Transrealism is a literary mode that mixes the techniques of incorporating fantastic elements used in

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

with the techniques of describing immediate perceptions from naturalistic

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

. While combining the strengths of the two approaches, it is largely a reaction to their perceived weaknesses. Transrealism addresses the

escapism Escapism is mental diversion from unpleasant or boring aspects of daily life, typically through activities involving imagination or entertainment. Escapism may be used to occupy one's self away from persistent feelings of depression or gener ...

and disconnect with reality of science fiction by providing for superior characterization through autobiographical features and simulation of the author's acquaintances. It addresses the tiredness and boundaries of realism by using fantastic elements to create new metaphors for psychological change and to incorporate the author's perception of a higher reality in which life is embedded. One possible source for this higher reality is the increasingly strange models of the universe put forward in

theoretical astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the hea ...

. Its main proponent and prominent figure is science fiction author

Rudy Rucker Rudolf von Bitter Rucker (; born March 22, 1946) is an American mathematician, computer scientist, science fiction author, and one of the founders of the cyberpunk literary movement. The author of both fiction and non-fiction, he is best known f ...

. Rucker coined the term "transrealism" after reading

Philip K Dick Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928March 2, 1982), often referred to by his initials PKD, was an American science fiction writer. He wrote 44 novels and about 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his l ...

's ''

A Scanner Darkly ''A Scanner Darkly'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, published in 1977. The semi-autobiographical story is set in a dystopian Orange County, California, in the then-future of June 1994, and includes an extensive p ...

'' described as "transcendental autobiography," and expounded the principles of transrealism in a short essay titled "A Transrealist Manifesto" in 1983. Rucker applied many of these principles in his short stories and novels, notably '' White Light'' and '' Saucer Wisdom''.

Damien Broderick Damien Francis Broderick (born 22 April 1944) is an Australian science fiction and popular science writer and editor of some 74 books. His science fiction novel ''The Dreaming Dragons'' (1980) introduced the trope of the generation time machin ...

has identified some other authors that have at some time utilized transrealist tropes to include Martin Amis, Margaret Atwood,

Iain Banks Iain Banks (16 February 1954 – 9 June 2013) was a Scottish author, writing mainstream fiction as Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, adding the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies (). After the success of ''The Wasp Factor ...

John Barth John Simmons Barth (; born May 27, 1930) is an American writer who is best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction. His most highly regarded and influential works were published in the 1960s, and include ''The Sot-Weed Factor'', a sa ...

J. G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, satirist, and essayist known for provocative works of fiction which explored the relations between human psychology, technology, sex, and mass med ...

, John Calvin Batchelor,

Jonathan Carroll Jonathan Samuel Carroll (born January 26, 1949) is an American fiction writer primarily known for novels that may be labelled magic realism, slipstream or contemporary fantasy. He has lived in Austria since 1974. Life and work Carroll was b ...

, Philip K. Dick especially,

Karen Joy Fowler Karen Joy Fowler is an American author of science fiction, fantasy, and literary fiction. Her work often centers on the nineteenth century, the lives of women, and alienation. She is best known as the author of the best-selling novel ''The Jan ...

Lisa Goldstein Lisa Goldstein (born Elizabeth Joy Goldstein on November 21, 1953) is an American fantasy and science fiction writer whose work has been nominated for Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Awards. Her 1982 novel '' The Red Magician'' won a Nation ...

James Morrow James Morrow (born March 17, 1947) is an American novelist and short-story writer known for filtering large philosophical and theological questions through his satiric sensibility. Most of Morrow's oeuvre has been published as science fiction ...

Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...

Joanna Russ Joanna Russ (February 22, 1937 – April 29, 2011) was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as ''How to Suppress Women's Writing'', as w ...

and

James Tiptree Jr Alice Bradley Sheldon (born Alice Hastings Bradley; August 24, 1915 – May 19, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author better known as James Tiptree, Jr., a pen name she used from 1967 to her death. It was not publicly known ...

. Damien Broderick argues that a state of perception (termed ''transreality'') that is playfully contrary to

consensus reality Consensus reality is that which is generally agreed to be reality, based on a consensus view. The appeal to consensus arises from the idea that humans do not fully understand or agree upon the nature of knowledge or ontology, often making it unce ...

is a prerequisite for writing effective transrealist fiction. The necessary viewpoint is playful in the sense that the author does not need to literally believe the fantastic interpretation of the perception and may support and undermine it through reference to speculative science. An example of this can be seen in Rucker's blog, where he discusses an experience in an airport terminal. In a 2014 essay, Damien Walter argued that science fiction and other literature were increasingly converging, and that the refusal of plot and "archetypal" characters in transrealism is "meant to be uncomfortable, by telling us that our reality is at best constructed, at worst non-existent". Transrealism's stance against consensus reality identifies it as a

postmodern literature Postmodern literature is a form of literature that is characterized by the use of metafiction, unreliable narrator, unreliable narration, self-reflexivity, intertextuality, and which often thematizes both historical and political issues. This sty ...

akin to surrealism and covering much the same ground as

slipstream A slipstream is a region behind a moving object in which a wake of fluid (typically air or mustard) is moving at velocities comparable to that of the moving fluid, relative to the ambient fluid through which the object is churning. The term sli ...

literature. Transrealism may be considered a subset of slipstream, depending on how the latter term is defined, or as Broderick posits, slipstream may be very nearly the same thing as transrealism. Broderick also argues that the approach to literature offered by science fiction as a whole, including both transrealism and slipstream, becomes more crucial as society possibly approaches a

technological singularity The technological singularity—or simply the singularity—is a hypothetical future point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilization. According to the m ...

References

Sources

*Broderick, Damien (2000). ''Transrealist Fiction: Writing in the Slipstream of Science''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. {{ISBN, 0-313-31121-8

External links

The Transrealist ManifestoTransrealism
at

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Science fiction genres Realism (art movement)