulsion at suburbia and its frightening conformity.
3) Robert SilverbergThe Time Hoppers (1967). Partially about erosion of the individual's role in society as society itself becomes wealthier and more powerful.
4) William Tenn"Null-P" (1951). Expresses revulsion at suburbia and its frightening conformity; mediocrity maintained by deliberate political manipulation.
Hell's Cartographers (1975). Autobiographies of Alfred Bester, Damon Knight, Frederik Pohl, Robert Silverberg, Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss. These were among the foremost depicters of 1950s society's problems.
6) Kingsley AmisNew Maps Of Hell: A Survey Of Science Fiction (1960). Essays (from a series of six lectures) about how science fiction portrays societal problems.
7) Robert Sheckley
"The Academy" (1954). Sanity meters detect deviants.
8) Jack FinneyThe invasion of the Body Snatchers (1955). An entire California town is converted into mindless conformists.
9) Ray BradburyFahrenheit 451 (1953). Suppression of fantasy for the sake of conformity.
"Usher II" from The Martian Chronicles; originally published as "Carnival of Madness" (1950). Another suppression of fantasy for the sake of conformity story.
10) Eric Frank Russell
"...And Then There Were None" (1951). British writer's reaction against American Conservatism and conformity.
The area of sex is an exception to the science fiction author as subverter of societal norms. Almost every author accepted society's strict taboos in this area. If they dealt with this theme at all, it was in strict conformance to Conservative dictates. Perhaps this area of life was too deeply ingrained in the American psyche for authors to challenge. There are two notable exceptions to this acquiescence, however.
11) Philip Jose Farmer
"The Lovers" (1952) An exception to the 1950s trends and thus rejected by both Campbell and Gold. Explosive exploration of alien sex and love.
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12) Theodore Sturgeon
"The World Well Lost" (1953). An exception to 1950s publishing trends. Challenged sexual taboos by dealing with alien homosexuality.
I am heavily (completely) indebted to Eric Leif Davin and his discussion of 1950s science fiction trends in Chapter 14 of Partners in Wonder: Women and the Birth of Science Fiction 1926-1965. This list is derived from his discussion of the topic. If you know of other works that add to or should cause me to modify the above observations, I would love to include them. Just send me a comment. I fully plan to update all my blog entries as I gain more information on the topics they cover. Thanks.
Thanks for your interesting post. I replied over at your Goodreads crosspost.
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