Editing Science fiction (section)

===As protest literature===
{{Further|Social novel|}}
[[File:Feliz 1984.JPG|thumb|upright=0.75|"Happy 1984" in Spanish or Portuguese, referencing [[George Orwell]]'s ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'', on a standing piece of the [[Berlin Wall]] (sometime after 1998)]]

Science fiction has sometimes been used as a means of [[social protest]]. [[George Orwell]]'s ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'' (1949) is an important work of [[Dystopian fiction|dystopian science fiction]].<ref name=BenetReader>{{Cite book|title=Benét's reader's encyclopedia|last=Murphy|first=Bruce|date=1996|publisher=Harper Collins|isbn=978-0-06-181088-6|location=New York|language=en|page=734|oclc = 35572906}}</ref><ref name=aaron>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21337504|title=1984: George Orwell's road to dystopia|last=Aaronovitch|first=David|date=8 February 2013|work=BBC News|access-date=8 February 2013|language=en-GB|archive-date=24 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124202714/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21337504|url-status=live}}</ref>  It is often invoked in protests against governments and leaders who are seen as [[totalitarianism|totalitarian]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-1984-protest-screenings-20170326-story.html|title=As a Trump protest, theaters worldwide will screen the film version of Orwell's '1984'|last=Kelley|first=Sonaiya|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=4 April 2019|date=28 March 2017|archive-date=4 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404034529/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-1984-protest-screenings-20170326-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/nineteen-eighty-four-and-the-politics-of-dystopia|title=Nineteen Eighty-Four and the politics of dystopia|website=The British Library|access-date=4 April 2019|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308004754/https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/nineteen-eighty-four-and-the-politics-of-dystopia|url-status=live}}</ref> [[James Cameron]]'s 2009 film ''[[Avatar (2009 film)|Avatar]]'' was intended as a protest against [[imperialism]], and specifically the [[European colonization of the Americas]].<ref name=npr>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123810319|last=Gross|first=Terry|date=18 February 2010|title=James Cameron: Pushing the limits of imagination|access-date=27 February 2010|work=[[National Public Radio]]|archive-date=21 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100221092225/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123810319|url-status=live}}</ref> Science fiction in Latin America and Spain explore the concept of  [[authoritarianism]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dziubinskyj |first1=Aaron |date=November 2004 |title=Review: Science Fiction in Latin America and Spain |journal=Science Fiction Studies |volume=31 |issue=3 Soviet Science Fiction: The Thaw and After |doi=10.1525/sfs.31.3.428 |jstor=4241289}}</ref>

[[Robot]]s, [[Artificial intelligence|artificial humans]], human [[cloning|clones]], intelligent [[computers]], and their possible conflicts with human society have all been major themes of science fiction since, at least, the publication of Shelly's ''[[Frankenstein]]''. Some critics have seen this as reflecting authors' concerns over the [[social alienation]] seen in modern society.<ref name = "Schelde1994">Androids, Humanoids, and Other Science Fiction Monsters: Science and Soul in Science Fiction Films, Per Schelde, NYU Press, 1994, pages 1–10</ref>

[[Feminist science fiction]] poses questions about social issues such as how society constructs [[gender role]]s, the role [[reproduction]] plays in defining [[gender]], and the inequitable political or personal power of one gender over others. Some works have illustrated these themes using [[utopia]]s to explore a society in which gender differences or gender power imbalances do not exist, or [[dystopia]]s to explore worlds in which [[Gender inequality|gender inequalities]] are intensified, thus asserting a need for feminist work to continue.<ref name="encyclopedia3"/><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Palgrave handbook of posthumanism in film and television |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-137-43032-8|location=Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire|oclc=918873873|last1 = Hauskeller|first1 = Michael|last2 = Carbonell|first2 = Curtis D.|last3 = Philbeck|first3 = Thomas D.|date = 13 January 2016}}</ref>

[[Climate fiction]], or "cli-fi", deals with issues concerning [[Climate variability and change|climate change]] and [[global warming]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=31 May 2013|title=Global warning: the rise of 'cli-fi'|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/may/31/global-warning-rise-cli-fi|access-date=29 December 2022|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref><ref name="DanBloom">{{cite news|last1=Bloom|first1=Dan|title='Cli-Fi' Reaches into Literature Classrooms Worldwide|url=http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/03/cli-fi-reaches-into-literature-classrooms-worldwide/|work=Inter Press Service News Agency|date=10 March 2015|access-date=23 March 2015|archive-date=17 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317030221/http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/03/cli-fi-reaches-into-literature-classrooms-worldwide/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[University]] [[Course (education)|courses]] on [[literature]] and [[environmental issue]]s may include climate change fiction in their [[Syllabus|syllabi]],<ref>{{cite news|last1=Pérez-Peña|first1=Richard|title=College Classes Use Arts to Brace for Climate Change|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/01/education/using-the-arts-to-teach-how-to-prepare-for-climate-crisis.html|access-date=31 March 2015|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=31 March 2014 |issue=1 April 2014 pg A12|archive-date=13 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413230931/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/01/education/using-the-arts-to-teach-how-to-prepare-for-climate-crisis.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and it is often discussed by other [[media (communication)|media]] outside of [[science fiction fandom]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tuhus-Dubrow|first1=Rebecca|title=Cli-Fi: Birth of a Genre|url=http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/cli-fi-birth-of-a-genre|access-date=23 March 2015|work=[[Dissent (American magazine)|Dissent]]|date=Summer 2013|archive-date=22 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322021514/http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/cli-fi-birth-of-a-genre|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Libertarian science fiction]] focuses on the [[politics]] and [[social order]] implied by [[right libertarian]] philosophies with an emphasis on [[individualism]] and [[private property]], and in some cases [[anti-statism]].<ref name="Raymond">{{cite web
|title=A Political History of SF
|last=Raymond
|first=Eric
|url=http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/sf-history.html
|access-date=4 December 2007
|archive-date=20 December 2015
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151220012359/http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/sf-history.html
|url-status=live
}}</ref> [[Robert A. Heinlein]] is one of the most popular authors of this subgenre, including ''[[The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress|The Moon is a Harsh Mistress]]'' and ''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 4, 2000 |title=OUT OF THIS WORLD: A BIOGRAPHY OF ROBERT HEINLEIN |url=https://www.libertarianism.org/publications/essays/out-world-biography-robert-heinlein |access-date=2024-06-26 |website=www.libertarianism.org}}</ref>

[[Science fiction comedy]] often [[Satire|satirizes]] and [[Criticism|criticizes]] present-day [[society]], and sometimes makes fun of the [[Convention (norm)|conventions]] and [[cliché]]s of more serious science fiction.<ref name="Fantasy, Bruce Shaw 2010, page 19">The Animal Fable in Science Fiction and Fantasy, Bruce Shaw, McFarland, 2010, page 19</ref><ref name="Comedy Science Fiction">{{cite web |url=https://sfbook.com/comedy-science-fiction.htm |title=Comedy Science Fiction |publisher=Sfbook.com |access-date=2 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105108/https://sfbook.com/comedy-science-fiction.htm |archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref>