Fantastic Literature and Myth: Dune, Lord of Light, The Left Hand of Darkness

The paper deals with changes in the genre of science fiction that seemingly shift 1960s American science fiction towards fantasy, according to definitions of fantastic literature by Tzvetan Todorov and science fiction by Darko Suvin. History of American science fiction before the 1960s is presented and the changes in the genre explained in relation to the varying role of myth in three exemplary novels from the 1960s: Frank Herbert’s Dune (1965), Roger Zelazny’s Lord of Light (1967) and Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness (1969). The paper argues that the growing presence of myth in the novels does not primarily shift the genre toward fantasy, but expands the reach of science fiction to include experiences traditionally regraded as irrational for a more comprehensive version of rationality