Comparing and Contrasting Time Travel Narratives

Origins: 18th and 19th centuries
The first recorded piece of time travel fiction dates back to the the 18th century with Samuel Madden’s Memoirs of the Twentieth Century published in 1773. In this novel, a guardian angel travels in time to 1728 bearing letters from 1997 and 1998. These letters expose a world of religious liberalism, a reflection of the religious anxieties of the time. Although this is considered the first time travel narrative, this trope did not appear again until the following century, when, in 1887, Spanish author Enrique Lucio Eugenio Gaspar y Rimbau published El  Anacronopete. This novel is the first story to involve time travel using a machine, predating H.G. Wells’ 1888 short story “The Chronic Argonauts” and 1895 novel The Time Machine . However, Wells is generally known for popularizing the idea of time travel using a vehicle or machine.

When considering the evolution of time travel narratives it is important to consider not only the wide variety of characters and methods of travel, but the historical context as well as the political and societal context can help in understanding the narrative’s reflection of the future, which can be very different depending on when it was written. For example, the future society explored in Memoirs of the Twentieth Century differs drastically from that of The Time Machine <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">. In <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Memoirs of the Twentieth Century <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">, the portrayal of the future (the late 1990s) reflects their concerns about a  religiously liberal world, which they feared in their highly religious society.. However, in <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Time Machine <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">, the future world described is reflexive of the Victorian fear of being weak and feminine as well as Wells’ fear of the possible effects of the great disparity between the rich and the poor. Historical context as well as other factors surrounding a time travel narrative is important to consider when comparing and contrasting these types of narratives.

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<span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Late 1800s
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The next important addition to the trope was Edward Bellamy's <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Looking Backward, <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> published in 1887. In this novel, the main character, Julian West is trapped in suspended animation for slightly over a century, beginning at what was then the present day and awakening in the 20th century. While originally skeptical, Julian comes to adapt to this this new society of socialism. This slow transition into liking the new reforms with the commentary of his guide and awakener shows the hesitancy of the old Capitalist society to become socialist. Following this was H. G. Wells' novel <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Time Machine <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> (1895). This novel features an anonymous narrator retelling a story told to him by a scientist who claims to have created a time machine and been transported to the distant future. Although <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Looking Backwards <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> and <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Time Machine <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> were not the first stories to use the time travel trope, these novels were the first to popularize it.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The popularity of time travel died down around 1920. The trope remained nearly untouched until the creation of the television series <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Doctor Who <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">in 1954.

==<span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Regaining Popularity: 20th Century == <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Later in the 20th century, as the time travel trope began appearing in popular culture again, a rather unique time travel narrative was published in a 1959 issue of <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Fantasy and Science Fiction <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> magazine, that being “--All You Zombies--”, a short story by American author Robert A. Heinlein. This story, rather different than the time travel narratives that had been popular previously, involves a young intersex man, who, through a complicated series of time travel journeys, ends up being his own mother and father. This story differs from other time travel narratives of the past because as opposed to simply traveling to the future or the past, the story itself is a time paradox.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The time travel trope was also briefly popular during the 1980s, specifically in films like <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Back to the Future <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> and its sequels and <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">These works of time travel fiction differ drastically from early works like <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Memoirs of the Twentieth Century <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> and <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Time Machine <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> in the sense that the tone and overall content of the stories are much more lighthearted and nonsensical. <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Back to the Future <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">, for example, tells the story of a teenager who must travel to the past to help his parents fall in love and then find a way to get back to 1985. Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is also along these same lines, as it involves two teenagers who must travel back in time and bring historical figures to their time for their history project. As opposed to earlier time travel fiction in which the societal and political fears of their time were reflected, these more recent tales are much more light hearted and laid back stories appealing to a different audience during a different period in history. These films also appealed to a broader audience than earlier time travel fiction as they involve teenagers and playful time travel scenarios, appealing to both young and adult audiences, as opposed to <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Time Machine, <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> which appealed predominantly to male intellectuals.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Another recent work of time travel fiction also achieved widespread popularity during the early 1990’s, that being the 1993 film <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Groundhog Day <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">. The plot of this film is quite unique in comparison to other time travel narrative discussed as the protagonist gets stuck in a time loop, repeating the same day, Groundhog Day, over and over again. This type of time travel is different from the rest of the time travel narratives discussed as it involves this concept of a time loop.

<span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">21st Century
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Time travel media remained popular throughout the 2000s. Sprinkled through nearly every kind of media, including novels, music, movies, television and video games, movement out of one’s original time continues to be a popular theme. Notable examples of this include <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Men in Black III <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">, <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Assassin’s Creed <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">, and <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">And although there have been many television shows to feature episodes with time travel, the only show whose plot revolves around time travel and remains in popularity is the long lasting show <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Doctor Who.