Accidental time travel

Accidental travel is a plot device used in fantasy and science fiction in which an ordinary person or a group of people accidentally find themselves outside of their normal place or time for no apparent reason. In Russian fandom the trope is known under the term "popadantsy", plural form for "popadanets", a person who accidentally finds himself elsewhere/elsewhen. The Russian term bears ironical flavor, because popadantsy has become a widespread cliche in pulp science fiction. The accidental time travel trope is known as time slip. Other kinds of accidental travel include space travel (e.g., through accidental wormholes or other spatial irregularities), travel to an alternative universe or into an alternative history. A particular kind of effortless accidental travel is finding oneself elsewhere/elsewhen occupying someone's else mind.

A classical example (of time slip) is Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (19th century), which had considerable influence on later writers. Russian critic Boris Nevsky traces this plot device to at least Gulliver's Travels (18th century).

In Russian science fiction and fantasy a significant number of popadantsy occur at a key moment in the Russian past. Armed with modern knowledge, they turn the tide to the glory of the Motherland, i.e., a popadanets becomes a progressor. It was suggested that this phenomenon of Russian science fiction is characterized by two motivations: "Mary Sue"-type drive to self-fulfillment and patriotic nostalgy over the times of Soviet superpower.

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