Editing Big Dumb Object (section)

{{Short description|Plot device in science fiction}}
[[File:Black monolith.svg|thumb|upright|[[Monolith (Space Odyssey)|The mysterious, featureless monolith]] from [[Arthur C. Clarke]]'s ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'']]
In discussion of [[science fiction]], a '''Big Dumb Object''' ('''BDO''') is any mysterious object, usually of [[extraterrestrial life|extraterrestrial]] or unknown origin and immense power, in a story which generates an intense [[sense of wonder]] by its mere existence. To a certain extent, the term deliberately deflates the intended grandeur of the mysterious object.

The coining of the term has been attributed to reviewer [[Roz Kaveney]] in 1981,<ref>Kaveney, Roz, 1981, ''[[Foundation - The International Review of Science Fiction|Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction]]'', issue 22.</ref> but it was not in general use until [[Peter Nicholls (writer)|Peter Nicholls]] included it in ''[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]'' as a joke in 1993.<ref>Nicholls, Peter, 2000, ''Big Dumb Objects and Cosmic Enigmas: The Love Affair between Space Fiction and the Transcendental'', in Westfahl, Gary (ed), ''Space and Beyond: The Frontier Theme in Science Fiction'', Greenwood Press, p. 13. "... I decided to write an April Fool's entry. I would pretend that a phrase I’d always liked, originated by the critic Roz Kaveney but not in general use, was actually a known critical term. I would write an entry called 'Big Dumb Objects' in a poker-faced style, suggesting an even more absurd critical term to be used in its place, 'megalotropic sf.'"</ref>  

Edward Guimont and Horace A. Smith propose that the origins of the Big Dumb Object trope can be found in [[H. P. Lovecraft]]'s novellas ''[[At the Mountains of Madness]]'' and ''[[The Shadow Out of Time]]'', both of which feature human expeditions to immense ancient alien cities in remote parts of our world, and both of which were early influences upon [[Arthur C. Clarke]].<ref name="When">{{Cite book|last1 = Guimont|first1 = Edward|url = https://www.hippocampuspress.com/other-authors/nonfiction/when-the-stars-are-right-h.-p.-lovecraft-and-astronomy|title = When the Stars Are Right: H. P. Lovecraft and Astronomy|last2 = Smith|first2 = Horace A.|year = 2023|publisher = [[Hippocampus Press]]|isbn = 9781614984078|edition = First|location = [[New York City]]|pages = 305–07}}</ref>