Abstract
This article aimed to uncover the foci, themes, and findings of research literature that utilized science fiction content or concepts to describe and illustrate human culture. To capture a representative range of research, the PRISMA process was applied to database searches across a range of disciplines, not restricted to science fiction journals. Findings revealed that science fiction literature has been used in research across disciplines including theology, semantics, natural sciences, and education. Two characteristics of the use of science fiction in research became evident in the review: its role as a tool for advocacy and cultural insight and its effectiveness as an aid to learning and teaching. An unclear boundary between real science and science in the public imagination is problematic for research success, but the purposeful integration of fictional representations of science (both natural and social) into the research story has demonstrable benefits. To address the limited application of objective methodologies, adoption of increasingly robust quantitative analysis into research in the fields of literature and culture is recommended. This would assist in bridging the two cultures divide between the humanities and natural sciences.
Highlights
Culture has been defined as “the symbolic, ideational, and intangible aspects of human societies
Science fiction has been used as a metaphor and as an illustration of human culture by researchers in fields that are not restricted to studies of science fiction literature
This has both positive and negative impacts on science communication, and may even affect priorities in science funding. It seems that in the public imagination, science fiction is closely linked to real science, and this can be problematic for the dissemination of research
Summary
Culture has been defined as “the symbolic, ideational, and intangible aspects of human societies. For the purposes of this review, we accepted that the search terms employed would capture the definitions of culture that were understood by the authors of the sources we discovered. These sources indicated that science fiction has become prominent in social and cultural research that is not purely focused on science fiction content, but which uses science fiction to complement research across a broad range of disciplines and research activities. Science fiction is significant in studies of human culture as it is an ancient and enduring form of literature that has been part of what Brian Aldiss called our “cultural wallpaper” since the origins of recorded history Suvin’s work has become a core text around which the study of science fiction circulates, and it has been used as the limiting date for this review
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