Gazing (Back) in Wonder: Visual Megatext and Forgotten Ocularies of Science Fiction

In the same way that the sf megatext is an accreting database of conceptual objects, characters", motifs, and scenarios, I propose a visual megatext, a repository of sf s optical signs: icons, elements, symbols, and tableaus, that circulate, merge, and evolve. Given the pictorial turn and the centrality of audiovisuality in contemporary culture, the operations of the visual megatext are crucial to an understanding of sf and very often precede the narrative deployment of its icons and parabolas. Comprising the visual megatext are not only individual visual signs but also ocularies, bodies of visual elements that exist in individual media, are tied to various temporalities, and follow distinct aesthetic lines of influence. The second part of the article presents two selected ocularies from the genre's past that have remained outside sf s scope of interest: the visualities of early video-game cultures and works of outsider artists. Despite their seeming marginality, these and other ocularies are crucial to a full understanding of contemporary sf. Additionally, attention to visual forms and media beyond film and televison can reframe and rebalance the genre's history.