Why Speculative Fiction is an Important Genre to Me

By Jorie Rao

In college when my Literature professors asked which books were most significant to me, I’d known they were looking for an answer like Pride and Prejudice or Anna Karenina because, of course they were. They wanted something with literary merit to prove that I was deep and scholarly. 

They expected something literary with a capital L that dealt with ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Something focused on the prose, the character’s internal reflections, and the human condition. 

Instead, I would say Harry Potter and wait for the condescension that followed whenever I mentioned Speculative Fiction in the hallowed halls of an academic institution. 

And boy, did I get some derisive stares. 

Thankfully the stigma surrounding Speculative Fiction started to taper off with the movement of Fantasy and Sci-Fi into the mainstream, so saying Harry Potter in a room full of academics is a lot less scary now. 

Yet, somehow there still seems to be this distinction claiming one is more deserving of praise than the other between Literary Fiction and Speculative Fiction and most of the time I am not sure why since it’s all fiction. 

Some people police this distinction, doggedly drawing lines in the sand to separate the two genres and one of their favorite differences to cite is the concept of escapism. 

The term escapism is used as a way to downplay the significance of stories like Harry Potter, Bilbo Baggins, or Percy Jackson and claim that the escapism, while entertaining, does nothing for the reader except pacify them with a familiar story, so they can shut their brains off for a while. 

They claim that stories about witches, elves, zombies, and aliens are for fun and stories about extraordinary people dealing with ordinary things are for Art.  

To them I say, isn’t that a bit pot calling the kettle escapism? 

All fiction is about stepping out of our own lives, leaving our troubles behind, and following a character throughout their’s. It’s all escapism because that is how humans process emotions. That is why stories have always been a part of our history.

The major difference is that Speculative Fiction allows readers to face the problems of reality from a safer distance, literally and figuratively. There is room to explore in a way that helps readers learn and understand without judgement, or fear. 

For instance, the use of aliens became significant during the Cold War when people felt invaded, felt mistrust for their neighbors and for their government. Stories like Jack Finney’s 1955 novel The Body Snatchers where the aliens looked just like anyone else symbolized this new mistrust sweeping across America. 

The use of aliens makes it escapism, sure, but the distance that provided let people come to terms with their anxiety and fears during the Cold War and move forward with new perspective.

Thus the significance of Speculative Fiction. 

Speculative Fiction exists so readers can leave behind reality and all the troubles that exist there and go on an adventure with the likes of Harry Potter and watch him fight a Dark Wizard. But that doesn’t mean that along the way readers won’t also encounter those everyday troubles like sacrifice, betrayal, or grief in a way that helps them come to terms with their own real-life troubles. 

To think so would be dismissive, and just plain wrong. Speculative Fiction does both; it takes readers on an adventure while also helping them understand their troubles more completely.  

Sure, maybe you aren’t facing off a Dark Wizard anytime soon, but I bet you’ve had to make sacrifices to keep people safe and happy and I bet you’ve related to a character in Harry Potter or other books like it. I know I have and with the help of characters like Hermione Granger, I better understood why I felt so out of place growing up and ultimately felt less alone.

That connection, that safety to explore, feel, and understand, is why Speculative Fiction is so important for readers. And why this humble Literature major, whose professors would definitely be shaking their heads and holding up a dusty copy of Anna Karenina for me to read, thinks everyone should try and escape sometime.