Can /lit/ explain the difference between sci-fi and speculative

atwood started using the term because she didn't want to be associated with genre fiction

>>8378179
that doesn't actually look like a very comfortable position to read in. she's going to get a stiff neck

she'd get something else stiff if i saw her like that in those stockings

>>8378179
There is no difference. SF is a genre of spectaculative fiction.

>>8378179
I have never heard the term speculative scifi before, only speculative fiction.

I've always thought that 'speculative' as a modifier was to denote something rooted in sci-fi storytelling, but lacking in its most overtly scientific conventions, kind of that middle point between science fiction and 'regular' fiction. Someone like Ballard really embodies this, I think.

File: Reader-is-sexy.jpg (90KB, 500x707px) Image search: [Google]

90KB, 500x707px

>>8378644
Op here.

That's a reasonable explanation and makes sense to me. I've just had a difficult time differentiating between the two. I'm sure I'm simplifying it too much, but to me, any elements of science fiction make a story sci fi.

I'm not sure I see the reasoning behind breaking a genre into sub-genres.

>>8378179
Speculative fiction is a movement within science fiction and fantasy which attempted to be more literary and lasted for 30 or so years. Main representatives are Ursula le Guin, Roger Zelazny, Philip K. Dick and Michael Moorcock. They were attempting to do something new in their works, with more focus on the characters and how they would act in specific situations, hence speculative.
>>8378644
Not exactly. Speculative fiction was not only in science fiction and authors such as Gene Wolfe are not a part of it simply because they weren't members of the circle of writers/movement which we now know as speculative fiction.

File: olympics_american_shooter_wins_first_gold_of_rio_games_m14.jpg (24KB, 560x300px) Image search: [Google]

24KB, 560x300px

SF stands for "shooter" and "farmer."

Suppose there is an olympic marksman who hits a bullseye five times in a row. A race of beings inhabiting a two dimensional plane observe this and mistake it for a law of the universe.

Next, there is a farmer who feeds the turkeys at 11AM every day. A turkey scientist observes this and makes the stunning announcement. "At 11AM food always arrives." The next day is Thanksgiving, the farmer arrives and shoots all the turkeys.

The reason we can speculate about science is that we have no idea of the context of any phenomena we can observe, only its immediate effects. Are we shooters, or are we turkeys?