Managing and Manipulating History: Perpetual Urgency in Asimov and Heinlein

• Main Author: Jari Käkelä
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Finnish Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy Research 2014-06-01
• Series: Fafnir
• Subjects: isaac asimov; foundation; robert a. heinlein; golden age science fiction; future history; crisis; authoritarianism
• Online Access: http://journal.finfar.org/articles/managing-and-manipulating-history-perpetual-urgency-in-asimov-and-heinlein/

This article discusses the view of history presented in the early part of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series (original Foundation trilogy published in book-form 1950–1953) and Robert Heinlein’s short story “The Man Who Sold the Moon” (1949) from his Future History series. Looking at the way these works are influenced by the 1940s pulp science fiction context and Astounding Science Fiction magazine editor John W. Campbell Jr., this article examines their shared sense of continuous urgency or impending crisis. This leads to authoritarian solutions and a recurrent focus on “Great Man” characters who manipulate the society toward a better future with their enlightened awareness of the workings of history. As this article argues, while the stories justify these manipulations by a sense of urgency, they also create tensions where the manipulations become only temporary solutions and lead to predetermined futures for all but the power elite.