Soft science fiction
Soft science fiction, or soft SF, is a category of science fiction with two different definitions, defined in contrast to hard science fiction.[1] It can refer to science fiction that explores the "soft" sciences (e.g. psychology, political science, sociology), as opposed to hard science fiction, which explores the "hard" sciences (e.g. physics, astronomy, biology).[1] It can also refer to science fiction which prioritizes human emotions over the scientific accuracy or plausibility of hard science fiction.[1]
Soft science fiction of either type is often more concerned with depicting speculative societies and relationships between characters, rather than realistic portrayals of speculative science or engineering.[2] The term first appeared in the late 1970s and is attributed to Australian literary scholar Peter Nicholls.
Etymology[edit]
The term soft science fiction was formed as the complement of the earlier term hard science fiction.
The earliest known citation for the term is in "1975: The Year in Science Fiction" by Peter Nicholls, in Nebula Award Stories 11 (1976). He wrote "The same list reveals that an already established shift from hard sf (chemistry, physics, astronomy, technology) to soft sf (psychology, biology, anthropology, sociology, and even [...] linguistics) is continuing more strongly than ever."[4]