Editing Mars in fiction (section)

=== Decadent ===
[[File:Planet stories 195103.jpg|alt=Refer to caption|thumb|Decadent portrayals of Martians were popularized by [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]], inspiring many authors such as [[Leigh Brackett]]. Seen here is the March 1951 cover of ''[[Planet Stories]]'', featuring Brackett's "[[Black Amazon of Mars]]".]]
The conception of Martians as decadent was largely derived from [[Percival Lowell]]'s vision of Mars.<ref name="SFEMars" /><ref name="StablefordMars" /><ref name="SFELowell" /> The first appearance of Martians characterized by decadence in a work of fiction was in the 1905 novel ''[[Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation]]'' by [[Edwin Lester Arnold]]—variously considered one of the earliest examples of, or an important precursor to, the [[planetary romance]] subgenre.<ref name="SFEMars" /><ref name="StablefordMars" /><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Science Fiction: The Definitive Illustrated Guide |date=1996 |publisher=Carlton |isbn=1-85868-188-X |editor-last=Pringle |editor-first=David |editor-link=David Pringle |pages=23 |language=en |chapter=Planetary Romances |oclc=38373691 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/ultimateencyclop0000unse_a8c7/page/23/mode/2up}}</ref><ref name="SFEPlanetaryRomance">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2013 |title=Planetary Romance |encyclopedia=[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]] |url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/planetary_romance |access-date=2025-04-01 |edition=4th |author1-last=Clute |author1-first=John |author1-link=John Clute |author2-last=Langford |author2-first=David |author2-link=David Langford |editor1-last=Clute |editor1-first=John |editor1-link=John Clute |editor2-last=Langford |editor2-first=David |editor2-link=David Langford |editor3-last=Sleight |editor3-first=Graham |editor3-link=Graham Sleight}}</ref> The idea was developed further and popularized by [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] in the 1912–1943 ''[[Barsoom]]'' series starting with ''[[A Princess of Mars]]''.<ref name="SFEMars" /><ref name="WestfahlMars" /><ref name="StablefordMars" /> Burroughs presents a Mars in need of human intervention to regain its vitality,<ref name="WestfahlMars" /><ref name="GreenwoodMars" /> a place where violence has replaced sexual desire.<ref name="CrossleyMasculinistFantasies" /> Science fiction critic {{Interlanguage link|Robert Crossley|qid=Q55188564}}, in the 2011 non-fiction book ''[[Imagining Mars: A Literary History]]'', identifies Burroughs's work as the archetypal example of what he dubs "masculinist fantasies", where "male travelers ''expect'' to find princesses on Mars and devote much of their time either to courting or to protecting them".<ref name="CrossleyMasculinistFantasies" /> This version of Mars also functions as a kind of stand-in for the bygone [[American frontier]], where protagonist [[John Carter of Mars|John Carter]]—a [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] veteran of the [[American Civil War]] who is made [[Superhuman strength|superhumanly strong]] by the lower [[gravity of Mars]]—encounters indigenous Martians representing [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]].<ref name="CrossleyMasculinistFantasies" /><ref name="MarkleyLimitsOfImagination" /><ref name="NewellLamont" />

Burroughs's vision of Mars would go on to have an influence approaching but not quite reaching Wells's,<ref name="Webb">{{Cite book |last=Webb |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Webb (scientist) |title=All the Wonder that Would Be: Exploring Past Notions of the Future |date=2017 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-51759-9 |series=Science and Fiction |pages=71–72 |language=en |chapter=Space Travel |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-51759-9_3 |quote=''War of the Worlds'' is an archetypical piece of science fiction, and one of the most influential books in the canon. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TVPJDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA71}}</ref> inspiring the works of many other authors—for instance, [[C. L. Moore]]'s stories about [[Northwest Smith]] starting with the 1933 short story "[[Shambleau]]".<ref name="LiptakDestinationMars">{{Cite magazine |last=Liptak |first=Andrew |date=May 2015 |title=Destination: Mars |url=https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/liptak_05_15/ |magazine=[[Clarkesworld Magazine]] |issue=104 |issn=1937-7843}}</ref> Another author who followed Burroughs's lead in the decadent portrayal of Mars and its inhabitants—while updating the politics to reflect shifting attitudes toward [[colonialism]] and [[imperialism]] in the intervening years—was [[Leigh Brackett]],<ref name="MarkleyLimitsOfImagination" /><ref name="NewellLamont" /><ref name="GreenwoodMars" /> the "Queen of the Planetary Romance".<ref name="AshleyLostMars" /> Brackett's works in this vein include the 1940 short story "[[Martian Quest]]" and the 1944 novel ''[[Shadow Over Mars]]'', as well as the stories about [[Eric John Stark]] including the 1949 short story "[[Queen of the Martian Catacombs]]" and the 1951 short story "[[Black Amazon of Mars]]" (later expanded into the 1964 novels ''[[The Secret of Sinharat]]'' and ''[[People of the Talisman]]'', respectively).<ref name="SFEMars" /><ref name="StablefordMars" /><ref name="NewellLamont">{{Cite book |last1=Newell |first1=Diana |title=Visions of Mars: Essays on the Red Planet in Fiction and Science |last2=Lamont |first2=Victoria |date=2014 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-8470-6 |editor-last=Hendrix |editor-first=Howard V. |editor-link=Howard V. Hendrix |pages=73–79 |language=en |chapter=Savagery on Mars: Representations of the Primitive in Brackett and Burroughs |editor-last2=Slusser |editor-first2=George |editor-link2=George Slusser |editor-last3=Rabkin |editor-first3=Eric S. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XjIglebU6CIC&pg=PA73}}</ref>

Decadent Martians appeared in many other stories as well. The 1933 novel ''[[Cat Country (novel)|Cat Country]]'' (''貓城記'') by [[Chinese science fiction]] writer [[Lao She]] portrays feline Martians overcome by vices such as opium addiction and corruption as a vehicle for [[satire]] of contemporary Chinese society.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2023<!-- 6 February --> |title=China |encyclopedia=[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]] |url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/china |access-date=2023-05-13 |edition=4th |author1-last=Clements |author1-first=Jonathan |author1-link=Jonathan Clements |editor1-last=Clute |editor1-first=John |editor1-link=John Clute |editor2-last=Langford |editor2-first=David |editor2-link=David Langford |editor3-last=Sleight |editor3-first=Graham |editor3-link=Graham Sleight}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lozada |first=Eriberto P. Jr. |title=Religion and Science Fiction |date=2012 |publisher=ISD LLC |isbn=978-0-7188-4096-9 |editor-last=McGrath |editor-first=James F. |editor-link=James F. McGrath |pages=66–67 |language=en |chapter=Star Trekking in China: Science Fiction as Theodicy in Contemporary China |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3XezEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA66}}</ref> In the 1950 film ''[[Rocketship X-M]]'', Martians are depicted as disfigured [[cavepeople]] inhabiting a barren wasteland, descendants of the few survivors of a [[nuclear holocaust]];<ref name="MarkleyLimitsOfImagination" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Thomas Kent |title=Mars in the Movies: A History |date=2016 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-2626-0 |pages=46 |language=en |chapter=''Rocketship X-M'' (1950) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y7R5DQAAQBAJ&pg=PT56}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Henderson |first=C. J. |title=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Movies |date=2001 |publisher=New York: Facts On File |isbn=978-0-8160-4043-8 |pages=356 |chapter=Rocketship X-M |oclc=44669849 |author-link=C. J. Henderson (writer) |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofsc0000hend/page/356/mode/2up}}</ref> in the 1963 novel ''[[The Man Who Fell to Earth (novel)|The Man Who Fell to Earth]]'' by [[Walter Tevis]] a survivor of nuclear holocaust on Mars comes to Earth for refuge but finds it to be similarly corrupt and degenerate.<ref name="SFEMars" /><ref name="CrossleyScientificAdvances" /><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Science Fiction: The Definitive Illustrated Guide |date=1996 |publisher=Carlton |isbn=1-85868-188-X |editor-last=Pringle |editor-first=David |editor-link=David Pringle |pages=233–234 |language=en |chapter=Walter Tevis |oclc=38373691 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/ultimateencyclop0000unse_a8c7/page/233/mode/2up}}</ref> Inverting the premise of Heinlein's ''Stranger in a Strange Land'', the 1963 short story "[[A Rose for Ecclesiastes]]" by [[Roger Zelazny]] sees decadent Martians visited by a preacher from Earth.<ref name="Webster">{{Cite magazine |last=Webster |first=Bud |author-link=Bud Webster |date=2006-07-01 |title=Mars — the Amply Read Planet |url=http://www.philsp.com/articles/pastmasters_01.html |url-status=live |magazine=[[Helix SF]] |id=[https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?32655 ISFDB series #32655] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004211726/http://www.philsp.com/articles/pastmasters_01.html |archive-date=2021-10-04 |access-date=2022-06-21}}</ref>