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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol. 37, No. 17. July 17, 1974

Books

Books

Furry freak brothers reading books

E.E. "Doc" Smith Ph. D. was the acknowledged master of the gadgety, fastmoving, gigantic cosmic melodramas, known as "space-operas" which sprung up in association with the pulp magazines of the 1930's. The adolescent co-existed with the adult in escaping into his famous epic "Lensman" series.

Smith was a scientist, turned writer. It shows. His hooks are atrociously written and only a bare semblance of structured plot—usually a series of unrelated, adventures. Scientific rationalisations abound; self conscious gadgetry which baffles the reader in theoretical complication. The introduction of science is a mere faint attempt at respectability. His characters are like children's drawing—wooden, emotionless people who are, strictly defined in black and white categories. The hero is the goodest, cleverest, strongest in the whole cosmos. The villain is the cleverest, evilest of his collective band of villains. The fight between civilisation (a Utopian socialist democracy) and the rest who form a united front of imperialist space pirates and inter-galactic dope traffikers.

But its unfair to analyze Smith like this. His books do have a rather quaint charm and sometimes his sheer imagination overcomes literary deficiencies. But there is a limit to the imagination shown in Smith's work and other space-operas. For one, their plot structure is identical to the cheap westerns of a few decades earlier. Arizona becomes the cosmos, the hero sports a blaster instead of a six gun, badmen become bad aliens and Indians become monsters. Secondly the elemental settings, no matter how far from Earth are little different from the America of the time. Inter-galactic gangsters drawl broadway slang in extraterrestrial versions of Manhatten. Especially in Smith's books, where there are unmistakeable elements of crude Marxism, there is an obvious question to be asked. If you are trying to make a point, why leave Earth at all?

If we can accept that space opera, no matter how vulgar, is a form of social expression, and as such is a product of the social environment, then the answer becomes more obvious. There are two major themes running through 1930's space opera: 1) that by the systematic investigation of nature and the knowledge of science, man could improve the human condition. 2) The universe is a machine, indifferent to man, and lacking a divine plan or purpose The 1930s was a depressing era which saw the near-collapse of capitalism, great economic hardship and the shadow of fascism. Space opera was popular because it offered people the chance to transcend the limitations of their immediate environment in the form of undisciplined galactic romping which defied all scientific laws. They offered not only escape but hope. Man had used the power of science to conquer not only Earth, but a hostile cosmos. Smith's socialist utopias offered the same hope.

After the war, when the wave of new affluence meant that people were able to look beyond the immediate reality into a future that was becoming increasingly resistant to scientific progress, science-fiction realised its potential for social comment. By transforming the institutions of the present into another context, they could be shown up for the absurdities they were. The relationship of humanity to scientific and technological progress was explored. Inverted and satiric utopias served as warnings of menacing, subtle repressions. Space opera faded away, but the need for a new form of escapist pulp remained..

The new pulp is not as blatantly childish as space opera but the principle behind it is the same. James Bond and Kung-fu movies offer not only escape, but a perverse hope. The inadequacies of man in an unjust social system can be forgotten. For once man becomes the superman—he reacts not to his social environment, but to some under strength we can pretend is always with us.

Space opera and other forms of escapist pulp are overwhelmingly symptomatic of the competitive, rat-race western culture. The USA is the best example where the need for escapism is not only spawned, but it exploited in the form of pulp. Pulp is big business. But it need not be dismissed completely. The new pulp is as equally expressive of the times, as space opera was of the 1930s.

—David Buxton

[Note—the general opinion of practising intellectuals at varsity (with the possible exception of Roger Steele) is that it's probably excusable to read the odd E.E. Smith novel as a sociological period piece as long as one does not neglect their diligent readings of the Thoughts of Mao Tsetung.—DB)

salient notes

It was a light and fine morning. Suddenly the phone rang. "Salient here." "Hi, is Margot Bourke there please?" "Nah, She's playing pool with David Rutherford." "Really? How about Graeme Simpson or Anthony Ward?" "They're watching TV with Brendan Smith, Robert Pui and Mark Derby." "What are they doing that for ?" "They're hoping to see Roger Steele, Grub, Colin Feslier, Alison McKay, Claire Smith and Stephen Hall on the march to the Employer's Federation." "I see, well who can you offer me?" "Urn, Christine Haggart, John Ryall, Derek Pickers, Richard Siegart, Lyn Peck, Barbara Frings, Pete Byrne, Pete O'Neil, Alex Shaw, Krishna Menon, David Tripe, Lloyd Weeber. Patrick O'Hagan or John Henderson." "Could I speak to one of them then?" "I'm afraid they're busy." "Doing what?" "Getting down details of all the libel suits coming over Radio Windy." "Well who are you then?" "Roger Steele—the Editor—who are you?" "It's Barry Ackerman—I wanted to get Keith Stewart to take a photo of that man doing an imitation of my clown act down at Parliament."