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Sanchez-Taylor, Joy Ann. "Science Fiction/Fantasy and the Representation of Ethnic Futurity." Scholar Commons, 2014. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5302.
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Science Fiction/Fantasy and the Representation of Ethnic Futurity examines the influence of science fiction/fantasy (SFF) as applied to twentieth century and contemporary African American, Native American and Latina/o texts. Bringing together theories of racial identity, hybridity, and postcolonialism, this project demonstrates how twentieth century and contemporary ethnic American SFF authors are currently utilizing tropes of SFF to blur racial distinctions and challenge white/other or colonizer/colonized binaries. Ethnic American SFF authors are able to employ SFF landscapes that address narratives of victimization or colonization while still imagining worlds where alternate representations of racial and ethnic identity are possible.
My multicultural approach pairs authors of different ethnicities in order to examine common themes that occur in ethnic American SFF texts. The first chapter examines SFF post-apocalyptic depictions of racial and ethnic identity in Samuel Delany's Dhalgren and Gerald Vizenor's Bearheart: The Heirship Chronicles. Chapter two explores depictions of ethnic undead figures in Octavia Butler's Fledgling and Daniel José Older's "Phantom Overload." Chapter three addresses themes of indigenous and migrant colonization in Celu Amberstone's "Refugees" and Rosura Sánchez and Beatrice Pita's Lunar Braceros: 2125-2148.
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Crotty, Tammy J. "Left of mainstream : genre fiction and its ability to transcend formula." Virtual Press, 2005. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1313073.
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This collection of short stories studies the elements of genre fiction and applies them to literary fiction. Science fiction, fantasy, and horror have specific manners in which they speak to an audience. By using these elements, for example the desensitization of the current generation of readers to most horrors, an author can demonstrate the core of the human relationship to pain, faith, or hope. Though some genre fiction seems to fit certain formulas, there are also horror or science fiction stories which do not fit a conventional mold. This collection sets forth to break away from genre fiction conventions. Also, this project utilizes the genre of magical realism, which is the medium between genre fiction and literary fiction, by using fantastic events within a mundane setting to emphasize the author's ideas. By bridging the gap between genres, magical realism reveals how interrelated the elements of all genres are. In this study stories use magical and horrifying events while maintaining an intention beyond the formulaic thrill. Therefore, genre fiction can have a place amongst literature.Department of English
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Lacy, Dianna C. "Expanding the Definition of Liminality: Speculative Fiction as an Exploration of New Boundaries." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2019. https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2698.
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Speculative fiction allows an expanded view of literature and so allows scholars to explore new boundaries in the way words and ideas work. In the titular character of The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, the reader sees an expansion of self through liminality while A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick explores its collapse. In order to portray each of these the character examined must move though one seems to move upward and the other downward. This idea of movement is only part of what expands the idea of liminality past the traditional idea of a doorway to create a hallway that the character might traverse on the way from place to place. This is not a redefinition of the term but a revision, a change in the way that we look at the concept as we accept and explore newer genres.
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Smith, Roslyn Nicole. "Medias Res, Temporal Double-Consciousness and Resistance in Octavia Butler's Kindred." unrestricted, 2007. http://etd.gsu.edu/theses/available/etd-11242007-230409/.
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Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2007.Title from file title page. Elizabeth West, committee chair; Layli Phillips, Kameelah Martin Samuel, committee members. Electronic text (52 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Jan. 30, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-52).
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Drolet, Cynthia L. (Cynthia Lea). "Four Stories of Fantasy and Science Fiction." Thesis, North Texas State University, 1988. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500548/.
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This thesis contains four stories of fantasy and science fiction. Four story lengths are represented: the short short ("Dragon Lovers"), the shorter short story ("Homecoming"), the longer short story ("Shadow Mistress"), and the novel ("Sword of Albruch," excerpted here).
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Hall, Rebecca Thomas Ron. "The fantastic and related subgenres in three contemporary novels." Waco, Tex. : Baylor University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2104/4190.
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Gomez, Melissa Anne. "Influences of Science Fiction and Fantasy Fandom on Bias." W&M ScholarWorks, 2015. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539626814.
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Holappa, H. (Harri). "The information-seeking behaviour of science fiction and fantasy writers." Master's thesis, University of Oulu, 2017. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-201702231225.
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The topic of this master’s thesis is the information-seeking behaviour of creative writers in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. The artistic information-seeking behaviour on the whole has been the subject of only a handful of published studies, and creative writer studies have been almost non-existent. This study utilized the online questionnaire method with an emphasis on Likert items and nonparametric statistical analysis to answer the following research questions: 1) What are the information sources and channels used by SF&F writers in the three work roles of creative writing proposed by this study: the researcher, artisan and entrepreneur roles? 2) What characteristics of information sources are seen by SF&F writers to be the most important? 3) How writing genre, writing experience, writer attainment and gender affect their choice of information sources and channels? 4) What information barriers do they experience? The questionnaire was submitted to 16 English-speaking SF&F forums, drawing 130 participants from nine forums. The findings suggest that the information-seeking behaviour of SF&F writers is characterized by a heavy use of search engines, interpersonal sources and ‘the self’ as an information source. In the researcher role, additional importance is given to online encyclopedias and databases, to fiction and non-fiction, and to the nature and environment. Information-seeking in the artisan role is not associated with any particular sources, albeit buying behaviour might be higher. Information seeking in the entrepreneur role was shown to be more interpersonal in nature than in the other two roles. The most important source characteristic for SF&F writers is trustworthiness. Scifi writers are more frequent users of online news services than fantasy writers in the researcher role. Accumulating writing experience is associated with more frequent use of public libraries, archives and museums. Starting writers tend to use scholars and experts less. Those with 6–10 years of experience may have entered a period in their writing lives when career-related information seeking from online databases, media-sharing services and online news services is higher. Female writers tend to be more enthusiastic users of other people’s experiences in the researcher role, and of various channels of learning to write in the artisan and entrepreneur roles. AWriter attainment is slightly correlated with the writer having a little higher tolerance on poor accessibility and timeliness of sources, and him or her holding little less preference in already familiar sources. The majority of information barriers experienced by SF&F writers are environmental barriers, especially money-related ones. This study showed that there are patterns of behaviour among SF&F writers that, when researched further, enable a more holistic view on the general human information seeking. Understanding the different preferences in creative writers’ information seeking in the three work roles will also make the development of more effective and targeted information products and services possible, especially at those academic libraries serving student patrons in the growing number of higher education creative writing programsTämän pro gradu -tutkielman aihe on tieteis- ja fantasiakirjoittajien tiedonhankintakäyttäytyminen. Aiempi taiteilijoita koskeva tiedonhankintakäyttäytymisen tutkimus on ollut vähäistä ja luovia kirjoittajia koskeva tutkimus lähes olematonta. Tutkielman metodi on verkkolomakkeella toteutettu kyselytutkimus, jonka painopisteet ovat Likert-asteikollisissa kysymyksissä ja epäparametrisessa tilastollisessa analyysissä. Tutkimuskysymykset ovat seuraavat: 1) Mitkä ovat tieteis- ja fantasiakirjoittajien käyttämät tiedonlähteet ja -kanavat kolmessa tämän tutkimuksen ehdottamassa työroolissa: tutkijarooli, artesaanirooli ja yrittäjärooli? 2) Mitkä tiedonlähteiden piirteet ovat kirjoittajien mielestä tärkeimmät? 3) Miten kirjoittajien genre, kokemus, rahalliseen ansioon yltäminen ja sukupuoli vaikuttavat tiedonlähteiden valintaan? 4) Mitä tiedonhankinnan esteitä kirjoittajat kohtaavat? Kyselylomake lähetettiin 16 englanninkieliselle tieteis- ja fantasiakirjoittamisen foorumille, ja se keräsi 130 vastaajaa yhdeksältä foorumilta. Tuloksista kävi ilmi, että tieteis- ja fantasiakirjoittajien tiedonhankintakäyttäytymistä luonnehtii hakukoneiden, interpersoonallisten lähteiden ja ”itsen” käyttö tiedonlähteenä. Tutkijaroolissa arvoa annetaan myös tietokannoille ja -sanakirjoille verkossa, fiktiiviselle ja tietokirjallisuudelle sekä luonnolle ja ympäristölle. Artesaaniroolin tiedonhankintaa ei hallitse mitkään tietyt lähteet, joskin lähteiden hankinta saattaa olla yleistä. Yrittäjäroolin tiedonhankinta on luonteeltaan interpersoonallisempaa kuin muiden. Tärkein tiedonlähteen piirre tieteis- ja fantasiakirjoittajille on luotettavuus. Tieteiskirjoittajat ovat fantasiakirjoittajia aktiivisempia verkkouutispalvelujen käyttäjiä tutkijaroolissa. Kirjoittamiskokemuksen kertyminen on liitoksissa yleisten kirjastojen, arkistojen ja museoiden käytön lisääntymiseen. Aloittelevat kirjoittajat käyttävät muita ryhmiä vähemmän hyväkseen asiantuntijoita ja tutkijoita. He joilla on 6–10 vuotta kirjoittajakokemusta saattavat olla urallaan vaiheessa, jossa kirjoittajauraan liittyvä tiedonhankinta on yleistä verkon tietokannoista, tietosanakirjoista, medianjakopalveluista ja uutispalveluista. Naispuoliset kirjoittajat hyödyntävät miehiä aktiivisemmin muiden ihmisten kokemuksia tutkijaroolissa ja joitakin kirjoittamaan oppimisen kanavia artesaani- ja yrittäjäroolissa. Rahalliseen ansioon yltäminen korreloi hiukan korkeamman tiedonlähteiden huonon tavoitettavuuden ja myöhäisyyden sietokyvyn kanssa sekä jo entuudestaan tuttujen lähteiden hiukan vähemmän suosimisen kanssa. Tieteis- ja fantasiakirjoittajien yleisimmät tiedonhankinnan esteet ovat ympäristöön ja erityisesti rahaan liittyvät esteet. Tutkielma osoitti, että tieteis- ja fantasiakirjoittajien tiedonhankintaan liittyy piirteitä, joita syvemmin tutkimalla voidaan päästä entistä kokonaisvaltaisempaan käsitykseen ihmisen tiedonhankinnasta. Ymmärtämällä luovien kirjoittajien tiedonhankintaa erilaisissa työrooleissa on myös mahdollista kehittää entistä parempia heille räätälöityjä informaatiopalveluja ja -tuotteita. Tämä pätee erityisesti niihin korkeakoulukirjastoihin, jotka palvelevat kansainvälisesti koko ajan kasvavaa joukkoa luovan kirjoittamisen opiskelulinjoissa olevia
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Cupitt, Catherine Anne. "Space opera: a hybrid form of science fiction and fantasy." Thesis, Curtin University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/1082.
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This thesis considers space opera as a hybrid form of science fiction and fantasy.“Falling Stars,” the creative component which includes fantasy, space opera and science fiction stories, constitutes a spectrum of speculative fiction. In order to illustrate the similarities and difference between the genres represented in the spectrum, I focus on the central figure of the alien other and the ways in which such a figure can be gendered and embodied. The space opera novella combines motifs of both fantasy and science fiction within the figure of the cyborg, Orlando, who is transgendered and hyperchangeably embodied.The exegesis offers a theoretical context through which to view the creative work. I argue that space operas are melodramatic adventure stories, which operate as a hybrid form of science fiction and fantasy, using the non-realist expectations inherent in both, but mixing the extrapolations and icons of science fiction with the self-consistent but unbelievable discontinuities of fantasy. I also consider space opera’s tendency to exhibit a conservative, unexamined colonialistic imperative, with the attendant assumptions that create a potential for feminist subversion.
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Porta, Fernando. "Narrative strategies in H.G. Wells's romances & short stories (1884-1910)." Thesis, University of Reading, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.339482.
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Gevers, Nicholas David. "Mirrors of the past : versions of history in science fiction and fantasy." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10511.
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The primary argument of this Thesis is that Science Fiction (SF) is a form of Historical Fiction, one which speculatively appropriates elements of the past in fulfilment of the ideological expectations of its genre readership. Chapter One presents this definition, reconciling it with some earlier definitions of SF and justifying it by means of a comparison between SF and the Historical Novel. Chapter One also identifies SF's three modes of historical appropriation (historical extension, imitation and modification) and the forms of fictive History these construct, including Future History and Alternate History; theories of history, and SF's own ideological changes over time, have helped shape the genre's varied borrowings from the past. Some works of Historical Fantasy share the characteristics of SF set out in Chapter One. The remaining Chapters analyse the textual products of SF's imitation and modification of history, i.e. Future and Alternate Histories. Chapter Two discusses various Future Histories completed or at least commenced before 1960, demonstrating their consistent optimism, their celebration of Science and of heroic individualism, and their tendency to resolve the cyclical pattern of history through an ideal linear simplification or 'theodicy'. Chapter Three shows the much greater ideological and technical diversity of Future Histories after 1960, their division into competing traditional (Libertarian), Posthistoric (pessimistic), and critical utopian categories, an indication of SF's increasing complexity and fragmentation.
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Davies, Lynda Mary. "Susan Cooper's heightened reality : how narrative style, metaphor, symbol and myth facilitate the imaginative exploration of moral and ethical issues /." St. Lucia, Qld, 2001. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe16530.pdf.
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Leyburn, Boyd Harlan III. "The body in fantasy : how the human body informs science fiction set design." Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/22980.
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Rüster, Johannes. "All-Macht und Raum-Zeit : Gottesbilder in der englischsprachigen Fantasy und Science-fiction /." Berlin : LIT, 2007. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb411199866.
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Hommel, Élodie. "Lectures de science-fiction et fantasy : enquête sociologique sur les réceptions et appropriations des littératures de l'imaginaire." Thesis, Lyon, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017LYSEN068/document.
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À la suite des enquêtes menées par Annie Collovald et Erik Neveu dans Lire le noir, et par Christine Détrez et Olivier Vanhée dans Les mangados, sur les lectures de romans policiers pour l'une et de mangas pour l'autre, ce travail de thèse porte sur les lectures de littératures de l'imaginaire (catégorie éditoriale qui regroupe science-fiction, fantasy et une partie du fantastique). Après une étude de l'offre éditoriale française contemporaine, l'enquête de terrain, qui a été menée par entretiens auprès de lecteurs et lectrices âgés de 20 à 35 ans, a cherché à mettre en évidence leurs motivations, leurs appropriations de cette lecture et les réceptions qu'ils en font. Tout comme les mangas ou les romans policiers, la science-fiction, et plus généralement les littératures de l'imaginaire, constituent un genre dont la légitimité n'est pas acquise, souvent perçu comme une échappée hors du réel pour des amateurs parfois assimilés de façon péjorative à des exclus sociaux. Ces questions ont été abordées dans la recherche à travers différents angles d'approche : la réception des catégories éditoriales par les jeunes interrogé·e·s, les raisons de lire science-fiction et fantasy, les différents types de réceptions et appropriations du genre, les parcours de lecture en littératures de l'imaginaire, les pratiques culturelles et sociabilités qui prennent place autour de la lecture, le rapport des lecteurs et lectrices à la légitimité ambiguë du genreFollowing the research led by Annie Collovald and Erik Neveu on the reading of detective novels, and by Christine Détrez and Olivier Vanhée on the reading of mangas, this thesis studies the reading of the “littératures de l’imaginaire” (« imaginary / non realistic literature », or « speculative fiction »: a publishing category including science fiction, fantasy, and some fantastic stories). After a study of the currently available products on the French market, the field survey, which was conducted through interviews with readers aged 20 to 35, highlighted their reading motivations, appropriations, and receptions. Like mangas or detective novels, science fiction, and more broadly speculative fiction, form a literary genre whose legitimacy is not acquired. It is often perceived as an escape from the real for amateurs, and its fans are sometimes pejoratively assimilated to social outsiders. These questions were addressed in research through different prisms: the reception of publishing categories by the young adults who were interviewed, the reasons to read science fiction and fantasy, various types of receptions and appropriations of the genre, reading paths in speculative fiction, cultural and sociability practices that take place around reading, and the relationship of readers to the ambiguous legitimacy of the genre
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Proietti, Salvatore. "The cyborg, cyberspace, and North American science fiction." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape11/PQDD_0021/NQ44558.pdf.
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Thomas, Rhys O. "Liminal identity in contemporary American television science fiction." Thesis, University of East Anglia, 2014. https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/56854/.
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This thesis examines the foregrounding of a particular type of liminal human protagonist in contemporary American television Science Fiction. These protagonists, which I have termed the ‘unliving,’ exist in-between the realms of life and death, simultaneously both alive and dead whilst occupying an indistinct middleground. I examine how the liminal nature of these protagonists has been used as a means of exploring various aspects of personal identity during the early years of the twenty-first century. Developing anthropologist Victor Witter Turner’s work, in which he argued for the universal occurrence of liminality in cultural, political, economic and social contexts, I argue that the use of liminal protagonists in American television Science Fiction constitutes a demonstrable trend. Although they are to be found in ever-increasing numbers in (and outside) the genre, their growing presence and significance have yet to be properly discerned, studied and appreciated. I analyse the use of these unliving protagonists in four key texts: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (The Halcyon Company/Warner Bros. Television, 2008-2009), Battlestar Galactica (Universal/Sci-Fi TV, 2004-2009), Caprica (Universal/Sci-Fi TV, 2010-2011) and Dollhouse (Boston Diva Productions/20th Century Fox, 2009-2010). Textual analyses of serial television are often dismissed as outmoded and irrelevant to the study of television. Part of the aim of this thesis is to repudiate this widespread assumption. Therefore, my methodology involves the use of close narrative analysis to interrogate my chosen texts, situating my findings within broader sociocultural contexts. Utilising this methodological approach reveals how these texts engage with contemporary concerns and anxieties regarding illness, religion, trauma, and gender. Ultimately, this thesis presents an intervention within ongoing discourses regarding the relationship between these subjects and personal identity in 21st century America.
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Hebert, Florent. "Défense de la décroissance : savoir, pouvoir et autorité dans la fantasy contemporaine." Thesis, Toulouse 2, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017TOU20069/document.
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Nous nous intéresserons dans cette étude au lien entre la décroissance — mouvement pluriforme qui tire ses racines de l’écologie radicale — et cinq romans de fantasy contemporains : The Lord of the Rings (J. R. R. Tolkien 1954-55), The Left Hand of Darkness (Ursula K. Le Guin 1969), His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman 1995-2000), Enchantment (Orson Scott Card 1999) et Harry Potter (J. K. Rowling 1997-2007). Nous nous concentrerons sur ce qui nous semble être l’essence de la décroissance, à savoir, d’une part, le refus de considérer la surenchère comme une solution aux problèmes ou l’accumulation comme seule forme de bonheur, et, d’autre part, la diminution volontaire comme moyen d’améliorer la condition humaine.Plus précisément, nous étudierons la diminution de pouvoir, d’autorité et de savoir. Nous nous intéresserons à la représentation de ces trois concepts au travers des procédés narratifs et stylistiques, ainsi que des différentes icônes et figures qui les incarnent, et nous étudierons la façon dont ils mettent en scène une tension constante entre croissance et décroissance. Dans cette optique, le rôle du narrateur et du lecteur dans la création du monde fantastique aura une importance particulière, car il est le cœur même de l’interaction fertile entre savoir et autorité, qui reflète l’accession du protagoniste au pouvoir. C’est la spécificité du traitement de ces concepts par les outils propres à la fantasy et à la science fiction que nous nous attacherons à mettre en lumièreThis study will focus on the relation between degrowth — a multifaceted movement which takes its roots in deep ecology — and five fantasy novels, The Lord of the Rings (J. R.R. Tolkien 1954-55), The Left Hand of Darkness (Ursula K. Le Guin 1969), His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman 1995-2000), Enchantment (Orson Scott Card 1999) et Harry Potter (J. K. Rowling 1997-2007). The focus will be on the essence of degrowth, viz., on the one hand, a denial of escalation as a solution and of hoarding as the only form of happiness,and on the other hand, a willing diminishing as a means to improve human condition. More specifically, it is the decrease in power, authority and knowledge that will be studied. The emphasis will be on the representation of these three notions through narrative and stylistic devices, as well as on the various icons and figures embodying them, in order to show the way they set up a constant tension between growth and degrowth. To that effect, the role of both narrator and reader in the creation of the fantastic world will be given due consideration, for it is at the very heart of the fruitful interaction between knowledge and authority, which reflects the protagonist’s rise to power. Thus, the specificity of the fantasy and science fiction approach to these notions will be highlighted
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King, Liesl Eleyn. "Transforming the Post-patriarchal Paradigm : Alternative Spiritual Vision in Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy." Thesis, Queen Mary, University of London, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.515255.
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Jenike, Elizabeth. "Blood of the Windmaker." Miami University / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1417439734.
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Lundgren, Emily Lundgren. "Trees Struck by Lightning Burning from The Inside Out." Youngstown State University / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ysu1523953422992737.
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Hagan, Justice M. "Desert Enlightenment: Prophets and Prophecy in American Science Fiction." University of Dayton / OhioLINK, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1366729757.
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com, estrangedcognition@hotmail, and Em McAvan. "The Postmodern Sacred Popular Culture Spirituality in the Genres of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Fantastic Horror." Murdoch University, 2007. http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/adt/browse/view/adt-MU20080908.140222.
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In my thesis I argue that the return of the religious in contemporary culture has been in two forms the rise of so-called fundamentalisms in the established faiths-Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, even Buddhist-and the rise of a New Age style spirituality that draws from aspects of those faiths even as it produces something distinctively different. I argue that this shift both produces post-modern media culture, and is itself always-already mediated through the realm of the fictional. Secular and profane are always entangled within one another, a constant and pervasive media presence that modulates the way that contemporary subjects experience themselves and their relationship to the spiritual. I use popular culture as an entry point, an entry point that can presume neither belief nor unbelief in its audiences, showing that it is unreal texts such as Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Matrix and so on that we find religious symbols and ideas refracted through a postmodernist sensibility, with little regard for the demands of real world epistemology.
I argue that it is in this interplay between traditional religions and New Age-ised spirituality in popular culture that the sacred truly finds itself in postmodernity.
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Johansson, Hanna. "En äventyrlig genreundersökning : En genreundersökning där den klassiska äventyrsromanen jämförs med tidiga fantasy- och science fiction verk." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för kultur- och medievetenskaper, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-122273.
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Testerman, Rebecca Lynn. "Desegregating the Future: A Study of African-American Participation in Science Fiction Conventions." Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1332773873.
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Stroud, Allen. "Investigation and application of writing structures and world development techniques in science fiction and fantasy." Thesis, University of Winchester, 2018. http://repository.winchester.ac.uk/1099/.
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This thesis is an example of creative practice that uses contemporary transmedia storytelling techniques to build a fictional environment that content creators can collaborate in and contribute to with their own fictional works. Within this thesis, I refine my methodology and identify new methods and processes that apply to the context of the creative project example – the fictional world of Chaos Reborn. The most notable of these are 1) making use of invented and real mythology to project depth into the work 2) presenting information to other contributors so they can switch roles as creators and consumers of the franchise content and 3) Identifying the ways in which my creative work interacts with other elements of the transmedia narrative of Chaos Reborn. This thesis also identifies issues around continuance of production for this franchise after an initial raft of publications and suggests a consistent way to approach further development of content. The main creative component of this thesis is a novel set in the world of Chaos Reborn. This is Dreams of Chaos (2016), the first of a planned trilogy entitled The Death of Gods, which tells the story of how the world of Chaos Reborn came about from its alternative history root in Earth’s 14th century. This operates as the background to the game world and anchors the fantasy genre context to a version of our own history. This work is only a part of the writing undertaken to build the world of Chaos Reborn. There is additional material in appendices which contain the other associated writing from this work and from my previous science fiction case study on Elite Dangerous to illustrate the progression and development of my methodology across the genres of science fiction and fantasy.
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Holcomb, Will. "The Sunken Country & Other Stories." OpenSIUC, 2020. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses/2735.
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TITLE: THE SUNKEN COUNTRY & OTHER STORIESMAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Rebekah Frumkin The Sunken Country & Other Stories collects five works that place personal tales of alienation, repression, isolation, obsession, and romance and broader themes of dramatic shifts in the workings of culture and environment under a microscope and vivisect them with tools gathered from the New Weird tradition
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Delatte, Isabella Imber. "Roses and Foxes." Kent State University Honors College / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors155472117699106.
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McAvan, Em. "The postmodern sacred: popular culture spirituality in the genres of science fiction, fantasy and fantastic horror." Thesis, McAvan, Em (2007) The postmodern sacred: popular culture spirituality in the genres of science fiction, fantasy and fantastic horror. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2007. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/188/.
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In my thesis I argue that the return of the religious in contemporary culture has been in two forms the rise of so-called fundamentalisms in the established faiths-Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, even Buddhist-and the rise of a New Age style spirituality that draws from aspects of those faiths even as it produces something distinctively different. I argue that this shift both produces post-modern media culture, and is itself always-already mediated through the realm of the fictional. Secular and profane are always entangled within one another, a constant and pervasive media presence that modulates the way that contemporary subjects experience themselves and their relationship to the spiritual. I use popular culture as an entry point, an entry point that can presume neither belief nor unbelief in its audiences, showing that it is 'unreal' texts such as Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Matrix and so on that we find religious symbols and ideas refracted through a postmodernist sensibility, with little regard for the demands of 'real world' epistemology.
I argue that it is in this interplay between traditional religions and New Age-ised spirituality in popular culture that the sacred truly finds itself in postmodernity.
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McAvan, Em. "The postmodern sacred : popular culture spirituality in the genres of science fiction, fantasy and fantastic horror /." McAvan, Em (2007) The postmodern sacred: popular culture spirituality in the genres of science fiction, fantasy and fantastic horror. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2007. http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/188/.
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In my thesis I argue that the return of the religious in contemporary culture has been in two forms the rise of so-called fundamentalisms in the established faiths-Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, even Buddhist-and the rise of a New Age style spirituality that draws from aspects of those faiths even as it produces something distinctively different. I argue that this shift both produces post-modern media culture, and is itself always-already mediated through the realm of the fictional. Secular and profane are always entangled within one another, a constant and pervasive media presence that modulates the way that contemporary subjects experience themselves and their relationship to the spiritual. I use popular culture as an entry point, an entry point that can presume neither belief nor unbelief in its audiences, showing that it is 'unreal' texts such as Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Matrix and so on that we find religious symbols and ideas refracted through a postmodernist sensibility, with little regard for the demands of 'real world' epistemology.
I argue that it is in this interplay between traditional religions and New Age-ised spirituality in popular culture that the sacred truly finds itself in postmodernity.
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Belas, Oliver Sandys. "Race and culture in African American crime and science fiction." Thesis, Royal Holloway, University of London, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.499831.
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Carr, John Leonard. "Leigh Brackett : American science fiction writer--her life and work /." The Ohio State University, 1988. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1291223654.
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Williams, Katlyn E. "American magic: authorship and politics in the new American literary genre fiction." Diss., University of Iowa, 2018. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/6664.
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This project examines how a subset of contemporary American literary cross-genre authors use popular forms within their fiction to comment on, interact with, and critique the possibilities of formula fiction and modern fan communities. I argue that the historic feminization of the popular (set against the stoicism of realism), combined with the startlingly masculine histories of popular genres like science fiction and fantasy, has resulted in distinct differences in the style and aims of male and female authors utilizing hybrid forms. The writers comprising the focus of this study, Junot Díaz, Michael Chabon, Margaret Atwood, and Kelly Link, create a range of competing modes of genre mixing that clarify the lingering effects of popular genre’s marginalization by the literary elite and the academy.
The chapters of this project move through these modes by examining, respectively, toxic nerd fantasies and fandoms, the impact of fan fiction and its universalizing impulse, the rise of “speculative fiction,” and the role of domestic fabulism in reimagining the limited frameworks of realism and celebrating the possibilities of mass tropes and forms. Each of these chapters interrogates the author’s impact on the developing field of the new American literary genre fiction, linking their public personas as fans and scholars of genre to the attitudes and ideologies advanced by their fiction. These projects, anti-imperialist or feminist in nature, make self-conscious arguments about the value of the popular genres with which they interact. By focusing on the links between the author’s persona, public reception, and cultural fandoms, and the impact of these elements on contemporary cross-genre fiction, I attempt to revitalize genre theory in a manner that challenges its historically hierarchal configurations, particularly for women authors and consumers of the popular.
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Mavrick, Kandace Edana Vashti. "The path of the monster : the alien ‘other’ in science fiction and fantasy for young adults." Thesis, Curtin University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/228.
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This thesis explores the way in which representations of the alien ‘other’ in SF for young adults are used as a tool for exploring the self/other dichotomy in the process of identity formation. It intends to develop a clear view of current, popular forms of representation of the alien other in this area, contribute to the still nascentcriticism of YA SF, and also operate as a constructive tool for creative writers working in this field.The exegesis is a meta-critical commentary on the YA SF field in general and the role of the character of the alien other within it in particular. It elucidates the preoccupation of the YA genre with ideas of identity and subjectivity and links this to developmental psychology, demonstrating the way that the self/other dichotomy in identity formation forms the basis of the character of the alien other and its expression in fiction and explaining the fascination and potential value of these characters to a young adult audience. It further looks at the way these characters are created and read and the limitations and possibilities that exist for authors in their construction, delineating the various archetypical constructions of these characters and exploring the ramifications of various methods of representation.The creative component of the thesis is a young adult fantasy novel, The Path of the Monster that explores the self/other dichotomy, challenging traditional binaries such as ‘good’ and ‘evil’ and questioning assumptions and understandings about identity and otherness. It particularly highlights the question ‘who is the monster?’, confronting expectations about the role of the other and simultaneously exploring the feeling of alienation that is common to the adolescent experience.
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Larsson, Jenna. "Science fiction-litteratur : Hur gör folkbiblioteken i praktiken? En studie av fyra bibliotek." Thesis, Högskolan i Borås, Institutionen Biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap / Bibliotekshögskolan, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-19635.
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This essay aims to examine how science fiction literature is supported and made available for readers at four public libraries. Each library has its own opinion of what a public library’s role in society is, and that affects how literature acquisition and media exposure is done at that particular library. To explore this, the author uses a modified version of Elzinga and Andersson’s theory of traditionalism, pragmatism and emancipationism. The research questions are: 1. What factors lie behind acquisition of science fiction literature? 2. How do the public libraries in question make science fiction literature available to its users? 3. Many public libraries use specific tools when classifying literature. How much are they used at the libraries in question? 4. What do the libraries in question do in order to promote science fiction literature? The methods used are interviews, text studies and observations. The author finds that the libraries are mostly driven by a pragmatic view of the role of the library, buying literature requested by the library users and relying on popularity and trends when displaying media. There is hardly any evidence of emancipationism to be found, but there are some traditionalist influences. Due to lack of popularity, science fiction books are not acquired as often as other, more popular, fiction. Science fiction and fantasy are often put on specific shelves, apart from other fiction. It is also common that those genres are placed in the part of the library where literature for young people is put. One of the libraries promotes these genres in a specific section of their web page, and another one have previously had exhibitions on science fiction. Apart from that, science fiction is rarely promoted as a genre, but is treated as a part of other literature when being promoted. All libraries use specific tools, such as BURK-sök, for classifying literature. They do, however, make their own classifications occasionally.
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Halliday, Sophie. "Representations of gender and subjectivity in 21st century American science fiction television." Thesis, University of East Anglia, 2014. https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/51483/.
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This thesis interrogates representations of gender and subjectivity within 21st century American science fiction television. It recognises a recent convergence of generic concerns, the shifting contexts of television, and the cultural context of 21st century America. Identifying a recent shift in how American science fiction television of this era has engaged with issues of gender and subjectivity, I offer an exploration of this trend via four key texts: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX, 2008-2009), Fringe (FOX, 2008-2013), Battlestar Galactica (SyFy, 2004-2009) and Caprica (SyFy, 2009-2010). The importance of this thesis lies in its exploration of new representational strategies in contemporary science fiction television in relation to the female body, and its consideration of the wider socio-cultural concerns of America in the 21st century. Previous attempts have been made to examine the socio-political import of certain series this thesis interrogates. I intervene in these debates by offering a much more focused interrogation of gender and subjectivity in 21st century science fiction television, via the framework of acclaimed and newly emerging series. Utilising a methodological approach that involves detailed textual analysis informed by social and cultural theory, I situate my case study series within the socio-cultural context of 21st century America. As such, this thesis covers a broad range of current representations that speak to how constructions of gender and subjectivity within a contemporary US cultural context are currently being worked through. Foregrounding an engagement with a particularly fraught period of American history via the female body, I argue that the protagonists my case study series present offer a positive intervention in previous estimations of how the female body has been utilised in film and television. As such, this thesis considers the implications of this particular context upon how these protagonists are represented by these newly emerging series.
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Cristofari, Cécile. "Cosmogonies imaginaires : les mondes secondaires dans la science-fiction et la fantasy anglophones, de 1929 à nos jours." Thesis, Aix-Marseille, 2013. http://www.theses.fr/2013AIXM3030.
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J'ai voulu étudier un phénomène qui sous-tend l'écriture de la littérature spéculative (science-fiction et fantasy) aujourd'hui : la création d'un « monde secondaire », selon l'expression de J.R.R. Tolkien. Deux problèmes se posaient de prime abord. Premièrement, l'ensemble culturel et éditorial que recouvre l'expression « littérature spéculative » est relativement flou, du fait des problèmes de délimitation des genres et de la problématique culturelle plus générale (la littérature spéculative est-elle définie par des motifs littéraires, ou par l'appareil culturel qui l'entoure ?). Deuxièmement, un « monde secondaire » est-il uniquement un univers inventé entièrement différent ou détaché du monde réel, ou peut-il recouper le monde réel, etc. ? La littérature spéculative étant un genre foisonnant et en pleine évolution, j'ai pris le parti de ne pas donner de réponses définitives. Plutôt que de tenter de tracer des frontières, j'ai cherché à mettre en évidence les différents éléments dont se constituent les mondes secondaires : les traditions du genre sur lesquels les auteurs s'appuient pour transmettre la vision d'un univers original à leurs lecteurs, entre mise en avant de l'originalité et utilisation d'éléments connus comme soubassement, ainsi que la vision particulière de l'histoire, de la géographie et de la place de l'humanité dans le monde que les auteurs développent. Cette réflexion se veut située à la fois en amont et en aval de l'acte d'écriture. Elle se conclut sur les questions qui se posent aux auteurs contemporains : questions de renouvellement du genre, ou d'ouverture sur les autres médias, en particulier ceux que pratiquent les amateursI endeavoured to study a phenomenon underlying contemporary speculative fiction (science fiction and fantasy): the creation of a ‘secondary world', to use J.R.R. Tolkien's phrasing. I had to solve two preliminary problems. First, the cultural and economic phenomenon that speculative fiction represents has a blurry outline, questions regarding genre delimitation and wider cultural problems (is speculative fiction defined only by a number of literary patterns, or by the whole cultural apparatus that goes with it?) being difficult to answer. Secondly, does the notion secondary worlds only apply to invented worlds that are entirely different or detached from the real world, or can it be applied to texts that take place at least partly in the real world, etc.? Speculative fiction being a diverse genre that has been steadily evolving for years, I have chosen to avoid giving definitive answers to those questions. Instead of looking for boundaries, I have tried to emphasise the various building blocks of secondary worlds in speculative fiction: the traditions of the genre authors rely on to convey their view of an original universe to their readers, in a dialogue between known elements used as a foundation and the idiosyncratic view of history, geography and the place of mankind in the particular secondary world developed by the author. In an attempt to open this study to the contemporary practice of world-building, I have concluded with the questions that speculative fiction authors face today: how to renew the tropes of the genre, how speculative fiction pervades other media, in particular the practices of fans
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Dargue, Joseph W. "Heuristic Futures: Reading the Digital Humanities through Science Fiction." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1439301885.
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Chen, Jou-An. "Airship, Automaton, and Alchemy: A Steampunk Exploration of Young Adult Science Fiction." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Humanities, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/7423.
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Steampunk first appeared in the 1980s as a subgenre of science fiction, featuring anachronistic technologies with a veneer of Victorian sensibilities. In recent years steampunk has re-emerged in young adult science fiction as a fresh and dynamic subgenre, which includes titles such as The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross, The Hunchback Assignment by Arthur Slade, and Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve. Like their predecessors, these modern steampunk novels for teens use retrofuturistic historiography and innovative mechanical aesthetics to dramatize the volatile relationship between man and technology, only in these novels the narrative is intentionally set in the context of their teen protagonist's social and emotional development. However, didactic conventions such as technophobia and the formulaic linearity of the bildungsroman narrative complicate and frustrate steampunk's representation of adolescent formation. Using case studies of Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld and The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia, retrofuturism and technological hybridity are presented as defining features of steampunk that subvert
young adult science fiction's technophobic and liberal humanist traditions. The dirigible and the automaton are examined as the quintessential tropes of steampunk fiction that reproduce the necessary amphibious quality, invoking new expressions and
understanding of adolescent growth and identity formation that have a distinctly utopian, nostalgic, and ecocentric undertone.
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Dallaire, Julie. "Pour une narratologie relative : la narratologie à l'épreuve de la science-fiction /." Thèse, Chicoutimi : Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 2004. http://theses.uqac.ca.
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Holland, Anika R. "Grokking Gender: Understanding Sexual Pleasure & Empathy in 1960s Science Fiction." Ohio University Honors Tutorial College / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ouhonors1492389983184444.
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Sebree, Adrien E. "Living Fairy Tales: Science Fiction and Fantasy's Visionary Retellings of "Beauty and the Beast"." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2011. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/204.
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This thesis explores how science fiction and fantasy retellings of the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" bring visionary insights to the fairy tale. Stories such as Tanith Lee's science fiction novella "Beauty" and Mercedes Lackey's fantasy novel The Fire Rose constitute living and developing incarnations of "Beauty and the Beast." To better explore the visionary leaps made by these stories, they are placed in contrast with one of the original recordings of the story by Madame Marie Le Prince de Beaumont and the 1991 Disney film version, Beauty and the Beast.
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Nilsson, Erik. "Science fiction och fantasy : en undersökning av svenska bokförlags utgivning och fyra folkbiblioteks inköp under perioden 1989 till 1994." Thesis, Högskolan i Borås, Institutionen Biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap / Bibliotekshögskolan, 1996. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-17742.
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Publication of science fiction has a tradition in Sweden. Adult-fantasy does not. In recentyears, the 1980's, Swedish publishers have realised how profitable fantasy is. Of the totalpublication of the two genres between 1989 and 1994, 54% was science fiction and 46%was fantasy. The reason for this even balance is that fantasy-books get reprinted more frequentlythan science fiction-books. However, there are more science fiction-titles published thanfantasy-titles.The four public libraries that I have examined have similar methods of acquiring books. Theyhave all, just about, acquired the same titles of fantasy while the science fiction acquired differsto a large degree. The four libraries • acquisitions are similar to those of the libraries connectedto Bibliotekstjänst's database BURK. The differences between the four libraries lie in thenumber of science fiction and fantasy-books and the distribution of different languages thebooks were originally published in.
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Smith, Susan Ursula Anne. "Shifting (a)genders : gender, disability and the cyborg in American women's science fiction." Thesis, University of Leicester, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/2381/10223.
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Shifting (A)Genders examines the representation of cyborgs in post-war American women’s science fiction, focusing on issues relating to gender and disability. Drawing on ideas expounded in Donna Haraway’s ‘A Cyborg Manifesto’ (1985) and theories of disability that conceptualise the disabled subject as a figure that disrupts the human and gender identity, it explores the ways in which novels by C.L. Moore, Anne McCaffrey, James Tiptree Jr., Joan D. Vinge, Lois McMaster Bujold and Marge Piercy highlight the emancipatory potential of technology for marginalised subjects. While critics argue that Haraway’s theory of the cyborg is idealistic, failing to consider the materiality of the body, this thesis demonstrates that representations of the human-machine in women’s writing emerge at particular historical moments confronting gender stereotypes in science fiction when gender relations are unstable in American society. Situating texts in their socio-historical context, I argue that women writers portray cyborgs differently to male writers and challenge western heteropatriarchal concepts of the human subject. The thesis identifies a shift in focus from representations of female to male cyborgs in women’s writing, which reflect changing perceptions of the gendered and disabled body. It also asserts that anxieties about the instability of gender can be related to moments of social upheaval that define post-war America.
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Chern, Joanne. "Restoring, Rewriting, Reimagining: Asian American Science Fiction Writers and the Time Travel Narrative." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2014. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/449.
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Asian American literature has continued to evolve since the emergence of first generation Asian American writers in 1975. Authors have continued to interact not only with Asian American content, but also with different forms to express that content – one of these forms is genre writing. Genre writing allows Asian American writers to interact with genre conventions, using them to inform Asian American tropes and vice versa. This thesis focuses on the genre of science fiction, specifically in the subgenre of time travel. Using three literary case studies – Ken Liu’s “The Man Who Ended History,” Charles Yu’s How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, and Ted Chiang’s “Story of Your Life” – this thesis seeks to explore the ways in which different Asian American writers have interacted with the genre, using it to retell Asian American narratives in new ways. “The Man Who Ended History” explores the use of time travel in restoring lost or silenced historical narratives, and the implications of that usage; How to Live Safely is a clever rewriting of the immigrant narrative, which embeds the story within the conventions of a science fictional universe; “Story of Your Life” presents a reimagining of alterity, and investigates how we might interact with the alien in a globalized world. Ultimately, all three stories, though quite different, express Asian American concerns in new and interesting ways; they may point to ways that Asian American writers can continue to write and rewrite Asian American narratives, branching out into new genres and affecting those genres in turn.
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Forte, Joseph A. ""We Weren't Kidding": Prediction as Ideology in American Pulp Science Fiction, 1938-1949." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/42644.
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In 1971, Isaac Asimov observed in humanity, a science-important society. For this he credited the man who had been his editor in the 1940s during the period known as the golden age of American science fiction, John W. Campbell, Jr. Campbell was editor of Astounding Science-Fiction, the magazine that launched both Asimov's career and the golden age, from 1938 until his death in 1971. Campbell and his authors set the foundation for the modern sci-fi, cementing genre distinction by the application of plausible technological speculation. Campbell assumed the science-important society that Asimov found thirty years later, attributing sci-fi ascendance during the golden age a particular compatibility with that cultural context.
On another level, sci-fiâ s compatibility with â science-importantâ tendencies during the first half of the twentieth-century betrayed a deeper agreement with the social structures that fueled those tendencies and reflected an explication of modernity on capitalist terms. Tethered to an imperative of plausibly extrapolated technology within an American context, sci-fi authors retained the social underpinnings of that context. In this thesis, I perform a textual analysis of stories published in Astounding during the 1940s, following the sci-fi as it grew into a mainstream cultural product. In this, I prioritize not the intentions of authors to advance explicit themes or speculations. Rather, I allow the authorsâ direction of reader sympathy to suggest the way that favored characterizations advanced ideological bias. Sci-fi authors supported a route to success via individualistic, competitive, and private enterprise. They supported an American capitalistic conveyance of modernity.Master of Arts
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Maass, Alexandra. "Digital Cityscapes in American Science Fiction: Physical Structure, Social Relationships, and Programmed Identities." OpenSIUC, 2013. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses/1124.
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Because cities act as the primary site for the development and production of new technologies, they arguably act as crossing points into the growing digital environment. As information technologies such as computers, digital networks, and most specifically the Internet become normalized within American culture, a need arises to examine the impact these technologies have on those who use them. Science fiction texts often explore technological influence on the human body, social relationships, and developing culture, and typically utilize cities as settings for this exploration. An examination of four primary science fiction texts, Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, William Gibson's Neuromancer, the Wachowskis' The Matrix, and M.T. Anderson's Feed, and the connections they draw between cities and cyberspace reveal not only an ongoing ambivalent relationship between humans and the technology they create, but also a concern for the growing power of that technology's influence. Louis Wirth's observations of the early twentieth century city serve as a guide in looking at digital cityscapes first as structural, then as social, and finally as points of direct influence on human identity within these texts, suggesting mirrored concerns not only within American culture, but the global digital culture that is forming as a result of the connectivity offered by digital information technologies.
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Mann, Kimberly Lynn. ""Genuine made-in-Americans" : living machines and the technological body in the postwar science fiction imaginary, 1944-1968." W&M ScholarWorks, 2014. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539720301.
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The science fiction imaginary of mid-twentieth century America often takes as its subjects all manner of animate objects --- living machines like robots, cyborgs, automata, androids, and intelligent "thinking" computers. These living machines embody early cold war anxieties about the relationship between humans and their machines, as well as about human "identity" in a world perceived as increasingly technological and fragmented. Built with text and still or moving images, these figures' bodies are formed by metal and plastic, circuits and electronics, at times fused with organic parts -- at the same time that they are also represented as built from the innovation and imagination of cutting-edge American industry and science. These diverse machined bodies are sometimes straightforwardly humanoid in form, and at other times, they are less so, while still others may appear to share little in common with humans at all. as bearers of built bodies, living machines inhabit the interface between human and machine, exposing the ruptures and contradictions of the conception of the modem, technological body: the material and the immaterial, the animate and the inanimate, the subject and the object. While this study analyzes fiction by canonical science fiction writers like Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Arthur C. Clarke, its focus is on government documents and images regarding NASA's Projects Mercury (1959-1963) and Gemini (1962-1966), popular journalism articles and images, Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, and less well-known pulp science fiction stories from the 1930s through the 1950s.
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Leroux, Julie. ""Shocking his readers out of their complacence": gothic and fantasy tropes in H.G. Wells' «fin-de siècle» science fiction novels." Thesis, McGill University, 2011. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=97160.
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The main goal of this thesis is to identify Gothic and fantasy tropes in four fin-de-siècle novels by H.G. Wells – The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, The First Men in the Moon and The Food of the Gods – and to examine their rhetorical effects within the framework of science fiction. More precisely, my project was inspired by Kelly Hurley's analysis of the thematic similarities shared by the science fiction and Gothic genres during the fin-de-siècle, and by Darko Suvin's definitions of science fiction and of the Gothic as being rhetorically antithetical. Through an analysis of how the two thematically compatible but rhetorically antithetical genres interact in the novels, I evaluate the potential responses that could be expected from readers, and compare these responses to the contemporary reception of the work. My research is based on the idea that Wells' novels promote a social message based on Darwinian theory and socialism, and that he uses the combination of SF and the Gothic in order to lead his complacent readers to intellectual conclusions by first drawing their attention through shock and terror. This study will seek to determine whether the author's use of the Gothic ultimately benefits the works by enhancing their social message, or if it results in the contrary effect.Ce mémoire vise à identifier les tropes gothiques et fantaisistes dans quatre romans de la fin-de-siècle par H.G. Wells – The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, The First Men in the Moon et The Food of the Gods – et d'examiner leur effet dans ces romans de science fiction au niveau rhétorique. Plus précisément, ce projet fut inspiré par l'analyse qu'a faite Kelly Hurley des ressemblances thématiques entre la science fiction et le gothique au tournant du vingtième siècle, et par l'argument de Darko Suvin selon lequel la science fiction et le gothique seraient antithétiques au niveau rhétorique. À travers une analyse de l'interaction entre ces deux genres compatibles au niveau thématique, mais théoriquement incompatibles au niveau rhétorique, j'évalue les réponses potentielles que l'on peut attendre des lecteurs de ces romans, et je compare ces réponses théoriquement possibles aux la réception contemporaine réelle de ces œuvres. Ma recherche repose sur l'idée que Wells tentait de promouvoir dans ses romans une réflexion sociale basée sur les théories darwiniennes et sur le socialisme, et qu'il utilisait la combinaison de la science fiction et du gothique afin de mener ses lecteurs vers des conclusions intellectuelles par le biais d'un éveil brusque causé par le choc et la terreur. Cette étude tente de déterminer si l'utilisation du gothique faite par l'auteur mène vraiment ses lecteurs à porter davantage attention aux thèmes contenus dans les romans, ou si, au contraire, ces tropes ne font qu'engendrer une réponse émotive chez le lecteur.
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Larrieux, Stephanie F. "Racing the future: Hollywood science fiction film narratives of race." View abstract/electronic edition; access limited to Brown University users, 2008. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3319100.
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