Science Fiction, Children's Literature, and Popular Culture: Coming of Age in Fantasyland (Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy)

174 Pages·2000·9.8 MB·English

by  Gary Westfahl

Science Fiction,
Children's Literature,
and Popular Culture
Recent Titles in Contributions to the
Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy

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David W. Sisk

Folklore and the Fantastic in Twelve Modern Irish Novels
Marguerite Quintelli-Neary

A Century of Welsh Myth in Children's Literature
Donna R. White

Strange Constellations: A History of Australian Science Fiction
Russell Blackford

Immortal Monster: The Mythological Evolution of the Fantastic Beast in
Modern Fiction and Film
Joseph D. Andriano

Young Adult Science Fiction
C. W. Sullivan HI, editor

Spiritual Exploration in the Works of Doris Lessing
Phyllis Sternberg Perrakis, editor

The Road to Castle Mount: The Science Fiction of Robert Silverberg
Edgar L. Chapman

Back in the Spaceship Again: Juvenile Science Fiction Series Since 1945
Karen Sands and Marietta Frank

Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-earth
Verlyn Flieger and Carl F. Hostetter, editors

Space and Beyond: The Frontier Theme in Science Fiction
Gary Westfahl, editor

Transrealist Fiction: Writing in the Slipstream of Science
Damien Broderick
Science Fiction,
Children's Literature,
and Popular Culture

Coming of Age in Fantasyland

GaryWestfahl

Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Number 88
Donald Palumbo, Series Adviser

GREENWOOD PRESS
Westport, Connecticut • London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Westfahl, Gary.
Science fiction, children's literature, and popular culture : coming of age in fantasyland
/ Gary Westfahl.
p. cm.—(Contributions to the study of science fiction and fantasy, ISSN 0193-6875 ;
no. 88)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-313-30847-0 (alk. paper)
1. Science fiction, American—History and criticism. 2. Fantasy fiction,
American—History and criticism. 3. Children's stories, American—History and criticism.
4. Popular culture—United States—History—20th century. 5. Children—United
States—Books and reading—History—20th century. I. Title. II. Series.
PS374.S35W44 2000
813'.08776099282—dc21 99-045568

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.

Copyright © 2000 by Gary Westfahl

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 99-045568
ISBN: 0-313-30847-0
ISSN: 0193-6875

First published in 2000

Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
www.greenwood.com

Printed in the United States of America

The paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984).

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

Every reasonable effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright materials in this book, but
in some instances this has proven impossible. The author and publisher will be glad to receive information leading to more complete acknowledgments in subsequent printings of the book and in the
meantime extend their apologies for any omissions.
To my late mother,
Thelma Elder Westfahl
who gave me Charlie,
Superman, the Hardy Boys,
and other things
This page intentionally left blank
Contents

Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
1. How Charlie Made Children Hate Him:
Fantasy and Reality in Stories for Small Children 1
2. The Three Lives of Superman—And Everybody Else 13
3. Mystery of the Amateur Detectives: The Early Days
of the Hardy Boys 19

4. Giving Horatio Alger Goosebumps, Or, From
Hardy Boys to Hapless Boys: The Changing Ethos
of Juvenile Series Fiction 37
5. From the Back of the Head to Beyond the Moon:
The Novel and Film This Island Earth 49
6. Opposing War, Exploiting War: The Troubled
Pacifism of Star Trek 69
7. Even Better than the Real Thing: Advertising,
Music Videos, Postmodernism, and (Eventually)
Science Fiction 79
Vlll

8. Legends of the Fall: Going Not Particularly Far
Behind the Music

Contents

93

9. Hollywood Strikes a Pose: Seven Tales of Triumph,
Treachery, and Travail in Old Tinseltown 107
10. In Defense of Stone Tablets: Isaac Asimov
Explains Why Science Fiction Is Skeptical about
"New Information Technologies" 121
11. Partial Derivatives: Popular Misinterpretations of
H. G. Wells's The Time Machine 129
Bibliography 142
Index 149
Acknowledgments

One chapter of this book has been previously published: a short, early version of
"Mystery of the Amateur Detectives" appeared in the last issue of the British
magazine Million: The Magazine about Popular Fiction. I thank its editor David
Pringle for encouraging me to write on that subject and for publishing the results.
Another chapter of this book, "In Defense of Stone Tablets," originated as my
contribution to a panel discussion on "Beyond Cyberpunk: Science, Science
Fiction, and Information Technology in the 1990s," which took place at the 16th
Annual Western Humanities Conference in Riverside, California, in October, 1997;
I thank conference coordinator Joseph D. Childers and moderator George Slusser
for the opportunity to participate in the panel. This piece and "Giving Horatio
Alger Goosebumps" were read by Andrew Sawyer, whom I thank for his helpful
comments. Other people who have read, responded to, or inspired revisions in
chapters of this volume include Stephen P. Brown, Susan A. George, Elyce Rae
Helford, Patrick Parrinder, and George Slusser. Also of great assistance in completing this volume were my sister, Brenda Bright, who has been continually
helpful in my research into the Hardy Boys, and the staff of the Interlibrary Loan
Department of the Tomas Rivera Library, University of California at Riverside,
who provided with amazing speed all the materials I needed to complete the
chapters on the Charlie books and This Island Earth.
In addition, I feel continually inspired and sustained in my work by many of my
other friends and colleagues, even if they are not involved with particular projects.
A partial list of these people, along with some already named, who have been
recently important to my career includes Gregory Benford, Michael Cassutt, John
Clute, Arthur B. Evans, John Grant, Donald M. Hassler, Howard V. Hendrix,
Veronica Hollinger, Edward James, Farah Mendelsohn, Kathleen Church Plummer,
and Pamela D. Scoville.
I acknowledge with gratitude the work of Donald A. Palumbo, George F.
Butler, Elizabeth Meagher, and the other associates and employees of Greenwood
Press who helped to get this book into print. Finally, I thank my two employers,