Olaf Stapledon

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William Olaf Stapledon (born May 10, 1886 in Wallasey (now Merseyside ), Cheshire county (near Liverpool ), England , † September 6, 1950 in Caldy ) was an English writer who became known as a science fiction author .

Life

Olaf Stapledon's parents, William Clibbett Stapledon and Emmeline Miller Stapledon, lived in Port Said , Egypt at the time of his birth . His mother only traveled to England for his birth, after which Olaf Stapledon spent the first six years of his life in Egypt in Port Said.

This was followed by school attendance in England and in 1909 a Bachelor of Arts degree and in 1913 a Master of Arts degree in history at Balliol College, Oxford . The pacifist Stapledon spent the First World War as a member of the Friends Quaker Ambulance Corps . After the war, he completed his training in 1920 with the academic degree of Doctor of Philosophy ( "Ph.D.") at the University of Liverpool from. His dissertation became the basis of his first published work, a non-fiction book called "A Modern Theory of Ethics" (1929).

On July 16, 1919, Olaf Stapledon and Agnes Zena Miller, who came from New Zealand , married. They had two children: Mar (born May 31, 1920) and John (born November 6, 1923).

He worked in various professions, such as teachers and as a clerk in a shipping office in Liverpool, and published in 1930 his first novel ( Last and First Men , German The last and the first humans ). Due to favorable reviews, he decided to devote himself entirely to writing. However, he was only able to do this because of an inherited fortune; his income as a writer would not have been enough then or later to support the family.

Olaf Stapledon always viewed himself as an agnostic , a view of life perhaps taken over from his father. But the influence of his Unitarian mother can also be found in his work. Many of the mysticism- related episodes in Stapledon's work, however, suggest a deep religious interest; nevertheless, he always emphasized that he did not represent an established religious position.

In addition, Stapledon was involved in socialist movements. He has often advocated socialist or communist ideas, but also criticized organizations or members of left parties, and emphasized that he was not a communist himself , but a socialist . Many of his ideas, based on socialist ideas, can be found in his work. A Man Divided in particular is seen as a rejection of communist power structures.

Olaf Stapledon died on September 6, 1950 of complications from a heart attack . His ashes were scattered from the cliffs at Caldy, near his home.

plant

Olaf Stapledon's first novel ( Last and First Men , 1930) is still considered one of the classics of science fiction today. The novel outlines a two billion year history of mankind that encompasses the entire solar system . This comprehensive work with philosophical and mystical echoes was to become the starting point for recurring themes in Stapledon's work.

In addition, his idea of ​​empires spanning space has inspired many science fiction authors such as EE Smith , AE Van Vogt and Isaac Asimov , as well as film adaptations such as Spaceship Enterprise or Star Wars .

The follow-up work, Last Men in London (1932) is considered to be much weaker.

Odd John , published in 1935, takes up the previous theme, but develops it in the 1920s and 1930s. The focus here is on the occurrence of isolated mutants , representing a superman, the Homo superior . Written from the perspective of an inferior Homo sapiens , the book illuminates various philosophical and religious questions, such as the values ​​of our culture, sexuality , or what it means to be human .

Star Maker , published in 1937, builds on the novella Nebula Maker , ties in with Last and First Men and expands the history of mankind sketched out there into a history of the universe . Stapledon's astonishing vision extends from describing the evolution of a single planetary system to the evolution of entire classes of worlds over billions of years. Basically, Stapledon tries to build this on materialist (Marxist) and Darwinist basic assumptions, but ultimately, as in other works, arrives at the decisive question of whether a higher level consciousness exists and what its relationship to the individual looks like. As side aspects of Stapledon's exuberant and by no means unrealistic imagination, groundbreaking ideas such as potential collective intelligence , virtual reality and genetic manipulation are contained in Star Maker . Also, let Freeman Dyson of the Dyson sphere by his own account of Starmaker inspired.

Sirius , published during the Second World War , describes the rearing of a new, intelligent dog breed. One of its representatives, the extremely sophisticated Sirius, is able to communicate with people through words. From an early age he developed a particularly strong emotional relationship with Plaxy, the daughter of the scientist who started the breeding experiment, especially since both grew up like brother and sister. Because of Plaxy's description of sexual contacts with both the dog and her future husband, the first-person narrator of the story, who even tolerated the "unnatural relationship", was very clear for the time, the book was probably rejected by the first publisher. Nevertheless, Stapledon tries to connect these taboo subjects with questions that concern the position of every living being in this universe. Today, Sirius is considered Stapledon's most influential work, along with Last and First Men .

The following work, Death into Life, leaves classical science fiction and turns to religious speculation. It takes up thoughts from Darkness and the Light, which was created a few years earlier .

Awards

bibliography

Novels
  • Last and First Men (1930)
  • Last Men in London (1932)
  • Odd John: A Story Between Jest and Earnest (1935)
    • English: The island of the mutants. Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 3214, 1970.
  • Star Maker (1937)
    • German: The star maker . Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 3706/3707, 1966. Also called: The Star Creator. Heyne (Library of Science Fiction Literature # 5), 1966, ISBN 3-453-30795-X .
  • Darkness and the Light (1942)
  • Old Man and New World (1944)
  • Sirius (1944)
  • Death into Life (1946)
  • The Flames (1947)
  • A Man Divided (1950, possibly autobiographical)
  • The Opening of the Eyes (1954)
  • To the End of Time (1975)
  • Four Encounters (1976)
  • Nebula Maker (1976)
  • Far Future Calling (1986)
Collections
  • To the End of Time (1975)
  • Far Future Calling (1986)
  • To Olaf Stapledon Reader (1996)
Short stories
  • The Flying Men (1930)
  • Humanity on Venus (1930)
  • The Story of John (1930)
  • Nutrition (1932)
  • Arms Out of Hand (1946)
  • Nautiloids (1937)
  • Universal History (1937)
  • A World of Sound (1937)
  • The Reign of Darkness (1942)
  • Old Man in a New World (1944)
  • Sirius at Cambridge (1944)
  • The Flames: A Fantasy (1947)
  • The Opening of the Eyes (1954)
  • Far Future Calling (1977)
  • East Is West (1979)
  • The Man Who Became a Tree (1979)
  • A Modern Magician (1979)
    • German: a modern magician. In: Manfred Kluge (Ed.): Jeffty is five. Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 3739, 1980, ISBN 3-453-30642-2 .
  • The Peak and the Town (1984)
Poetry
  • Latter-Day Psalms (1914)
Non-fiction
  • A Modern Theory of Ethics (1929)
  • Waking World (1934)
  • Philosophy and Living: New Hope for Britain (1939)
  • Saints and Revolutionaries (1939)
  • Youth and Tomorrow (1946)
  • Beyond the Isms (1982)
Letters
  • Talking across the World: The Love Letters of Olaf Stapledon and Agnes Miller, 1913-1919 (1961)

literature

Monographs and collections
  • Robert Crossley: Olaf Stapledon: Speaking for the Future. 1994.
  • Leslie A. Fiedler: Olaf Stapledon: A Man Divided. Oxford University Press, New York & Oxford 1983.
  • Patrick A. McCarthy: Olaf Stapledon. Hall, Boston 1982.
  • Patrick A. McCarthy, Martin H. Greenberg , Charles Elkin (Eds.): The Legacy of Olaf Stapledon: Critical Essays and an Unpublished Manuscript. Greenwood, New York 1989.
  • Sam Moskowitz (Ed.): Far future calling: uncollected science fiction and fantasies of Olaf Stapledon. O. Train, Philadelphia 1979.
  • Harvey J. Satty, Curtis C. Smith: Olaf Stapledon: A Bibliography. Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, 1984.
Lexicons

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Stapledon, Olaf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stapledon, William Olaf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British science fiction writer
DATE OF BIRTH May 10, 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH Wallasey (now Merseyside ), England
DATE OF DEATH September 6, 1950
Place of death Caldy