21. More radically, I want to argue modern science fiction and modern historical thinking were born at the same moment, 18th/19th century
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Replying to @HeerJeet
22. Of course there were historical chronicles before 18th century as well as lots of proto-science fiction (Lucien, Donne, Milton, Kepler)
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23. But both historical chronicles & proto-science fiction very different than new thinking that emerged out of French Revolution.
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24. French Revolution forced us to think of history in new way, with new emphasis on ruptures and uncontrollable social forces.
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25. Out of French revolution emerged more ambitious historical writing (Michelet, Walter Scott) and science fiction (Mary Shelley)
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26. Later in 19th century, impact of French Revolution augmented and taken much further by Darwinian Revolution.
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27. Darwin changed not just how we think about the past but also the future. If past was very different, future will also be very different
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28. Out of Darwin we get far-future science fiction of H.G. Wells & Stapledon imagining the post-human future.
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29. It's no accident H.G. Wells wrote both Time Machine and The Outline of History (one of the most popular history books ever).
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30. It's no accident that science fiction writers are also often historical novelists: Kim Stanley Robinson, Nicola Griffith, etc.
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31. In writing about Middle Ages in "Hild" Nicola Griffith uses same skill set she applies to her SF, imagining radically different world.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
32. Let's go back to Hitler. One impact of Hitler was that he forced a revival of thinking on "Great Man" theory of History.
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33. In the wake of Hitler, 1940s/1950s saw a) academic revival of biographies (Donald Creighton) & narrative history (Mattingly's Armada)
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