Fantastic Metropolis

I think the two main specific themes in French SF since the end of the 1970s are artists and museums of the future—the latest collection of young French authors, published this month, also explores that theme—and the relationship with the body—flesh considered as an experimental territory.

Art in the future was a central theme in the 1980s and it is making a serious comeback. It is interesting to note that the so-called art defined in the future is either a terrorist way to change society—art as a means to stir up the masses and control them—or the ultimate expression of freedom versus totalitarian states. In the just released line “Musées, des mondes énigmatiques” (Museums, enigmatic worlds), most stories describe fugitives from the outside world seeking refuge in a museum. Some of them are trapped and destroyed, some find help from other refugees. Almost no character is interested in art for art’s sake. As a possible metaphor for actual French SF, this is quite frightening.

As for the “experimental territory of the flesh”, the theme is probably linked to Surrealism—Dali, for one, is famous for his statue of the Venus de Milo with drawers. Since Science-Fiction is often seen as a literature of metamorphosis, toying with the idea of artistically rebuilding your body is a natural trend! One must notice that this reconstruction of the body is quite often done for artistic reasons and without resorting to biotechnology or scientific gizmos.

I must add that most French SF writers are neither scientists—I’m one of the few exceptions—nor particularly interested by science (at least hard science).

4. A few personal trajectories

With the exception of the well identified literary movements mentioned above, and whose impact was limited, French SF is composed mainly of individualists who follow very different trajectories.

Serge Brussolo appeared in the early 1980s and started producing four to five novels every year in a very surrealistic style. He became quite popular and wrote a variety of novels, from historical romances to thrillers, through different pseudonyms. In his books, you will find albino cats sold with a set of washable colors so you can paint them the way you want; and oceans replaced by hundreds of millions of dwarves living in the mud, hands up, and who will carry boats along in exchange for food. Of course, every now and then they reproduce, and a tidal wave of dwarves appears with the desire to conquer new territories. However, the coastal patrols have machine guns…

As for the 1990s, I’ll mention:

Ayerdhal—a pseudonym—is most famous for his political space operas featuring complex intrigue and interesting feminine characters. Serge Lehman, a stylist with a good sense of wonder, started his “History of the future” epic in the early 1990s. Pierre Bordage is our sweeping sagas specialist and a best-seller since his first trilogy. Richard Canal, who lives in Africa, tries to merge mainstream and SF in a future dominated by African-like societies. Roland C. Wagner, who appeared early in the 1980s, find his inspiration in rock ‘n’ roll and humorous descriptions of extraterrestrial societies—he won most of the French SF Prizes in 1999.

And a new generation of authors combining SF, Fantasy, Steampunk is rising: David Calvo—whose books lie somewhere between Peter Pan and the lunatic fringe–, Fabrice Colin, Laurent Kloetzer and many, many others.

5. Newcomers from the mainstream: Osmosis and mimicry

One final trend: it seems that Science-Fiction is slowly becoming socially acceptable, at least by some members of the mainstream fiction community. During the last three years, a handful of SF-related novels have been released by major publishers and some of them ranked highly on the best-seller list! One of the latest—Les Particules elémentaires (“The Elementary Particles”), by Michel Houellebecq—was a huge success and an equally huge scandal, partly due to its scenes of explicit sex. But most of the journalists who interviewed him were unable to understand that his book was Science-Fiction and he had to explain SF to them. In detail. I’m glad he wasn’t forced to do the same for the sex scenes!

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“The Hitch-Hikers Guide to French Science Fiction” first appeared in Altair #4 (1999).