Tony’s post was interesting to me for a number of reasons. While reading through it, I found myself agreeing with his overall point but disagreed with some of the minor ones. For example, Tony suggested that Delaney’s definition of Science Fiction can be advantageous due to the reader’s freedom to interpret and recreate the story in their own way while disadvantageous to the authors who would have little control on how readers view their stories as a result. Personally, I agree with how Delaney’s definition allowed greater reader freedom and creativity, but disagreed with how such an idea would limit authors. I consider a situation like this to be the norm when enjoying someone else’s work. A large part of art includes the perception of the viewer as well as the creator’s intent. When people view a work of art or readers finish a novel, they should have their own opinions of the work which should be distinct and original. Some opinions may overlap but overall, people’s perceptions should be based on a mix of the creator’s intentions and the viewer’s own personal views. If work of art is viewed by thousands of people, and yet these thousands of people all have the exact same interpretation of the artwork, I question whether or not that could really be considered art. I would have similar disagreements with other points that Tony makes throughout the passage, but I did enjoy how these differences encouraged me to reconsider my position and what I found disagreeable about these points.

Tony Lukin 8/31:

I believe that Delany makes a very interesting statement here that can be seen being argued throughout the work. Delany states, “ A story is not a replacement of one set of words by another– plot-synopsis, detailed recounting, or analysis. The story is what happens in the reader’s mind as his eyes move from the first word to the second, the second to the third, and so on to the end of the tale” (4). Through this statement, Delany tries to portray that there is no difference between writing style and context in science fiction because just only a single word or statement can completely impact the reader’s experience reading the work. As the reader shifts his eyes from word to word, the reader is meant to create their own image of the descriptions and plot within the fiction to create their own perception of the story in their mind.

Using this same knowledge, Delany defines Science Fiction as a type of work that is meant to force the reader to understand and examine the author’s words to recreate these words into their own perceived images of the world that the author has created beyond normal reality. Each word is meant to trigger a process inside one’s head and produces some sort of information that they themselves have to put together. However, there are advantages and disadvantages to this definition.

One advantage I can see is the amount of freedom that the reader has in interpreting the author’s story. Throughout their reading experience, the reader is able to constantly use the author’s work to shape their own perceived images of the alternate reality, advanced society, or utopia/dystopia that the author is trying to create. To an extent, I also feel that the author is given the freedom to create whatever story that they so desire within the vast realm of Science Fiction, but I do not believe that the author has as much freedom as the reader in this scenario.

The disadvantage of this definition, I believe, is that it creates a reliance on the reader and gives the author little control over the story that they wrote. If the meaning of the fiction is determined in how the reader’s mind perceives it, then it seems to me that the author’s intended meanings for the story or certain statements do not have any meaning unless the reader recognizes it which is strange to me. People read at varying degrees of speed and understanding. Someone who reads an SF author’s work might read very slowly and give themselves the time to analyze and reproduce the intended images that the author created in their minds. However, someone who reads quickly and does not take the time to fully comprehend what they are reading has a completely different experience when recreating the author’s intended story inside of their minds. Due to this, a lot of the author’s careful phrasing and diction that they worked to write gets lost in translation and so does the story to the reader’s subconscious mind. Also, if every word or every phrase is meant to have a supposed impact to create an imagery trigger in the minds of the reader, then it seems fruitless to carefully pick out every word that is meant to have an impact is most or even all of the readers are going to either overlook it without processing it because of the difference in reading styles.