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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ColonelHardisson" data-source="post: 216678" data-attributes="member: 363">The rise of science fiction probably directly impacts upon the original poster's query.Science fiction as a genre was really first identified and codified in the US, in the pulps. It slowly grew throughout the 20s and 30s, with very little expansion overseas - as the genre we know today (and I put it that way to avoid the argument about SF provenance - what we know today as SF really became a separate and distinct genre almost as a direct result of Hugo Gernsback's efforts here in the US). World War II left the US as the only heavily industrialized, densely populated nation untouched by the destruction, allowing SF to grow and the US to dominate it. To be honest, the rest of the world has been playing catch-up ever since. Not that there hasn't been good, solid non-US SF in the last 30 years or so, but I think you can understand what I mean.Motion pictures are also dominated by the US due not only to the way studio chiefs competed with overseas competition almost to the extinction of non-US film industries in the 1920s, but also due to World War II also. Hollywood was really the only major source for movies during the war, and it's never lost that dominance (although it could if the film and TV industry continues its migration outside the US).Put these two factors together, and you can begin to see why it might seem the US dominates in the SF and fantasy genres. That doesn't mean there isn't good SF&F outside the US; it just means there are fewer venues for it. That has been steadily changing, and will continue to do so.</blockquote>

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