Understanding Diversity of Science Fiction Genre Definitions through Rhetorical Genre Theory as Socially Symbolic Action

The literary and cultural scholars have disagreed on what isscience fiction and they have presented diverse definitions and assertions without any consensus regarding what makes science fiction a genre. This paper based on the method of genre as asocial act by Karolyn Miller attempts which is a general theory of genre but used in this paper to interpret the multiplicity of definitions of Science Fiction and answer what science fiction is. Miller?s method for understanding genre asserts that genre is not a classification, but a dynamic social activity practiced by individuals through language and symbols. Based on this approach, the diversity of the competing definitions that are attempting to grasp science fiction asgenre does not signify inconsistency or confusion, but their multiplicity as a socially symbolic activity of rhetorical participation is what Science Fiction Genre consists of, endures, and changes historically.