DACOROMANIA LITTERARIA, VII, 2020, pp. 137–153 MIHAI IOVĂNEL POPULAR GENRES: SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY, DETECTIVE NOVEL, THRILLER 1 Science Fiction In Romania, the Science Fiction genre is marked by the realist socialist aesthetic of the 1950s. Prior to 1948, most of the local attempts at exploring this genre had been pretty inconsistent. Alongside several pioneering works of the 19 th century, only Victor Anestin’s În anul 4000 sau O călătorie la Venus [In the Year 4000. A Journey to Venus] (1899), Un Român în lună [A Romanian on the Moon] (1914), by Henri Stahl, or Orașele scufundate [The Sunken Cities] (1937) by F. Aderca, are worth mentioning. These are rather isolated works that fail to lay the foundations for a Romanian rendition of the genre. The socialist regime, as well as its Marxist underpinning, were inspired by a secular and scientific worldview, focusing their attention on the exact sciences, e.g., physics, astronomy, chemistry, and biology, precisely those usually lying at the core of Science Fiction literature. Having been introduced deliberately and enjoying institutional lobby, being hosted by a dedicated and highly popular publication during that time, “Colecția ʻPovestiri științifico-fantasticeʼ” (CPSF) [“The ʻScience Fiction Stories’ Collection”], Science Fiction literature was one of the most efficient channels through which scientific content and ideology was disseminated during the 1950s. Writers such as I.M. Ștefan (1922–1992) and Radu Nor (1921–2006), who were behind the first Science Fiction novel in communist Romania, Drum printre aștri [Journey among the Stars] (1954), an adventure novel built on realist socialist conventions, were among the most prominent authors of that time. Drum printre aștri draws on Soviet inspiration to become an illustration of space opera: the novel depicts the adventures of two curious astronauts with an ambition to chart the galaxy. A Romanian team is boarded on an asteroid, which it intersects with help from a custom designed and engineered Romanian rocket; on the asteroid, the team circumnavigates the solar system for the duration of one year, gathering information and facing various threats. Encyclopaedic information is constantly substantiated by scientific sources (Soviet scientists being the main reference in this regard), but also by the period’s futuristic projections: the planet of Venus hosts boiling hot geysers, luxurious vegetation, and freakishly large animals (an 1 Preliminary versions of this article were published under the titles “Literatura polițistă” [“Detective Literature”] and “Literatura SF” [“Science Fiction Literature”] in Eugen Simion (ed.), Dicționarul general al literaturii române [General Dictionary of Romanian Literature], second edition, vol. IV (H–L), București, Muzeul Literaturii Române, 2017, pp. 777-781, 781-786.