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1
Gallagher, Ron. "Science fiction and language : language and the imagination in post-war science fiction." Thesis, University of Warwick, 1986. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/90798/.
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This study examines the claims for a privileged status for the language of science fiction. The analysis of a series of invented languages, including 'nadsat', 'newspeak' and 'Babel-17', establishes that beneath these constructions lie deep-seated misconceptions about how language works. It is shown that the various theories of language, implicitly or explicitly expressed by writers and critics concerned with invented languages and neologism in science fiction, embody a mistaken view about the relation between language and the imagination. Chapter two demonstrates, with particular reference to the treatment of time and mind, that the themes on which science fiction most likes to dwell, reflect very closely the concerns of philosophy, and as such, are particularly amenable to the analytical methods of linguistic philosophy. This approach shows that what science fiction 'imagines' often turns out to be a product of the deceptive qualities of the grammar of language itself. The paradoxes of a pseudo-philosophical nature, in which science fiction invariably finds itself entangled, are particularly well exemplified in the work of Philip K. Dick. Chapter Three suggests that by exploiting the logically impossible, by making a virtue of the tricks and conventions which have become science fiction's stigmata (time-travel, telepathy, etc.), Dick indicates a means of overcoming the genre's current problems concerning form and seriousness. In conclusion it is demonstrated through the work of J. G. Ballard, that any attempt to throw off science fiction's 'pulp' conventions is likely to lead the genre further into the literary wilderness.
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Smith, Mark Bryan Bridger. "The posthuman : hostis humani generis? : science fiction allegories/social narratives." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2008. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/4117/.
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Whether in the guise of the novel or non-print media such as film and television, fin-de-millennium science fiction has provided opportunities to envisage a posthuman stage of evolution. The academic response to this has been polarized. Certain elements have embraced the genre as integral to the sociocultural relationship between unfettered biotechnological advance and the limitation of the human flesh. Others have treated the topic as fanciful entertainment, leading them to ignore and sometimes ridicule research on the posthuman. The thesis seeks to utilise the contemporary science fiction allegory as an aid in developing a critique of the emerging posthuman discourse, facilitating the analysis of its socio-political dynamic, and questioning whether discourse advancement necessitates the rejection of the humanist metanarrative. The thesis is divided into six chapters. The first chapter differentiates the posthuman from established biotechnological discourses, e mg the discontinuities in global location, temporal engagement, and participant ideology. The second reflects on the contemporary human condition associated with man's technological ingenuity being a credible threat to his own existence. It then outlines the epochal technoscience of the posthuman and introduces the diametrically opposed standpoints of the posthuman as amelioration, or autoextinction. The third chapter draws upon utopian visions of the future to contextualise and assist in the critical analysis of narratives advocating posthuman technoscience. The fourth chapter reverses this, by utilising dystopian imagery as an entree into the rationale of those opposing human alteration, facilitating its critique. The fifth chapter sees the science fiction allegory as a postfoundationalist narrative, offering up a discursive mirror to the influences of providence and progress on the posthuman debate. The final chapter examines whether an a-humanist account of man's relationship with technology might help to advance the posthuman debate.
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Chohan, Imran Riaz. "Identity, hyperreality and Science fiction : Matrix and Neuromancer." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Sektionen för planering och mediedesign, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-5779.
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My Bachelor’s thesis is a comparative analysis between humans and machines in a science fiction novel (Neuromancer) and a movie (Matrix). I explored in these works how the machines used technologies to influence on the humans. I used examples of characters from the text and movie along with the references of other writers writing on the same topic to help convey my message. I explored mainly the identity and reality issues among characters. William Gibson in Neuromancer portrays that technology has become a part of human body. While in the Matrix we see how machines are taking control on humans. In my thesis I started with Neuromancer and write about identity and reality issues of characters and artificial intelligences. In the second part of the thesis I write the same with the characters of the movie Matrix but also I compared these characters with characters of Neuromancer. Some other discussions in my thesis are about hyperreality, simulation, simulacra with reference to mostly Baudrillard. Overall this thesis explores the issues of identity and reality to the characters in the works and also to the readers as well. Key Terms: Identity, Reality, Hyperreality, Simulation, Simulacra.
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Wu, Di. "What Distinguishes Humans from Artificial Beings in Science Fiction World." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Sektionen för planering och mediedesign, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-2245.
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In my thesis, I explore how advanced robotic technologies affect human society and my particular concern centers on investigating the boundaries between actual humans and artificial beings. Taking Steven Spielberg’s film Artificial Intelligence (2001) and Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (1968) as my primary sources, I illustrate how humans are experiencing dehumanization whereas artificial beings are acting much more like humans by analyzing the main characters and events that depicted in both sources. Further on, based on Nick Haslam’s theory of two main forms of dehumanization (animalistic dehumanization and mechanistic dehumanization), I discuss the interrelationships between social categorization, empathy, alienation and dehumanization by comparing actual humans and artificial beings as counter-parts. According to the descriptions of the strained relationship between these two parties, I argue that the rigid social hierarchies set foundation for dehumanization and the characteristics that define a human being, such as humanity is not a trait that only exits in humans. It can be both gained and lost.
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Alexandersson, Malin. "Romantisering av teknologi och science fiction karaktärsdesign : Det omänskliga och hur det tolkas." Thesis, Högskolan i Skövde, Institutionen för informationsteknologi, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:his:diva-19885.
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Studien som presenteras i denna rapport berör hur det icke mänskliga inom science fiction uppfattas av dataspelutvecklingsstudenter. Romantisering av teknologi har alltid varit väl grundat i västvärlden och har påverkat hur science fiction-genren utvecklats, speciellt under genrens guldålder. Science fiction-genren är en genre med ofantligt mycket potential för att undersöka olika koncept, både sociala och vetenskapliga, men har väldigt starka stereotyper runt vissa karaktärstyper inom populärkultur. Den problemformulering som är basen för denna studie är om teknologisk icke-mänskliga karaktärer ses som mera positiva än organiska icke-mänskliga karaktärer. Flera olika karaktärer designades för studien som representationer av olika karaktärstyper inom science fiction-genren. Studiens resultat visar på motsatsen från problemformuleringen då det var de organiska karaktärerna som sågs som mera positiva än de teknologiska karaktärerna.
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Olsson, Jesper. "Prediktion - förutspår science fiction framtiden? : En jämförande analys av Frank Herberts Dune och Isaac Asimovs Foundation." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för kultur- och medievetenskaper, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-187474.
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Science fiction is a genre about extrapolating contemporary knowledge of the society we live in, in order to build imaginary, future societies in order to understand the consequences and evolution of our knowledge. In this work, I explore the predictive aspects of science fiction by making a comparative analysis between Frank Herbert's Dune and Isaac Asimov's Foundation. The questions I have chosen to explore are: How are the novels are influenced by the life experiences of the authors?How does the novels reflect the time period in which they were written?How does prediction function as a plot device in the novels?As a theoretical basis for my work I have used the academic journal Science Fiction Studies, as well as individual articles, academic books and author biographies that touch upon the subject.My approach has been to apply a traditional literary critique to the authors and the novels in order to understand the relationship between the authors and their novels.Asimov, a professor in chemistry, reflects in his fictional writing a deep faith in the sciences and their ability to navigate problematic futures with pinpoint accuracy, whereas Herbert makes known his distaste for authority figures. Asimov's predictive psychohistory leads the novel's psychohistorians to a better, more utopian society, whereas the prescience of Paul Atreides leads mankind to violence and ruin. Herbert's writing functions almost like a polemic against Asimov's idea that scientists would function as flawless leaders in society, and that prediction of the future would lead inevitably to a more prosperous society. From my analysis I have concluded that both the authors and the time period in which they wrote their respective novels played a significant role in shaping the futures depicted in each novel. Far from being novel predictions of potential futures, the future societies of Herbert and Asimov's novels reflect their own ideology and the time periods in which the novels were written.
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Byatt, Jim. "Taboo and transgression : reconfiguring the monstrous in contemporary British fiction." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2009. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/3633/.
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This thesis considers the remaindered other in contemporary British society, and the representation of that other in British fiction since 1968. The liberal approach to otherness that has arguably been a defining characteristic of the British identity since the Second World War has, I argue, always been incomplete, leaving a remainder to whom equal representation and cultural acceptance have been denied. By examining a diverse range of texts which address an equally diverse range of identities, this thesis addresses the questions of what otherness means in contemporary society, how it manifests and manages itself, and how the fiction of the period addresses the social anomaly. In recent studies of controversial fiction, there has been a tendency to focus either on the aesthetics of excess (eg. Durand and Mandel, 2006), in which the transgression is primarily stylistic, or else on the marginality of the now-legitimised “other” (in particular the homosexual, the racial other, or the working class; eg. Nicola Allen, 2008). In contrast, this thesis examines novels that engage with those figures who have remained socially excluded, figures whose tabooed identity has persisted in spite of the broader move toward liberal inclusivity. The primary texts discussed are, largely, novels that have received little critical attention, despite their literary credibility, highlighting a reluctance to engage with those problematic identities that remain outside the realm of cultural legitimacy. The thesis positions the criminally transgressive (the paedophile, the incestuous family, the sociopath) alongside the culturally stigmatised (the disabled, the elderly and the dying) in an attempt to demonstrate a continuity of resistance to a diverse range of tabooed identities. Theoretically, the argument draws on aspects of cultural studies, structuralism, anthropology and disability studies in order to examine the representation of the tabooed voice and to consider its legitimacy in the contemporary literary field.
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Erel, Sarper. "From 2001 A Space Odyssey to Minority Report : Reflections of Imagining Future on Science Fiction." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Sektionen för planering och mediedesign, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-5618.
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My Bachelor’s Thesis is a comparative analysis that identifies a paradigm shift based on how imagining and portraying futuristic technology and human - computer (or machine) interaction within science fiction works and explore how they depict the technology and the future thinking of their own era. I use two very popular and influential works from two different eras: 2001 A Space Odyssey from the late 1960s and Minority Report from the early 2000s. In the first part of this analysis, I analyze the technology and human interaction with technology in 2001: A Space Odyssey and argue what this tells about the technology thinking of the late 1960s, the high time of the Space Race. During the second part, the analysis continues with the other primary source, Minority Report. However, in this part I make direct comparisons with 2001: A Space Odyssey in order to illustrate the paradigm shift with clear examples.
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Nilsson, Kerstin. "Att förhindra en dystopisk framtid : Samhällskritik och science fiction i De kommer att drunkna i sina mödrars tårar av Johannes Anyuru." Thesis, Mittuniversitetet, Institutionen för humaniora och samhällsvetenskap, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-38126.
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Fare, Diane. "The edges of the unsaid : transgressive practices in the fiction of Kathy Acker." Thesis, University of Central Lancashire, 2002. http://clok.uclan.ac.uk/1741/.
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This thesis is the first full-length study of the fiction-of Kathy Acker, a radical and transgressive American female writer (1947-1997). The study maps the development of Acker's fiction by focusing on the political dimension of her aesthetic strategies. It explores the politics of plagiarism and appropriation; the subversive representation of gender and sexual politics; and the anarchistic impulse of Acker's work. The main theoretical and political approaches employed are: feminist theory, poststructuralism, abjection and anarchism. The study begins with an introduction to Acker's life, since there is a significant if problematic autobiographical impulse in her writing, and her socio-cultural context. It proceeds to a detailed critical exploration of work published between 1968 and 1986, drawing attention to Acker's affinities with a poststructuralist project. Acker's strategies of juxtaposition, paradox, and contradiction, alongside her fragmented, non-linear, digressive narratives, are read as a form of social critique. Her use and abuse of the white, male, Euro-centric canon is examined in light of the construction of female sexuality, and Acker's focus on phallocentric language as a source of subjugation is also considered. The study then argues for and interrogates Acker's move towards a more affirmative narrative strategy before looking in detail at her fiction of the 1990s - fiction which, until now, has received slight attention. Through close readings of her later novels, the study illustrates how Julia Kristeva's concept of the abject is fruitful for an examination of Acker's work, and examines cross-cultural intertextuality (from the horror film to the avant-garde). It also relates the trope of piracy that is present in Acker's later works to the political ideology of anarchism. The conclusion to the thesis argues that Acker's strength lies in her uncompromising belief in the avant-garde, and details her sustained attempt to make critically incisive political art.
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Campbell, James. "Variable Otherness in Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för kultur och samhälle, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-166051.
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This paper explores the Xenogenesis trilogy written by Octavia Bulter and how it presents Otherness as a concept. It provides several examples of otherness and additionally presents ideas of how it can be seen as something to be celebrated.
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Charléz, Sara. ""A Mere Dream Dreamed in a Bad Time" : A Marxist Reading of Utopian and Dystopian Elements in Ursula K. Le Guin's Always Coming Home." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för språkstudier, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-156031.
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In Ursula K. Le Guin’s novel Always Coming Home, utopian and dystopian elements interact according to patterns inspired by anarchism and Taoism to criticise material excesses and oppressive social structures under capitalism. Via discussions of gender, state power, and forms of social (re)production, this Marxist reading proposes that the novel’s separation of utopia from dystopia hinges on the absence or presence of a state. The reading also suggests that the novel’s utopia is by its own admission a “mere dream” with limited relevance to anti-capitalist politics, and employs the novel’s own term “handmind” to show that the aesthetic and philosophical dimensions of its anti-capitalist sentiments encourage a reconsideration of utopia, to be viewed not as a fixed future product – a good-place – but as a constant process of becoming – a no-place.
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Raynal, Pierre-Marie. "De la fiction constituante. Contribution à la théorie du droit politique." Electronic Thesis or Diss., Paris 2, 2014. https://eu02.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/view/uresolver/33PUDB_IEP/openurl?u.ignore_date_coverage=true&portfolio_pid=5364114140004675&Force_direct=true.
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Inspiré par une démarche de droit politique, le présent travail se propose d’envisager la fiction en droit à travers le prisme inédit de la légitimité, afin d’étudier sous un angle théorique son utilité dans la constitution de la réalité juridique, c’est-à-dire dans les fondations du droit en vigueur. Caractérisée en référence à la réalité politique, la fiction constituante est une technique justificative dont la fonction relève soit de la connaissance, soit du gouvernement. En tant qu’instrument de connaissance, la fiction constituante se trouve au coeur de l’épistémologie du positivisme juridique, et sert à reléguer la légitimité en son sens le plus profondément politique à une simple affaire de "Sein", c’est-à-dire « extra-juridique » ; tel est notamment l’objet de la "Grundnorm" de Kelsen. Le propos de la première partie de ce travail est de montrer que cet isolement de la chose juridique empêche d’approfondir la connaissance de ses fondations ; ce faisant, il s’agira de poser les bases de ce que pourrait être une épistémologie de droit politique. En tant qu’instrument de gouvernement, la fiction constituante se trouve au coeur de l’État, et sert à légitimer l’exercice du pouvoir politique par le biais de la représentation. En s’appuyant sur des auteurs classiques tels que Hobbes, Locke et Rousseau, le propos de la seconde partie de ce travail est de montrer que ce sont les caractéristiques de ce système d’organisation politique, quelle que soit au demeurant la forme de gouvernement retenue, qui rendent nécessaire le recours au registre fictionnel "lato sensu" ; celui-ci étant en effet susceptible de s’inscrire dans trois catégories discursives distinctes : la fiction "stricto sensu", le mensonge ou le mytheFollowing an approach inspired by "droit politique", this work aims at considering legal fiction through the unexplored prism of legitimacy in order to study from a theoretical perspective its utility in creating legal reality, i.e. in founding the law in force. Defined through its relation to political reality, constituent fiction is a technique of justification and its function is either a matter of knowledge or of government. As an instrument of knowledge, constituent fiction is at the core of the epistemology of legal positivism. It is used to relegate legitimacy, in its most political sense, to a simple matter of "Sein, i.e". to an “extra legal” matter, as it is notably the case of Kelsen’s "Grundnorm". The first part of this work aims at showing that this isolation of law prevents a deeper understanding of its foundations. In doing so, we will try to lay the grounds for what could be an epistemology of "droit politique". As an instrument of government, constituent fiction is at the core of the State. It is used to legitimize the exercise of political power by the means of representation. Relying on the classical works of Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, the second part of this study aims at identifying the characteristics of this system of political organization that makes recourse to fiction a necessity; whatever the form of government chosen. This recourse to fiction, considered here in its broadest sense, can relate to three distinct discursive models: fiction in its strictest sense, falsehood, or myth
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Raynal, Pierre-Marie. "De la fiction constituante. Contribution à la théorie du droit politique." Thesis, Paris 2, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014PA020058.
Full textAbstract:
Inspiré par une démarche de droit politique, le présent travail se propose d’envisager la fiction en droit à travers le prisme inédit de la légitimité, afin d’étudier sous un angle théorique son utilité dans la constitution de la réalité juridique, c’est-à-dire dans les fondations du droit en vigueur. Caractérisée en référence à la réalité politique, la fiction constituante est une technique justificative dont la fonction relève soit de la connaissance, soit du gouvernement. En tant qu’instrument de connaissance, la fiction constituante se trouve au coeur de l’épistémologie du positivisme juridique, et sert à reléguer la légitimité en son sens le plus profondément politique à une simple affaire de "Sein", c’est-à-dire « extra-juridique » ; tel est notamment l’objet de la "Grundnorm" de Kelsen. Le propos de la première partie de ce travail est de montrer que cet isolement de la chose juridique empêche d’approfondir la connaissance de ses fondations ; ce faisant, il s’agira de poser les bases de ce que pourrait être une épistémologie de droit politique. En tant qu’instrument de gouvernement, la fiction constituante se trouve au coeur de l’État, et sert à légitimer l’exercice du pouvoir politique par le biais de la représentation. En s’appuyant sur des auteurs classiques tels que Hobbes, Locke et Rousseau, le propos de la seconde partie de ce travail est de montrer que ce sont les caractéristiques de ce système d’organisation politique, quelle que soit au demeurant la forme de gouvernement retenue, qui rendent nécessaire le recours au registre fictionnel "lato sensu" ; celui-ci étant en effet susceptible de s’inscrire dans trois catégories discursives distinctes : la fiction "stricto sensu", le mensonge ou le mytheFollowing an approach inspired by "droit politique", this work aims at considering legal fiction through the unexplored prism of legitimacy in order to study from a theoretical perspective its utility in creating legal reality, i.e. in founding the law in force. Defined through its relation to political reality, constituent fiction is a technique of justification and its function is either a matter of knowledge or of government. As an instrument of knowledge, constituent fiction is at the core of the epistemology of legal positivism. It is used to relegate legitimacy, in its most political sense, to a simple matter of "Sein, i.e". to an “extra legal” matter, as it is notably the case of Kelsen’s "Grundnorm". The first part of this work aims at showing that this isolation of law prevents a deeper understanding of its foundations. In doing so, we will try to lay the grounds for what could be an epistemology of "droit politique". As an instrument of government, constituent fiction is at the core of the State. It is used to legitimize the exercise of political power by the means of representation. Relying on the classical works of Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, the second part of this study aims at identifying the characteristics of this system of political organization that makes recourse to fiction a necessity; whatever the form of government chosen. This recourse to fiction, considered here in its broadest sense, can relate to three distinct discursive models: fiction in its strictest sense, falsehood, or myth
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Bagnall, Imogen. "Afrofuturism and Generational Trauma in N. K. Jemisin‘s Broken Earth Trilogy." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Engelska institutionen, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-194870.
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N. K. Jemisin‘s Broken Earth Trilogy explores the methods and effects of systemic oppression. Orogenes are historically oppressed and dehumanised by the wider society of The Stillness. In this thesis, I will be exploring the ways in which trauma experienced by orogenes is repeated through generations, as presented through Essun‘s varied and complex relationships with her children, and with the Fulcrum Guardian Schaffa. The collective trauma of orogenes is perpetuated through different direct and indirect actions in a repetitive cycle, on societal, interpersonal and familial levels. My reading will be in conversation with theories of trauma literature and cultural trauma, and will be informed by Afrofuturist cultural theory. Although science fiction and fantasy encourage the imagination, worldbuilding is inherently influenced by lived experiences. It could thus be stated that the trauma experienced by orogenes is informed by the collective trauma of African-Americans, as experienced by N. K. Jemisin. Afrofuturism is an aesthetic mode and critical lens which prioritises the imagining of a liberated future. Writing science fiction and fantasy through an Afrofuturist aesthetic mode encourages authors to explore forms of collective trauma as well as methods of healing. Jemisin creates an explicit parallel between the traumatic African-American experience and that of orogenes. Afrofuturist art disrupts linear time and addresses past and present trauma through the imagining of the future. The Broken Earth Trilogy provides a blueprint for the imagined liberation of oppressed groups. Using Afrofuturist tropes such as technology, the ―Black Genius‖ figure and alienation, Jemisin demonstrates the power of reclamation and the possibility of a self-created future for oppressed groups.
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Mattsson, Filip. "“We Did Not Trust Ourselves” : A study of the unreliable narration in Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Institutionen för språk, litteratur och interkultur (from 2013), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-82905.
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Annihilation is the first novel in the trilogy named “The Southern Reach,” a ScienceFiction/Horror series of books written by Jeff VanderMeer. Annihilation focuses on a team of scientists on an expedition into an area where the very nature has been altered in mysterious ways. The scientists’ goal is to study this area to come to an understanding of what is happening, but like the eleven previous expeditions, they fail. With the aid of narratology, I will argue that Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation is an unreliable narrative. To prove that, I will analyse and discuss specific passage’s unreliable narration used in the novel, as well as incorporating themes from the novel that directly correlate with the unreliability of the novel’s narrative. Annihilation is filled with ambiguous language and events that are on almost every level unexplainable using scientific methods. The way that the novel is written makes the narrator, the biologist, unreliable in her narration of the events that take place around her. She is tormented by both her past and by the beings that inhabit Area X, such as the Crawler. The results of this study exemplify the ambiguity of VanderMeer’s writing and how he uses this ambiguous language to further thrust the narrative into a void of chaotic unreliability. There is nothing in the novel that can be trusted as fact in the context of the world in which the characters inhabit, down to the characters own thoughts and memories. The presented themes of Annihilation are in direct correlation with the unreliability of the narrative and show how deep VanderMeer went into constructing the most unreliable narrative possible.
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Sundkvist, Patrick. "Dreams of Democracy within Extreme Dystopias : A Study of the Imperium of Man." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Institutionen för språk, litteratur och interkultur (from 2013), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-84245.
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The purpose of this essay is to analyse several of the extreme dystopian elements found in the Warhammer: 40000 megatext and reveal how these elements display critique towards authoritarian policies and philosophy. I opted for a close reading of several texts and analysed several characters’ relationship to the galactic empire known as the Imperium of Man and found themes of suppression of thought, self-existential crises and wishes for freedom. Through my analysis of the megatext of Warhammer: 40000, I argue that it is the governance of the Imperium of Man that creates these humanitarian issues, and, while not an explicit reference, has been influenced by our own human history.Syftet med denna uppsats är att analysera ett flertal dystopiska element som existerar i det fiktiva universumet Warhammer: 40000 och påvisa hur dessa element avslöjar kritik riktad mot auktoritär politik och filosofi. Jag valde en fördjupad läsning av ett antal texter och analyserade karaktärernas relation till det galaktiska imperiet Imperium of Man och fann områden vars fokus var förtryck mot yttrandefrihet, existensiella kriser och drömmar om frihet. I min analys av Warhammer: 40000 argumenterar jag att styrelseskicket som etablerats i Imperium of Man skapar dessa humanitära kriser, vilket till viss del blivit inspirerat av mänsklighetens egen historia.
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Beis, Triantafyllos. "Female Gender Representation in The Terminator Franchise." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Malmö högskola, Institutionen för konst, kultur och kommunikation (K3), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-42456.
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The aim of this research is to investigate the representation of the female gender in theTerminator franchise and to examine whether there has been an evolution in thisrepresentation throughout the years. For this purpose, the representation of the lead femalecharacter, Sarah Connor, has been examined in the films The Terminator (Cameron, 1984),Terminator 2: Judgement Day (Cameron, 1991) and Terminator Genisys (Taylor, 2015), inwhich Sarah Connor is the only main female character. The thesis begins by providing athorough presentation of the situational, specific and the theoretical background of the threefilms analysed. Then, the methodology used in the research is described and linguistic, visualand contextual data are provided. These data are then analysed and discussed in relation tothe background of the films and to the objectives set at the beginning of the research. Inparticular, the linguistic aspect of gender representation is explored based on the waylanguage is used to represent women in the Terminator films. After a thorough analysis ofdata collected and discussed, the research concluded that there has, indeed, been an evolutionin female gender representation in the Terminator films, which reflects an evolution in theperception of gender by society itself.
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Long, Bruce Raymond. "Informationist Science Fiction Theory and Informationist Science Fiction." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/5838.
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Informationist Science Fiction theory provides a way of analysing science fiction texts and narratives in order to demonstrate on an informational basis the uniqueness of science fiction proper as a mode of fiction writing. The theoretical framework presented can be applied to all types of written texts, including non-fictional texts. In "Informationist Science Fiction Theory and Informationist Science Fiction" the author applies the theoretical framework and its specific methods and principles to various contemporary science fiction works, including works by William Gibson, Neal Stephenson and Vernor Vinge. The theoretical framework introduces a new informational theoretic re-framing of existing science fiction literary theoretic posits such as Darko Suvin's novum, the mega-text as conceived of by Damien Broderick, and the work of Samuel R Delany in investigating the subjunctive mood in SF. An informational aesthetics of SF proper is established, and the influence of analytic philosophy - especially modal logic - is investigated. The materialist foundations of the metaphysical outlook of SF proper is investigated with a view to elucidating the importance of the relationship between scientific materialism and SF. SF is presented as The Fiction of Veridical, Counterfactual and Heterogeneous Information.
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Long, Bruce Raymond. "Informationist Science Fiction Theory and Informationist Science Fiction." University of Sydney, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/5838.
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Master of Philosophy (MPhil)Informationist Science Fiction theory provides a way of analysing science fiction texts and narratives in order to demonstrate on an informational basis the uniqueness of science fiction proper as a mode of fiction writing. The theoretical framework presented can be applied to all types of written texts, including non-fictional texts. In "Informationist Science Fiction Theory and Informationist Science Fiction" the author applies the theoretical framework and its specific methods and principles to various contemporary science fiction works, including works by William Gibson, Neal Stephenson and Vernor Vinge. The theoretical framework introduces a new informational theoretic re-framing of existing science fiction literary theoretic posits such as Darko Suvin's novum, the mega-text as conceived of by Damien Broderick, and the work of Samuel R Delany in investigating the subjunctive mood in SF. An informational aesthetics of SF proper is established, and the influence of analytic philosophy - especially modal logic - is investigated. The materialist foundations of the metaphysical outlook of SF proper is investigated with a view to elucidating the importance of the relationship between scientific materialism and SF. SF is presented as The Fiction of Veridical, Counterfactual and Heterogeneous Information.
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Sjörs, Simon. "Fysikundervisningens science fiction." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Fysikundervisningens didaktik, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-331199.
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Science fiction och populärmedia är en stor del av vardagen i dagens samhälle. Elever konsumerar den typen av media på egen tid och söker sig till den för underhållning utanför skolans väggar, möjligen utan att reflektera över vad det är som konsumeras. Den här studien fokuserar på science fiction och hur de välproducerade medierna tas emot och reflekteras kring av konsumenterna, som i det här fallet är elever. Finns det möjlighet för lärare inom fysik eller någon annan naturvetenskap att utnyttja det intresse och den pseudovetenskap, som dessa medier kan förmedla, i skolan? Elever har en bild av vad fysik är i skolans värld efter hur fysikundervisningen är upplagd och syftet för arbetet är att undersöka möjliga sätt som de olika världarna kan mötas. Det riktar sig mot att utvärdera en undersökning gjord i en elevgrupp bestående av 6 fysikstuderande elever på gymnasiet. Kärnan i undersökningen är att se vilka typer av diskussioner som uppstår efter visning av ett eller flera filmklipp från populära spelfilmer, innehållande fysiska moment. De fysiska momenten är sekvenser som kan förklaras med den fysik vi har idag eller så kan det vara orimliga sekvenser som inte går att förklara. Eftersom den här typen av media ofta bygger på att skapa känslor hos konsumenten så förekommer det att verklighetsförankringen ofta försvinner. Det teoretiska ramverk som undersökningen håller sig till utgår i konceptet ägandeskap av lärande och syftar till hur elever utvärderar sina egna idéer och tar ansvar för att följa upp tidigare funderingar eller frågor som de själva uttryckt. På så vis kan eleverna själva förhoppningsvis se värdet av kritiskt tänkande och även att eleverna kan minnas vad de lärt sig över en längre tid.Science fiction or rather popular media is a major part of everyday life in today's society. Students consume this media in their spare time and watch it for entertainment, possibly without even reflecting over the consumed content. This paper will focus on science fiction and how the well-produced media is received and reflected upon by the consumers, in this case upper-secondary physics students. Is there an opportunity for physics teachers or other natural sciences teachers to make good use of the interest and the pseudo science, that these media can convey, at school? Pupils have an idea of what physics is in school considering how physics education is laid out and the purpose of this work is to explore possible ways that these different worlds can meet. The work is aimed at evaluating a one hour session done with a student group consisting of 6 physics students in high school. The essence of the survey is to see what types of discussions occur after viewing one or more movie clips containing different physical phenomena. The physical events are shown in movieclips and can be explained by the physics we have today or there may be unrealistic events that cannot be explained. This kind of popular media is often based on creating emotional connections with the consumer which can take away the connection to reality and the real world physics. The theoretical framework that the study was based on is the concept of ownership of learning, this aims to consider how students evaluate their own ideas and take responsibility for following up on previous ideas or questions that they themselves expressed. That way the students hopefully find value in critical thinking and the retention of knowledge might increase.
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Perna, Sandro Maria <1981>. "Science (in) fiction. Un CLIL de science à travers... la science (fiction)." Master's Degree Thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/15543.
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L'elaborato descrive e riflette su un'esperienza CLIL svolta in due classi terze di un Liceo scientifico siciliano, esperienza che si è svolta attraverso la visione di alcuni video in lingua inglese o senza audio come fase di globalità, attraverso alcuni esercizi in fase di analisi, attraverso dei giochi in quella di sintesi: il tutto, sempre facendo parlare gli studenti in lingua. Il fatto di svolgere il tutto in due classi ha permesso di studiare due gruppi disomogenei, accomunate dall'insegnante di scienze ma con docenti di lingua differenti per approccio e metodologia.
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von, Knorring Ulrika. "”Läser science fiction utan att skämmas” : Om kvinnors läsning av science fiction." Thesis, Högskolan i Borås, Institutionen Biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap / Bibliotekshögskolan, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-19875.
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The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to investigate the female reader of science fiction literature, a genre by tradition dominated by men. Through qualitative interviews with seven female science fiction readers, the relation between the reading and the readers’ lives, as well as their concepts of the science fiction genre and the community of science fiction readers, was examined. The main theoretical framework used for the analysis was Yvonne Hirdman’s gender theory, Judith Butler’s concept of identity and Louise M. Rosenblatt’s transaction theory. Science fiction literature offers the female readers an opportunity to consider ethical and political issues, but it also gives them entertainment and experiences beyond the ordinary. Even though science fiction generally is described as progressive, the female readers often find it stereotyped in its gender representations. Being a woman reading science fiction means being an outsider in the science fiction community, as well as to women in general. The choice to read science fiction is therefore highly conscious, reflecting the respondents’ identities and their views of themselves as independent, open-minded and intellectual individuals.
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Juhlin, Hampus, and Pontus Novén. "Science fiction i spelutveckling." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Sektionen för planering och mediedesign, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-3890.
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Detta kandidatarbete undersöker science fiction, en av de större och vanligast använda genrerna inom medier såsom spel, film och litteratur, genom att studera dess undergrupper, de så kallade subgenrerna. Dessa är specialiserade versioner av genren i fråga och använder den inom vissa förutsatta ramar, exempelvis hur samhället ser ut eller vilken typ av teknologi det huvudsakliga fokuset kretsar runt. Genom att studera hur subgenrer är beskrivna i The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction kan man avgöra att de består av sex punkter: plats, tidsperiod, karaktärer, teknologi, narrativ och visuell estetik. Dessa punkter har använts som ramverk för att utveckla en ny subgenre; Mystech, där scenarier utspelar sig i vad som kan ses som en typisk fantasyvärld med magi och monster, men där dessa egentligen bara är teknologi majoriteten av de påverkade inte förstår sig på. För att demonstrera Mystech har två olika miljöer utvecklats, både i bild och skriven form. Dessa är två mycket olika skådeplatser för scenarier att berättas i men som trots sina olikheter har nog med faktorer gemensamt för att kunna klassificeras som delar av samma subgenre.Dess populäritet är tydlig, men hur spridd är användingen av science fiction i dagens spelindustri? Hur kan man använda sagda populäritet för att slå igenom som utvecklare utan att försvinna i mängden? Detta arbetet studerar subgenrer, specialiserade undergrupper till science fiction som tar upp just de områden du vill utnyttja för din projektidé och hur du kan utveckla egna sådana om du inte finner vad du söker bland de befintliga.
Hampus Juhlin telnr. 076-1853950 Pontus Novén telnr. 073-4448595
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Langer, Jessica. "Science fiction and postcolonialism." Thesis, Royal Holloway, University of London, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.538778.
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Grimm, Gunter E. "Kometenforschung zwischen Aberglauben und Science-fiction - Comet research between superstition and science fiction." Gerhard-Mercator-Universitaet Duisburg, 2002. http://www.ub.uni-duisburg.de/ETD-db/theses/available/duett-08162002-150835/.
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White, Craig (Craig E. ). 1971. "Science fiction to science fact : the link between early science fiction and the space programs." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/9572.
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Margot, Jean-Paul. "Raison et fiction chez Descartes." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 1985. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/4846.
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Marinelli, Giorgia. "Native Tongue di Suzette Haden Elgin: analisi e traduzione di una distopia critica femminista sui generis." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2019.
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Questo lavoro di tesi è incentrato sulla traduzione di alcuni passaggi di Native Tongue di Suzette Haden Elgin (1984), un romanzo distopico critico femminista.
La tesi è divisa in sette capitoli. Il primo capitolo si occupa esclusivamente di fantascienza (poiché Native Tongue è sia romanzo fantascientifico che distopico), e cerca di definire concetti di base quali cosa sia un romanzo fantascientifico e quali siano le caratteristiche di eutopie e distopie. Nel secondo capitolo si tenterà di dare una definizione unitaria di femminismo, e successivamente verrà presentato un excursus storico del movimento femminista statunitense e britannico, includendo alcuni concetti rivoluzionari per il femminismo. Nel terzo capitolo verranno introdotte la linguistica e il linguaggio. Si affronterà la questione dal punto di vista della critica femminista; da qui nasce il bisogno di discutere prima il principio della relatività linguistica, alla base dell’esperimento concettuale di Suzette Haden Elgin, e i due testi capisaldi della linguistica femminista radicale, Man Made Language di Dale Spender (1980) e Women and Men Speaking di Cheris Kramarae (1981). Nel quarto capitolo si approfondirà il tema del linguaggio nei romanzi fantascientifici prima e distopici poi, anche alla luce della teoria di Sapir-Whorf. Nel quinto capitolo si metterà in pratica tutto il lavoro teorico e di ricerca, conducendo l’analisi testuale del romanzo; si espliciteranno i motivi per cui Native Tongue è una distopia sui generis e si individueranno anche caratteristiche che non sono state menzionate in altri lavori di critica. Nel sesto capitolo verrà proposta la traduzione di alcuni passaggi di Native Tongue. Il settimo capitolo, invece, è dedicato al commento alla traduzione: si descriverà brevemente l’approccio metodologico adottato in traduzione e si dimostrerà come un minuzioso lavoro di ricerca enciclopedica e di analisi testuale sia fondamentale per la corretta traduzione del romanzo.
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Jorgensen, Darren J. "Science fiction and the sublime." University of Western Australia. English, Communication and Cultural Studies Discipline Group, 2005. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2005.0116.
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[Truncated abstract] This thesis makes three assertions. The first is that the sublime is a principal pleasure of science fiction. The second is that the conditions for the emergence of both the sublime and science fiction lie in the modern developments of technology, mass economy and imperialism. Maritime and optical technologies; the imagination that accompanied imperialism; and the influence of capitalism furnished the cognition by which the pleasures of both science fiction and the sublime came into being. The third claim is that a historical conception of the sublime, one that changes according to the different circumstances in which it appears, offers privileged insights onto changes within the genre. To make such extensive claims it has been necessary to make a cognitive map of the development of both the sublime and science fiction. This map reaches from the Ancient Romans, Lucian and Longinus; to Thomas More, Jonathan Swift, Johannes Kepler, Voltaire and Immanuel Kant; to Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. This thesis then examines how the features of these fictions mutate in the twentieth-century fiction of A.E. van Vogt, Clifford Simak, Philip K. Dick, Arthur C. Clarke, Ivan Yefremov, the Strugatsky brothers, J.G. Ballard, Pamela Zoline, Ursula Le Guin, Vonda McIntyre, Octavia Butler, Kim Stanley Robinson, Stephen Baxter, William Gibson, Ken MacLeod and Stanislaw Lem. These writers are considered in their own specific periods, and in their national contexts, as they create pleasures that are contingent upon changes to their own worlds. In representing these changes, their fictions defamiliarise the anxieties of the reading subject. They transcend the contradictions of their times with a sublime that betrays its own conditions of transcendence. The deployment of the sublime in these texts offers a moment of critical possibility, as it betrays the fantasies born of a subject's relation to their world
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Stolze, Pierre. "Rhétorique de la science-fiction." Nancy 2, 1994. http://www.theses.fr/1994NAN21004.
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Le texte de science-fiction est étudié selon les grandes divisions de la rhétorique classique. Invention (le contenu) : la SF n'a pas de thème propre, sinon celui de l'individu face au pouvoir; le contenu d'un texte de SF est un ensemble de métaphores s'organisant en allégorie. Composition (structure): un texte de SF s'organise selon les principes du cut up, de l'ellipse, du puzzle et du suspense. Élocution (stylistique) : étude du vocabulaire (tres étendu), de la syntaxe (réduite) et des figures de style (essentiellement des figures de pensée, et non des figures de mots comme c'est le cas en littérature classique). Action (metatexte) : étude des titres, remerciements, épigraphes, premières et quatrièmes de couverture. S’y ajoute une partie définition : la SF est définie dans ses rapports ou oppositions avec la littérature, la paralittérature, la science, le fantastique et l'anticipationThe study of science-fiction follows the principal division of classical rhetoric. Invention (content) : science fiction has no theme of its own except that of the individual in the face of authority, the context of a science fiction text is a collection of metaphors arranged under the form of allegory. Composition (structure): a science fiction text often consists of various literary devices, such as cut up, ellipsis, jigsaws, suspense. Elocution (stylistics): the study of large range of vocabulary, of a reduced syntax and stylistics devices (mostly figures of thought not of word as is the case in classical literature). Action (metatext): the study of titles, acknowledgements, first and fourth covers pages. Here, one must add a definition: science fiction is definite by is relationship or opposition with literature, non-mainstream literature, science, the literature of the fantastic and anticipation
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HERNOT, DOMINIQUE. "Corps feminin : science et fiction." Paris 8, 1988. http://www.theses.fr/1990PA080492.
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Notre travail qui a porte sur l'etude de romans de science-fiction, ecrits entre les annees 30 et les annees 80, a permis de mettre en evidence certains themes recurrents concernant le corps feminin tel qu'il y est represente, figure et defigure : travailles par une tradition religieuse et mythologique, les recits d s. F. Inscrivent le corps feminin comme produit d'une "machination" dans laquelle font bon menage, le sexe et la technologie, la science et la pornographie. Symbole de la reification extreme de la femme, son corps y devient produit industriel soumis aux lois du marche. Sur la scene actuelle du complexe technologico-scientifique, c'est le feminin comme tel et sa specificite ancestrale, la capacite "naturelle" de reproduction, qui est supplante par la possibilite d'un engendrement qui se ferait non seulement sans lui, mais aussi bien sans sexe. Lire ces recits a la lumiere de ce complexe, c'est s'interroger sur le passage d'anciennes a de novuelles configurations imaginaires et symboliques, ou les roles se jouent sans reference a une identite sexuelle, biologiquement et culturellement determinee, enterinant peut-etre la mort de celle-ci. Fiction, histoire, mythologie, science,; revelent chacune en leur langage, la meme interrogation devant le semblable, differemment sexue, qui est, a tout jamais un autreOur work; based ont he study of science-fiction novels written between the thirties and the eighties, examines specific examples of some ways in which woman's body is presented, figured and disfigured, explores the impact of a religious and mythological tradition ont he science-fiction literature. Woman's body, just like an industrail product, is submitted to the market laws, symbol of woman's reification, result of a "machination", sex and technology, science and pornography being linked together. The ancestral feminine "natural" reproductive capacity is supplanted by the possibility of asexual reproduction. New symbolical and imaginary configurations are analysed in the light of recent research. Science and technology have profound effects on sex roles and definitions. Fiction, history, mythology and science, in their own language, ask the same questions about similitudes and differences between the sexes
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Rood, Jason R. "Reconstructing a Science Fiction Autobiography." VCU Scholars Compass, 2015. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/3853.
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This is a collection of essays revolving around concepts pertinent to my current visual arts practice, centering on a deconstruction of personal narrative mythologies. What is generated is a web of connection that spans Narrative Modes, Science Fiction, the use of Lines and Drawing, the Digital and Space and Time. Through this interweaving of topics, I am beginning the process of rebuilding the structure of a personal story for the future.
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Hadder, R. Neill (Richard Neill). "Techniques of Social-science-fiction." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1995. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc278249/.
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This thesis includes an original science-fiction novella entitled "The Hunted" and accompanying commentary which illustrates how anthropological fiction can use characterization, setting, and conflict to build effective inter-subjective models.
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Kazantseva, Anna. "Automatic summarization of short fiction." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/27861.
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This work is an inquiry into automatic summarization of short of fiction. In this dissertation, I present a system that composes summaries of literary short stories employing two types of information: information about entities central to a story and information about the grammatical aspect of clauses. The summaries are tailored to a specific purpose: helping a reader decide whether she would be interested in reading a particular story. They contain just enough information to enable a reader to form adequate expectations about the story, but they do not reveal the plot. According to these criteria, a target summary provides a reader with an idea of whom the story is about, where and when it happens (in a way that goes beyond simply listing names and places) but does not re-tell the events of the story.
In order to build such summaries, the system attempts to identify sentences that meet two criteria: they focus on main entities in the story and they relate the background of the story rather than events. Discussing the criteria for the sentence selection process comprises a large part of this dissertation. These criteria can be roughly divided into two categories: (1) information about main entities (e.g., main characters and locations) and (2) information related to the grammatical aspect of clauses. By relying on this information the system selects sentences that contain important information pertinent to the setting of the story.
Six human judges evaluated the produced summaries in two different ways. Initially, the machine-made summaries were compared against man-made ones. On this account, the summaries rated better than those produced using two naive lead-based baselines. Subsequently, the judges answered a number of questions using the summaries as the only source of information. These answers were compared with the answers made using the complete stories. The summaries appeared to be useful for helping the judges decide whether they would like to read the stories. The judges could also answer simple questions about the setting of the story using the summaries only. The results suggest that aspectual information and information about important entities can be effectively used to build summaries of literary short fiction, even though this information atone is not sufficient for producing high-quality indicative summaries.
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Coban, Osman. "Reading choices and the effects of reading fiction : the responses of adolescent readers in Turkey to fiction and e-fiction." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2018. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/30686/.
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In surveying the cultural context of modern-day Turkey it must be acknowledged that, historically, there have been critical problems between different ethnic (Turkish and Kurdish) and religious groups in Turkey arising from prejudice, intolerance and leading to hatred and conflict. One way of easing the tension between these groups could be by challenging prejudice through developing empathy, understanding and respect. Among a number of ways this could be done, researchers in the field of literacy and children’s literature have stressed the positive effects of reading books that emerge from the transaction between the reader and the text which have the potential to raise awareness about prejudice (Arizpe et al., 2014b; Farrar, 2017). However, research suggests that young people’s amount of reading books is low in Turkey (OECD, 2009; OECD, 2012); in addition, the Board of National Education in Turkey (BNET) and education policies in Turkey have not paid attention to young people’s reading interests or their reading for pleasure (BNET, 2011a and b). Based on the theoretical tenet that reading fiction can affect readers’ thoughts and emotions, the wide aim of this study was to explore the potential of reading fiction for developing empathy and understanding. Given that young people’s reading interests have not been considered in Turkey in detail, this thesis had to begin by investigating what kind of books were preferred and what effects they had on adolescent readers in that country. In order to accomplish this, a case study method with a mixed method design was employed and it was decided that an approach using the Transactional theory of reading as well as Cognitive Criticism would help to achieve this goal. In total, 381 students (aged between 16 and 18) responded to an online questionnaire and 10 of these students participated in interviews and reading activities. The data was analysed using the IBM SPSS 22 statistical analysis program and NVivo qualitative analysis software. The findings of the study identified the significant impact that gatekeepers and facilitators (government, publishers and social community) have on Turkish adolescents’ reading attitudes and choices. It was also found that, although young people liked reading contemporary fiction and online texts, so far this has not been taken into account in the Curriculum and in the promotion of reading in Turkey. The study has identified a major gap between what schools offer and what students read (or between in-school and out-of-school practices), a key aspect in reducing students’ interest in reading books and therefore a missed opportunity for raising awareness about prejudice. Finally, this study provides strong evidence about the potential of reading and discussing books with a small group of adolescent readers, an activity that enabled them to express their thoughts about serious issues and thus supported them in developing self-understanding and understanding of others.
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Määttä, Jerry. "Raketsommar : science fiction i Sverige 1950-1968 /." Lund : Ellerström, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-7158.
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Hall, Graham. "The Ambivalence of Science Fiction: Science Fiction, Neo-imperialism, and the Ideology of Modernity as Progress." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2013. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/948.
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This thesis sets out to examine the relationship between science fiction and its conditions of production, specifically interrogating the genre's articulations of the ideology of modernity as progress. Sf has been characterized variously as a characteristically useful critical engagement with the ideologies of its context and as wholly ideological at the level of form, relying on the authority of a scientific episteme in its "cognitive estrangements," while not obligated to operate within the boundaries of this episteme. As such, the genre is unparalleled in its capacity to articulate ideologies under the guise of a putatively neutral science and reason. However, this same formal action places the genre in the unique position of being able to utilize the authority of a scientific episteme to re-evaluate the putative neutrality of that very scientific episteme. As a result, this study concludes that while the genre's reliance on the external authority of science in "cognitively" organizing its estrangements may make it particularly conducive to articulating ideological technoscience and the ideology of modernity as progress, the genre is characteristically ambivalent in this respect, both at the level of form and as a result of the incongruities between form and narrative. To support my thesis I engage a number of science fictional texts, focusing on Golden Age sf of the mid-20th century, while also branching out into explorations of a variety of 20th and 21st century sf texts, including texts from the pulp era, New Wave, cyberpunk, and post-singularity sf. I analyze within the effects of the conceptual mapping of society in terms of the natural sciences in sf, as well as the ambivalent presence of the robot as a megatextual motif, exploring the relationship of these to the ideology of modernity as progress and the post-scarcity fantasy of global mass consumption prosperity.B.A.
Bachelors
Arts and Humanities
English - Literature
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Leperlier, Henry. "Canadian science fiction, a reluctant genre." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape9/PQDD_0033/NQ61856.pdf.
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Travis, Mitchell. "Interrogating personhood : law and science fiction." Thesis, Keele University, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.602983.
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This thesis brings together for the first time the legal humanities and feminist legal theory in an interrogation of legal personhood. Originality can be found in the consideration of the relationship between law and science fiction. This thesis considers the question of what makes a legal person. Proponents of feminism have highlighted that legal personhood is predicated upon the bodies of healthy white heterosexual males. As a consequence embodiment becomes central to understanding whom or what can become legal persons. In this thesis Ngaire Naffine's (1997, 2003, 2009, 2011) understanding of the embodied legal person is used as a starting point and applied to a number of different contemporary and potential entities including human-level artificial intelligence, admixed embryos and elective amputees. Adopting a law and culture approach three different science fiction films are used to anchor this work. 77w Matrix trilogy (1999, 2003a, 2003b) is used to highlight the relationship between embodiment and legal personhood. Bladerunner (1982) is used to exemplify the relationship between legal personhood and the conflated concepts of rationality and masculinity. District 9 (2009) and elective amputees are used to demonstrate the relationship between the body, rationality and legal personhood. Science fiction is presented as prophetic and allegorical; forewarning of the possibilities associated with potential entities but also serving as a reminder of the injustices of contemporary and historical times. These themes are drawn together through the proposition of a new approach to legal personhood; an approach based on multiple modes of embodied experience, diversity and heterogeneity.
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Leperlier, Henri. "Canadian science fiction a reluctant genre." Thèse, Université de Sherbrooke, 1998. http://savoirs.usherbrooke.ca/handle/11143/2707.
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Cette dissertation vise à une comparaison des littératures de sciences-fiction canadienne anglaise et canadienne française, principalement sous forme de roman ou de nouvelles publiées dans des anthologies. Elle consiste en une introduction générale du phénomène de la science-fiction en général et au Canada. Elle commence par dresser un historique de l'émergence de la science-fiction au Canada, des facteurs ayant favorisé son apparition et des conditions de sa création. Cet historique est suivi d'un examen des relations ambivalentes entre la science-fiction canadienne et la science. Une section de ce chapitre est consacrée aux voyages dans le temps et à leur crédibilité croissante dans le monde scientifique; nous constatons l'absence presque toatle de ce thème dans la science-fiction canadienne française, probablement influencée par une vision linéaire de l'histoire. La dernière partie se concentre tout particulièrement sur les protagonistes des deux courant de science fiction canadienne et des traits qui les différencient ou les unissent dans leurs attitudes et leurs vues philosophiques, plus particulièrement en relation avec les tendances déjà présentes dans la littérature et la société canadienne.
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Alsulami, Mabrouk. "Science Fiction Elements in Gothic Novels." DigitalCommons@Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center, 2016. http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/cauetds/47.
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This thesis explores elements of science fiction in three gothic novels, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Robert Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It begins by explicating the important tropes of science fiction and progresses with a discussion that establishes a connection between three gothic novels and the science fiction genre. This thesis argues that the aforementioned novels express characters’ fear of technology and offer an analysis of human nature that is literarily futuristic. In this view, each of the aforementioned writers uses extreme events in their works to demonstrate that science can contribute to humanity’s understanding of itself. In these works, readers encounter characters who offer commentary on the darker side of the human experience.
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Shaw, Maya. "⏁⊑⊬⟊, ⏁⎎⎅☌⊬⍜⍀: Alien Languages In Science Fiction." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Engelska institutionen, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-194006.
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Language is a central concern of science fiction. From first contact to interstellar warfare, stories about aliens inevitably raise questions of communication. But how do we conceive of alien languages within the constraints of human language? And what do depictions of alien languages reveal about our own language use? Several studies have established the significance and magnitude of the theme of language in (predominantly twentieth century western) science fiction. Building on these studies, I combine macro-analysis with close reading to argue that these alien languages fall on a spectrum of alterity. Within this spectrum, I organise these languages into three distinct gradations of alterity: they help to define their speakers as alien people, creatures or inscrutable beings. The languages of alien 'people’ are structurally similar to our own, and explore the socio-political relationship between language and culture. Those of ‘creatures’ are radically, physically unlike human languages and explore the boundary between humans, animals and aliens. Finally, the languages of ‘beings’ are incomprehensible and prone to spiritualisation. They bring to light the aspects of experience we deem beyond language. This typology provides a framework through which to explore the major themes and questions regarding language, humanity and alterity in science fiction. By presenting these categories in increasing degrees of alterity, I aim to demonstrate that language, like the figure of the alien, is a fundamentally anthropocentric concept. Each category identifies different facets of our language use that simultaneously alienate and define us.
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Leperlier, Henri. "Canadian science fiction: A reluctant genre." Sherbrooke : Université de Sherbrooke, 1999.
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Ross, Simon David. "Nostalgia in postmodern science fiction film." Thesis, Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 2001. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk:8888/cgi-bin/hkuto%5Ftoc%5Fpdf?B23472741.
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Otto, Eric. "Science fiction and the ecological conscience." [Gainesville, Fla.] : University of Florida, 2006. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/UFE0013481.
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Guest, Graham Emory. "'Grass' ; 'Winter Park' ; &, Consciousness in fiction." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2012. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/3500/.
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This thesis is in four parts: a brief Introduction; a novella, Grass; a novel, Winter Park; and a critical essay, “Consciousness in Fiction”. The Introduction explains why Grass, Winter Park, and “Consciousness in Fiction” together form a cohesive and integrated thesis; the chief reason is a shared concern with consciousness, i.e., perception and reflection. Grass is a coming-of-age story about a boy and his lawnmower (and his edger) set in East Texas in the nineteen-seventies. It is written from the perspective of its protagonist, Henry, in first person present tense, but there are no moments of internal reflection, only perception, leading one to wonder whether there is something wrong with Henry. The story’s sparse style is inspired by Robbe-Grillet’s Jealousy and is intended to allow for maximum reader engagement and creativity. Grass is also supposed to be funny, albeit darkly. Winter Park is a tale of two unlikely friends: Eric Swanson - a drug-addled philosopher from Colorado who suspects he has committed some terrible misdeed, and Harris Birdsong - an epileptic, synaesthetic savant from the deep south who has memorized a dictionary. The two meet at a rodeo college penal camp in West Texas called Dude Ranch, where their friendship develops and their individual philosophic and romantic dreams begin to materialize. Part I of the novel is from Swanson’s perspective; Part II through the end, from Birdsong’s; both Parts are in first person present tense. The novel explores the relationships between perception and reflection; evidence and certainty; and words, concepts, definitions, and the external world. Winter Park, too, is supposed to be dark and funny. “Consciousness in Fiction” is an investigation into the structures of human consciousness and the various ways in which those structures appear in select literature. In the essay, I compare the various presentations of consciousness in Ulysses (Joyce), As I Lay Dying (Faulkner), Jealousy (Robbe-Grillet), and American Genius (Lynne Tillman) with a model of consciousness derived from philosophy (Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty), psychology (James), and contemporary cognitive science (Noë and Baars).
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Stratton, Sarah Louise. "More than throw-away fiction : investigating lesbian pulp fiction through the lens of a lesbian textual community." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2018. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/8245/.
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This thesis argues for, and conducts close reading on, lesbian pulp fiction published in the United States between 1950 and 1965. Though a thorough investigation of a lesbian textual community centred on the lesbian periodical, The Ladder (1956-1952), this thesis forms a lens through which to closely read lesbian pulp fiction novels. This thesis maintains that members of this textual community were invested in literary discussions, as evinced through the publication of book reviews. Moreover, the lesbian textual community of The Ladder actively participated in literary discussions through the ‘Readers Respond’ column. Spring Fire (1952) by Vin Packer and The Beebo Brinker Chronicles (1957 to 1962) by Ann Bannon are investigated for implicit and explicit criticisms of 1950s sexual politics and the politics surrounding lesbian representation in popular media. For the members of The Ladder’s lesbian textual community, pulp novels belonging to the ‘Golden Age of Paperbacks’ were more than cheaply produced reading materials.
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Nilsson, Christian. "Berättande simuleringar : Om datorspel och lärande i GY11:s litteraturundervisning." Thesis, Högskolan för lärande och kommunikation, Högskolan i Jönköping, Medie-, litteratur- och språkdidaktik, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-15343.
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Uppsatsen försöker kartlägga hur och om datorspel kan användas i samma syfte som skönlitteratur i den litteraturundervisning som GY11 föreskriver. Fokus ligger på beröringsytor mellan skönlitteratur och datorspel gällande lärande; främst identitetsskapande, moral och etik men också stilistiska drag och litteraturvetenskapliga begrepp. Med två exempel, Fallout: New Vegas och Grand Theft Auto IV, visas hur berättandet i datorspel kan ge mediet en plats i gymnasieskolans litteraturundervisning, samt hur immersion, perspektiv och interaktivitet kan ge spelare något som inte skönlitteratur kan ge läsare.The purpose of this thesis is to discuss whether and how computer games can be used as fiction in literature education in accordance with the new Swedish gymnasium curriculums, GY11. The focus is on the contact points between computer games and fiction regarding learning; foremost building identities, morality and ethics, but also stylistics and concepts in literary science. It is show that, using two examples (Fallout: New Vegas and Grand Theft Auto IV), the narrative elements in computer games can give them room and literary education, and also that immersion, perspective and interactivity can give players something that fiction can’t give its readers.
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Fisher, Mark. "Flatline constructs : Gothic materialism and cybernetic theory-fiction." Thesis, University of Warwick, 1999. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/110900/.
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Cyberpunk fiction has been called “the supreme literary expression, if not of postmodernism then of late capitalism itself.” (Jameson) This thesis aims to analyse and question this claim by rethinking cyberpunk Action, postmodernism and late capitalism in terms of three - interlocking - themes: cybernetics, the Gothic and fiction. It claims that while what has been called “postmodernism” has been preoccupied with cybernetic themes, cybernetics has been haunted by the Gothic. The Gothic has always enjoyed a peculiarly intimate relation with the fictional. Baudrillard's theories, meanwhile, suggest that, in a period dominated by (cybernetic) simulation, fiction has a new cultural role. By putting “theory” into dialogue with “fiction”, the thesis examines Baudrillard's suggestion that the era of cybernetics (what he calls “third order simulacra”) “puts an end to science fiction, but also to theory, as specific genres”. The version of the Gothic the thesis presents is one stripped of many of its conventional cultural associations; it is a material (and materialist) Gothic. The machinery for re-thinking the Gothic comes from Deleuze-Guattari’s A Thousand Plateaus. Deriving not from the familiar literary sources (the so-called Gothic novels of the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth century) but from Wilhelm Worringer’s work on “barbarian art”, Deleuze-Guattari’s version of the Gothic departs from any reference to the supernatural. The crucial theme in Worringer, Deleuze-Guattari establish, is that of nonorganic continuum. Following Deleuze-Guattari’s lead, the thesis analyses key cyberpunk texts such as Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, David Cronenberg’s Videodrome and William Gibson’s Neuromancer in terms of what it calls this “hypematuralist” theme. While these texts have often been analysed in terms of “postmodernism” and “cyberpunk,” they have rarely been discussed in terms of the Gothic. Here, though, it will be shown that these texts, and important precursors, such as Ballard’s The Atrocity Exhibition, are centrally concerned with the breakdown of the boundary between the animate and the inanimate. (A theme that cybernetics has also confronted). The thesis aims to demonstrate that, in its fixation upon catatonic trance, bodies that do not end at the skin, and agency-without-subjectivity, cyberpunk or “imploded science fiction” converges the Gothic with cybernetics on what, following Gibson, it calls the flatline. The flatline has two important senses, referring to (1) a stale of “unlife” (or “undeath”) and (2) a condition of radical immanence. The thesis is divided into four chapters, each of which considers the flatline under a different aspect. Chapter 1 concerns the flatlining of cybernetics and postmodernism; Chapter 2 deals with the flatlining of the body, paying particular attention to the Deleuze-Guattari/Artaud concept of the Body without Organs; Chapter 3 focuses upon the flatlining of reproduction, opposing both sexual and mechanical reproduction to Deleuze-Guattari’s idea of (Gothic) propagation; Chapter 4 considers the flatlining of fiction itself in the context of (Baudrillard’s) hyperreality.