Recent from talks
Pulp era of science fiction
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Pulp era of science fiction
In the history of science fiction, the pulp era (occasionally pulp age) is a period subject to various definitions. It is commonly held to have begun in 1926, the year the first science fiction magazine—Hugo Gernsback's Amazing Stories—was launched. The end point is usually placed in the 1950s, when the pulp magazines ceased publication. Various largely similar definitions exist that differ by a few years in either direction at the beginning or end of the period, though there are some outliers—by the broadest definition the era began in 1896 with the first (albeit genre-nonspecific) pulp magazine Argosy, and by the narrowest it ended in 1937 with the onset of the Golden Age of Science Fiction. The notion of science fiction as a defined genre, as well as the term science fiction itself, originated in this period.
The first pulp magazine appeared in 1896 when Frank Munsey changed the format of Argosy and started printing it on pulp paper. Argosy and the magazines that followed in its wake carried general fiction, including science fiction; the first science fiction story published in a pulp magazine was Charles H. Palmer's "Citizen 504", which appeared in the very first pulp issue of Argosy (December 1896). Pulp magazines specializing in specific genres, such as Westerns or crime fiction, started appearing in the 1910s with titles like Detective Story Magazine (launched 1915) and Western Story Magazine (launched 1919). The first pulp magazine devoted to speculative fiction—including but not limited to science fiction—was Weird Tales, launched in 1923.
The first dedicated science fiction magazine was Amazing Stories, launched by Hugo Gernsback in 1926, though it was not originally a pulp magazine and would not be until 1933; the first science fiction magazine that was also a pulp magazine was Astounding Stories of Super-Science when it launched in 1930. With the science fiction magazines came the notion of science fiction as a defined genre. This was also the origin of the term "science fiction" to refer to that genre; Gernsback adopted the term in 1929, having called the genre "scientifiction" at the 1926 launch of Amazing. Earlier works in the genre had received other labels; for instance, Jules Verne's had been referred to as voyages extraordinaires and H. G. Wells's as scientific romances.
Several additional magazines by Gernsback and others appeared, and in some cases disappeared again, in the years that followed; in 1937, there were seven science fiction pulp magazines in publication. The majority of science fiction that was published in pulp magazines nevertheless continued to appear in general pulps rather than science fiction ones until 1943. Magazines remained the primary outlet for science fiction until the end of World War II, after which anthologies and novels became increasingly common alongside other forms of media such as film, television, and comics.
After 1950, the pulps gradually disappeared, largely to be replaced by paperbacks and digest magazines, though new ones continued to appear as late as 1953. The last remaining science fiction pulp magazine that had not changed format, Science Fiction Quarterly, ceased publication in 1958; the last pulp magazine overall was Ranch Romances, the final issue of which was published in 1971.
The launch of Amazing in 1926 is commonly regarded as the start of the pulp era of science fiction, for instance by Gary Westfahl and Marshall Tymn. Others who use 1926 as the starting point include Mike Ashley and Lisa Yaszek. Westfahl notes 1923 as another possible start point, with the launch of Weird Tales and the "Scientific Fiction" issue of Gernsback's Science and Invention.
Amelia Beamer writes that in the context of science fiction, the pulp era is usually held to have begun with the specialized magazines of the 1920s, rather than with the earlier general pulps. Nevertheless, the period when science fiction appeared in the general pulps is occasionally considered part of the pulp era; for instance, Michael R. Page counts the pulp era as beginning with Argosy in 1896.
Eric Leif Davin, who favours using the term as shorthand for the period 1926–1960, comments that technically speaking the pulp era of science fiction lasted a few years shorter than that—from the first issue of Astounding (January 1930) to the last issue of Science Fiction Quarterly (February 1958); similarly, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction writes that "The era of the specialist sf pulp magazine [...] ran from 1930 to the mid-fifties".
Hub AI
Pulp era of science fiction AI simulator
(@Pulp era of science fiction_simulator)
Pulp era of science fiction
In the history of science fiction, the pulp era (occasionally pulp age) is a period subject to various definitions. It is commonly held to have begun in 1926, the year the first science fiction magazine—Hugo Gernsback's Amazing Stories—was launched. The end point is usually placed in the 1950s, when the pulp magazines ceased publication. Various largely similar definitions exist that differ by a few years in either direction at the beginning or end of the period, though there are some outliers—by the broadest definition the era began in 1896 with the first (albeit genre-nonspecific) pulp magazine Argosy, and by the narrowest it ended in 1937 with the onset of the Golden Age of Science Fiction. The notion of science fiction as a defined genre, as well as the term science fiction itself, originated in this period.
The first pulp magazine appeared in 1896 when Frank Munsey changed the format of Argosy and started printing it on pulp paper. Argosy and the magazines that followed in its wake carried general fiction, including science fiction; the first science fiction story published in a pulp magazine was Charles H. Palmer's "Citizen 504", which appeared in the very first pulp issue of Argosy (December 1896). Pulp magazines specializing in specific genres, such as Westerns or crime fiction, started appearing in the 1910s with titles like Detective Story Magazine (launched 1915) and Western Story Magazine (launched 1919). The first pulp magazine devoted to speculative fiction—including but not limited to science fiction—was Weird Tales, launched in 1923.
The first dedicated science fiction magazine was Amazing Stories, launched by Hugo Gernsback in 1926, though it was not originally a pulp magazine and would not be until 1933; the first science fiction magazine that was also a pulp magazine was Astounding Stories of Super-Science when it launched in 1930. With the science fiction magazines came the notion of science fiction as a defined genre. This was also the origin of the term "science fiction" to refer to that genre; Gernsback adopted the term in 1929, having called the genre "scientifiction" at the 1926 launch of Amazing. Earlier works in the genre had received other labels; for instance, Jules Verne's had been referred to as voyages extraordinaires and H. G. Wells's as scientific romances.
Several additional magazines by Gernsback and others appeared, and in some cases disappeared again, in the years that followed; in 1937, there were seven science fiction pulp magazines in publication. The majority of science fiction that was published in pulp magazines nevertheless continued to appear in general pulps rather than science fiction ones until 1943. Magazines remained the primary outlet for science fiction until the end of World War II, after which anthologies and novels became increasingly common alongside other forms of media such as film, television, and comics.
After 1950, the pulps gradually disappeared, largely to be replaced by paperbacks and digest magazines, though new ones continued to appear as late as 1953. The last remaining science fiction pulp magazine that had not changed format, Science Fiction Quarterly, ceased publication in 1958; the last pulp magazine overall was Ranch Romances, the final issue of which was published in 1971.
The launch of Amazing in 1926 is commonly regarded as the start of the pulp era of science fiction, for instance by Gary Westfahl and Marshall Tymn. Others who use 1926 as the starting point include Mike Ashley and Lisa Yaszek. Westfahl notes 1923 as another possible start point, with the launch of Weird Tales and the "Scientific Fiction" issue of Gernsback's Science and Invention.
Amelia Beamer writes that in the context of science fiction, the pulp era is usually held to have begun with the specialized magazines of the 1920s, rather than with the earlier general pulps. Nevertheless, the period when science fiction appeared in the general pulps is occasionally considered part of the pulp era; for instance, Michael R. Page counts the pulp era as beginning with Argosy in 1896.
Eric Leif Davin, who favours using the term as shorthand for the period 1926–1960, comments that technically speaking the pulp era of science fiction lasted a few years shorter than that—from the first issue of Astounding (January 1930) to the last issue of Science Fiction Quarterly (February 1958); similarly, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction writes that "The era of the specialist sf pulp magazine [...] ran from 1930 to the mid-fifties".
Recent media