Lab lit
Lab lit (also "lablit") is a loosely defined genre of fiction, distinct from science fiction, that centers on realistic portrayals of scientists and science as a profession.{{cite news | first=Clive | last=Cookson | title=The real lab rats | date=2009-05-23 | url =http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/72985c24-465d-11de-803f-00144feabdc0.html | work =Financial Times | access-date = 2009-05-27 }}
Definition
Unlike science fiction, lab lit is generally set in some semblance of the real world, rather than a speculative or future one, and it deals with established scientific knowledge or plausible hypotheses.{{cite journal
| author = Rohn, Jennifer
|date=January 2006
| title = Experimental Fiction
| journal = Nature
| volume = 439
| issue = 19
| pages = 269
| doi= 10.1038/439269a| doi-access = free
}} In other words, lab lit novels are mainstream or literary stories about the practice of science as a profession. They may or may not center exclusively on the science or the workplaces of scientists, but all tend to feature scientists as central characters. According to an article in the New York Times,
:"Lab lit is not science fiction, and in my opinion it’s not historical fiction about actual scientists (though some fictionalized biographies do appear on the list). Instead, in the Web site’s words, it “depicts realistic scientists as central characters and portrays fairly realistic scientific practice or concepts, typically taking place in a realistic — as opposed to speculative or future — world.'"{{cite journal
| author = Bouton, Katherine
|date=December 3, 2012
| title = In Lab Lit, Fiction Meets Science of the Real World
| journal = New York Times
| pages = D2
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/science/in-lab-lit-fiction-meets-science-of-the-real-world.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0}}
Prominent examples of lab lit include Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver, Intuition by Allegra Goodman, Mendel's Dwarf by Simon Mawer, Real Life by Brandon Taylor, and Richard Powers' The Echo Maker and Generosity.
{{cite web
| url = http://www.lablit.com/the_list
| title = The Lab Lit List - Novels, films, plays and TV programs in the Lab Lit fiction genre
| access-date = Sep 2, 2014
}} Novels set in the past featuring fictionalized explorations of real-life scientists can also be considered lab lit; examples include Kepler by John Banville, The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert, Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevelier and Enigma by Robert Harris.
History and origins
Works of fiction that incorporate real science into, but are not considered science fiction have also been referred to as "science in fiction."Djerassi, Carl. "Science in Fiction ist nicht Science Fiction: Ist sie Autobiographie?" Fiction in Science – Science in Fiction, Ed. Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler. Wien: Verlag Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1998 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein his often cited as an early precursor of this genre.,Julie Maxwell, 'The Rise of Lab-Lit', Oxford Today 26 (2014) p. 35 but realistic portrayals of science in fiction were relatively rare throughout most of the twentieth century. However, a notable example from the 1950s is Isaac Asimov's A Whiff of Death, as well as examples from the beginning of the current upsurge include Cantor's Dilemma by Carl Djerassi.
The term "lab lit" was coined by Jennifer Rohn in an essay in 2005, along with the launch of the [http://www.lablit.com/ Lablit website].Jennifer Rohn, [http://www.lablit.com/article/1 Editorial: Welcome to LabLit.com. Our lights are now on!] 7 March 2005 (accessed Sept. 2, 2014) The term began to appear in the cultural pages of science magazines during the first decade of the 21st centuryMawer Simon. “Science in Literature.” Nature, 434 (2005): 297-299"The power of fiction; Why do so many scientists secretly despise the novel, when a novelist's imaginative strengths can help us understand 21st-century science?" New Scientist, August 25, 2007{{cite web
| url = http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/indepth/26533
| title = Physics World
}} and has been championed by such scientist novelists such as Carl Djerassi, Ann Lingard
{{cite web
| url = http://www.annlingard.com/
| title = Ann Lingard's website
}} and Jennifer Rohn. An upturn in the publication of lab-lit novels occurred in the 1990s, with five to ten new titles appearing annually in the early 2000s.{{cite journal
| author = Rohn, Jennifer
|date=June 2010
| title = More lab in the library
| journal = Nature
| volume = 465
| issue = 7298
| pages = 552
| doi= 10.1038/465552a| doi-access = free
}}{{Cite journal|last=Haynes|first=Roslynn D.|date=2014-06-10|title=Whatever happened to the 'mad, bad' scientist? Overturning the stereotype|journal=Public Understanding of Science|volume=25|issue=1|pages=31–44|doi=10.1177/0963662514535689|issn=0963-6625|hdl=1959.4/unsworks_38397|hdl-access=free}} The reasons for this increase are unclear, but may include factors such as an increased interest in and familiarity with science on the part of the general public, publishers, and established authors.
See also
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References
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External links
- [http://www.lablit.com/the_list List of Lab lit novels] at LabLit.com