The Inner Space Of Utopia: Italian Sci-Fi Magazines

The seventies marked a decade of massive change in the history of Italian science fiction. Since the dramatic turn of 1968, the reputation of this “popular” form of entertainment was indeed challenged in several ways: new trends were launched, new movements characterised by a high degree of experimentation were coming forth, while the genre itself suddenly shifted from a “hard” to a “soft” approach to the relation between science and man. In this regard, brand new magazines such as Robot and Un’ambigua utopia showed both an increasing awareness of socio-political issues and an irreverent attitude towards the literary establishment of the time, paving the way for a broad range of subcultures from feminism to neo-Marxism. While other national competitors were still clinging to the glories of the “space age” (Urania, Oltre il cielo, Galassia), these magazines thus challenged the traditional vision of science fiction as a form of mild escapism from the real world, or rather as mere “distraction” from the actual problems of society. Being fascinated by the revolutionary impact of technological change on social life they wished indeed to explore a brand new era in which – as J. G. Ballard once said – «the present has annexed the future onto itself».