The Space Merchants

Context

Context

• 1950s 
• Post-Great Depression & World War II era
• Cold War Tensions and Political Landscape 

ConTEXT

• Consumerist Outlook
• Rise in Advertising - Television
• Capitalism and Free Enterprise

Context

• Population Growth - "Baby Boomers"
• Food Production

Authorial Context

Authorial Context

• Frederik Pohl - US Army Air Corps, 456th Bombardment Group 
• Copywriter for advertising agency
• Avid writer of during War
• C.M. Kornbluth - Member of the Futurians with Pohl and Friends with Isaac Asimov

Joint Authorship - "he would write the first four pages. And then at the end of those four pages, which would stop in the middle of a line or a word sometimes, he’d come down or I’d come down, and say, 'You’re on.'" - Pohl

The Space Merchants

overview

• Written in 1952
• Serialised in Galaxy Science Fiction and entitled Gravy Planet
• Published in 1953 
• Sequel published in 1984 - The Merchants' War (Pohl)
• Golden Age of Science Fiction

Values

Values

• Power - 
• Manipulative Nature of Advertising
• Growing Influence of Firms

"Each sample of Coffiest contains three milligrams of a simple alkaloid. Nothing harmful. But definitely habit-forming. After ten weeks the customer is hooked for life".

"Are packed in containers the same shade of green as the Universal products. But the candy, ice cream, and Kiddiebutt cigarette ration are wrapped in colorful Starrzelius red. When those kids grow up . . ."he lifted his eyes exultantly from his notes".

Values

• Evolution of Capitalism
• Closely linked with strong economic growth
• Golden Age of Capitalism

"According to our extrapolation, fifteen years from now Universal products will be broke, bankrupt, and off the market entirely!"
He sat down in a wave of applause. Schocken clapped too, and looked brightly at the rest of us. I leaned forward with Expression One—eagerness, intelligence, competence—all over my face.

"There's an old saying, men. 'The world is our oyster.' We've made it come true. But we've eaten that oyster." He crushed out his cigarette carefully. "We've eaten it," he repeated. "We've actually and literally conquered the world. Like Alexander, we weep for new worlds to conquer.

VALUES

• Overpopulation - 
• Growing Population
• Effect on food supply

“Chicken Little,” a processed chicken product, is packaged. What he finds is a giant, living mound of chicken tissue, where butchers come and cut pieces of flesh off to prepare for processing and packaging. The campaign around the product leads you to believe you’re eating normal chicken, but this genetically engineered, unthinking living blob of meat is all it is.

IMAGINED WORLD

Imagined World

• Advertising Agencies Control Society
• Futile existence of Governments
• Scarcity of primary resources - food & water
• Evolution & Devolution of technology
• "Mad Men in Space"

SF Conventions & Stylistic
Features

SF Conventions

• Conventions - 
•   Invented Lexicon
•   Cognitive Estrangement & Information Dump
•   Speculation of Technology

Stylistic Features

•  Use of Satire
• Descriptions of ads within text

Critical Reception

CRITICAL RECEPTION

• Kingsley Amis - New Maps of Hell (1960)
• "has many claims to being the best science-fiction novel so far."
• Groff Conklin - "perhaps the best science fiction satire since Brave New World."
• Locus Poll (1972) - 24th all-time best novel

PRESCRIBED TEXTS

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

• Cold War Contextual Influence
• Archetypal Epic Hero
• Speculation of Technology - 
• Colonisation of Other Planets

BRAVE NEW WORLD

• Satirical Nature
• Dystopian Universe
• Issues of Morality - John the Savage