Science Fiction Genre: The Man in the High Castle

What is the difference in emphasis between the terms science fiction and speculative fiction? Which is The Man in the High Castle?


Phillip K. Dick is considered a visionary whose story telling abilities are pessimistic and cautionary while intrinsically demonstrating specific personal belief in human kind. The American writer is highly worshiped in Japan and recognised as one of the greatest science fiction writers in Europe however the writer was not as recognised in the US, as science fiction was considered a low genre. Dick has produced a portofolio of thirty five science fiction novels and more than a hundred short stories, earning the title of "the most consistently brilliant science fiction writer in the world." (Brunner 1996) 

During the era of development in the science fiction genre in the fifties, Dick wrote a significant amount, that contributed to the transformation and increased recognition of the genre. During this time writers were seen to increase literary sophistication, an appreciation of psychological depth and a heightened social awareness to the genre. It was Dick's novel The man in the High Castle (1962) That gained him recognition and won the Hugo Award in 1963 for best novel.

The science fiction writer is famed by his writing as it includes integral characteristics of the genre and executed perfectly. Alien worlds, precognition, ray-guns but employs them to his own agenda. As much science fiction writing is based on hard sciences, this gave the writer the freedom to explore his obsession with meta-physics, the first principle of things. An interpretation of the fundamentals of life that include being, knowing, identity, time and space. It is here that Dick's writing can subjectively fit under the category of speculative fiction. This refers to fiction writing that are created out of human imagination rather than reality and could be seen as the opposite to realism. However, The Man in the High Castle is an alternative history novel, based on reality but speculative and explorative in narrative. 


Reference List:

Brown, E. (2001). Introduction. In Dick, P.K., The Man in the High Castle (p.v-xii). London: Penguin.