An analysis of the anxiety of the future depicted in the sciencefictionworks, "Childhood's End" by Arthur C. Clark, "The Lathe of Heaven" by Ursula K. Le Guin and "When It Changed" by Joanna Russ.
Abstract This paper analyzes the premise of futuristic anxiety in the sciencefictionsworks of Arthur C. Clarke, Ursula K. Le Guin and Joanna Russ. More specifically, the paper looks at Clarke's "Childhood's End," Le Guin's "The Lathe of Heaven" and Russ' "When It Changed" and provides evidence of the role of anxiety that rises within these author's depictions of the future.
From the Paper "In conclusion, the premise of this study has been to analyze the premise of futuristic anxiety found within the works of Arthur C. Clarke, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Joanna Russ. By evaluating the anxiety of gender separatism, psychological terror, and human evolution in the human future, the premise of change and powerlessness is part of the ideas generated within the prophetically styled writings. In this manner, the worst fears of losing a stable human identity are the basis of anxiety that is foretold in the works of these three science fiction authors. By understanding the fluctuating changes that occur to human beings in a futuristic perspective, the anxiety of change is how science fiction produces prophetically frightening views on the future."
Tags: powerlessness, gender separatism, psychological terror, human evolution
Abstract The paper explores the theme of sciencefiction in film and literature since its beginnings with Jules Verne's writings at the end of the nineteenth century. The paper shows how the best sciencefiction, both literary and filmic, explores issues of the individual in society, the nature of what it means to be human, and the morality of human decision making. While sciencefiction may be set in the future, it speaks to its contemporary audience about their problems and concerns. Sciencefictionworks studied in this paper include Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", George Orwell's "1984", Fritz Lang's 1920s film "Metropolis" and the film "Blade Runner", directed by Ridley Scott.
From the Paper "Novels like Brave New World and 1984 were written in reaction to totalitarian regimes of the time and so used a possible future to comment on a real present. In his novel 1984, George Orwell warned of the seductions of government thought control as he saw them developing in the Soviet Union and elsewhere because of the tensions after World War II, and while the world never reached the state of control seen in that book, it did tend in that direction in response to threats, real and perceived. Huxley extended ideas about government control and psychological testing from his time into the future. Evgeny Zamiatin's We is another novel about a totalitarian regime, a reaction to the same political realities of the 1930s and 1940s."
Abstract This paper shows how sciencefiction addresses the very real themes and concerns of modern society. It also supports the idea that as long as we continue to develop technologically as a species, as long as we continue to dominate our planet and begin to look to the heavens for other places to explore, there will always be a place for sciencefiction literature.
From the Paper "Science Fiction. That short phrase floods the senses with a barrage of fantastical characters, realms, alien races and intergalactic space wars. Indeed, it is easy for the casual observer of science fiction to think of it rather shallowly, as a genre of literary and film achievements based solely on their entertainment value. But, as we shall explore, SF is much more than just a new-age side-show, designed to merely dull the senses with spectacular fantasies. Upon a deeper investigation, science fiction takes on a much more profound aura, and can be classified with the greatest literary movements of all time."
Abstract This paper explains that sciencefiction is a genre often associated with the impossible or the unreal, but a closer inspection reveals that there is often more truth in sciencefiction than we would guess. The author points out that novels such as "Frankenstein" and "The War of the Worlds" introduced the world to sciencefiction in astonishing ways by looking into the future and making the unbelievable real. The paper relates that contemporary sciencefiction such as ?1984? and ?2001: A Space Odyssey? still operate on those same levels of discovery bordering on terror.
From the Paper "Frankenstein's attitude and curiosity certainly reflected those of Shelley's time. This can be seen when he becomes "solely wrapped up" (Shelley 36) in his search to discover a way to produce life. Strangely, he decides that in order to study the origins of life, he must "first have recourse to death" (36). Frankenstein was not satisfied with studying anatomy. He also felt compelled to "observe the natural decay and corruption of the human body" (36). As a result of this he spent days and nights in "vaults and charnel-houses" (36-7). Victor was wildly possessed and was determined to continue with his experiment at any expense."
This paper compares Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" and Stanislaw Lem's "Solaris" as examples of the sciencefiction genre.
Abstract This paper explains that perhaps the best definition of the distinct genre of sciencefiction is human morality and technology in a dialogue, projected into the human future. The author points out that Huxley critiques not genetics so much as human fears of unhappiness and the fear of not being able to experience perfect pleasure at all times; and Vonnegut satirizes not so much the technology of modern war, but the institutions that human beings have developed around the new technology, such as the military industrial complex. The paper relates that "Solaris" contains elements of sciencefiction, such as the projected use of present day technology into a probable future, and a wrestling with its possible moral implications for humanity.
From the Paper "This coolness of tone is one reason why readers seldom feel the same emotional investiture in the characters of science fiction as they do in characters of other genres. Bernard Marx of "Brave New World" is as close to a hero as Huxley's novel is willing to have, and Marx is callous, clever, and mainly interested in bedding the main female protagonist, even though he occasionally questions his society's values. In "Slaughterhouse Five", the novel's initial setting depicts the main protagonist in 1968, where he is married and has two children. Although it gradually becomes clear that he is injured, and that his wife is dead, the reader does not care so much as merely appreciate the irony that, despite all that Billy has gone through, he may die by accident, even after having survived Dresden."
Abstract A paper written in question-and-answer form where sciencefiction as an art in literature and films is explored. Subjects covered are works which have impacted viewers and readers over the years, themes of these works and dystopias. Example of questions are: Who are some of the great writers of the past in Sciencefiction?, What exactly is sciencefiction as compared to horror, mystery, or adventure novels?, What is the movie "Fahrenheit 451" about? and many more.
From the Paper "(14) What is the society in Fahrenheit 451 like? Everyone is told they are part of a larger family. They are all cousins. This Utopian society is actually a dysfunctional one in which people are hunted down on TV for any violation of the rules. In one scene everyone in a neighborhood is ordered outside the home to look for a runner. The people obey and stand outside their homes as ordered. It is reminiscent of a scene in China during President Ford's visit when an unexpected snow fell in the middle of the night. Block monitors alerted the people and everyone was out with brooms to clear the sidewalks. This is what a totalitarian society can do. It can provide what the state wants and control the actions of their people. Some people will accept this type of society but most will find it stupefying."
This paper discusses that four works of sciencefiction stand out for their use of bad engineering: Jules Verne's "From the Earth to the Moon" (1865); Karel Capek's "R.U.R"(1921); Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" (1926); and Maurice Elvey's ?Transatlantic Tunnel
Abstract This paper discusses that some of the devices and instruments featured in many popular sciencefiction novels and films are, in essence, conceived through bad engineering, meaning that these devices and instruments are neither practical nor possible according to present scientific knowledge. The author points out that Verne's "rocket to the moon" stands as the ultimate example of bad engineering, even when one takes into consideration that Verne was using his imagination as a means of conveying his ideas to the reading public, who, at the time of the novel's publication, were obviously quite ignorant of science. The paper relates that Capek's plot in "R.U.R" is the seminal robot motif that has influenced every sciencefiction film, but the vision of creating a race of robots that take over the roles usually assigned to human beings in the context of work and labor was far-fetched for its time and is still so even in the 21st century.
From the Paper "Michel Ardan then suggests that the spaceship launching will be powered by a formidable quantity of guncotton, and that the occupants of this spaceship will be protected from the shock of the launch by a layer of water filling the space between the vehicle's double walls. There will also be thick glass portholes for observation, sealed during the liftoff and then opened by screws controlled from the inside of the vehicle. The air supply will be renewed by oxygen obtained by heating potassium chlorate, a powerful oxidizing agent. The flight, of course, will be monitored from the ground by a powerful Rocky Mountain telescope operated by the Cambridge observatory."
Abstract The paper discusses the life and work of author Ray Bradbury. It has a summary of his life, a close reading of one of his short stories, and describes writing styles, themes, and his own thoughts arguing that he was a writer of sciencefiction. The writers main arguments throughout the paper is that Bradbury's style was more like that of sciencefiction and not of fantasy. Mainly discusses his work "The Crowd".
From the Paper "Ray Bradbury, mostly known for his work in Fahrenheit 451, was actually a much broader producer of works than most of us have thought. Throughout his lifetime he wrote over 500 stories, plays, screenplays, radio, music, comic books, and poems (Wolfe 61). But an argument about his works has been debated ever since he became a prominent writer. Was he in fact one of the first Science Fiction writers of all time?"
Abstract This paper examines how sciencefiction in the United States has gone through three main periods: Introduction, Golden Age, and Post-War Era. The paper points out that, in the United States, the beginning of sciencefiction was vague, starting in the nineteenth century. The paper then takes a look at Edgar Allan Poe as one of the first American sciencefiction authors. The paper concludes that, although the genre of sciencefiction had a humble beginning, in a short period of time it surfaced into an extremely popular type of literature.
From the Paper "Therefore there was an interim in the immense success that science fiction had experienced in the Golden age. However, immediately when the war ended, there came "another boom time for science fiction." Major writers who were involved in the war began writing again. Many talented new writers came into the spotlight. Magazines that made it past the difficult times of World War II were now more popular than ever (American). Some authors of this time period were A.E. Van Vogt, J.G. Ballard, Ray Bradbury, Poul Anderson, and Frank Herbert. Post-war science-fiction authors had some new approaches in their works. Most of their works became about predictions of future societies on Earth, the consequences of space travel, and "imaginative explorations of forms of intelligent life and their societies in other worlds" (Science Merriam). Ray Bradbury was a key figure from the post-war era. He was one of the most illustrious science-fiction writers of his generation. Even though Bradbury's works verged on fantasy, most of them are considered science fiction. Two of his most famous works were The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451. The Martian Chronicles was a series of linked short stories, and Fahrenheit 451 began as a short story named "The Fireman. A major change occurred in the science-fiction industry when the paperback industry overtook the "pulp" magazine's "exclusive hold on science fiction" (American). This significantly increased the popularity of science fiction."
Abstract This paper applies the work of sciencefiction authors LeGuin and Bradbury to examine the questions: What does it mean to be human not in terms of our uniqueness but rather as a member of a larger group? Is it better for someone to choose to be bad or be forced to be good? The paper relates these issues to living in Afghanistan under the Taliban.
From the Paper "One of the most important devices that science fiction writers use in examining what is essentially and fundamentally human and what is incidental to our nature (an artifact of the particular time and place in which we live) is to place their characters in either utopian or dystopic societies. While these types of societies obviously differ in many aspects, they share a fundamental similarity in that both are centrally planned social systems in which the rights of individuals are sacrificed to the rights of the group."
Abstract This paper explores sciencefiction films. It particularly discusses semiotics and how it expands our understanding of popular culture and visual signs in our mass media culture. The paper argues that modern cinematic technologies allow directors an unprecedented capability to shape the visual cinematic codes and iconography of their works and thereby multiply the levels of signification upon which their films operate.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
The Cinema of the Mind's Eye
Special Effects and the Post-modern
Conclusion
From the Paper "In this regard, the assertion that "films are metaphorical mirrors of life" (Danesi 88) is placed under significant pressure as the "real-life activities" (Danesi 88) that are represented in the science fiction film increasingly bear no connection at all to real-life as we understand it in the modern world. In particular, with the advent of digital technologies, entire cinematic environments can be created in which - while the characters are still recognizably human and have human concerns - the visual signification is alien to anything in our existence. In this way, science fiction films can be seen as visual signs of postmodernity, simulating a reality so perfect that it is indistinguishable from our own and yet, at the same time, utterly alien, that it calls into question our understanding of reality itself."
Abstract This paper discusses how setting in sciencefiction is a key element, as it is in all fiction, though the way it is used and the emphasis given to it among the various elements of fiction may differ. In particular, the paper discusses how, in his anthology "Masterpieces", Orson Scott Card divides sciencefiction somewhat arbitrarily into three categories according to era ("The Golden Age," "The New Wave," and "The Media Generation"). The paper then examines the style and settings of each of these eras with reference to different novels.
From the Paper "Setting is important in the structure of the novel Count Zero by William Gibson. The setting is the future, but it is not a distant future. It is rather a projection of the present into what Gibson sees as the next logical step as the use of the computer makes the cyberspace that Gibson named in an earlier book into a parallel reality set alongside the "real" world in which we live. Both worlds have evolved in the direction of increasing corporate control accompanied by further surrender of individuality and autonomy on the part of the human inhabitants of the planet. "
Abstract This paper proposes a thesis project to focus on how women characters in three sciencefiction (SF) texts - Liz Williams' "Voivodoi", Paul McAuley's "Sea Change with Monsters" and Chris Lawson's "Unborn Again" - interact and identify with monsters. The paper argues that this interaction and identification with monstrous others can create a deconstructive figure, which transgresses and undermines normative binary oppositions; thus, the stories' heroines -within and because of these interactions - can exercise their roles as liberators. The paper also presents the theoretical and methodological frameworks upon which this thesis will be based.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Statement of the Problem
"Voivodoi"
"Sea Change with Monsters"
"Unborn Again"
Theoretical Framework
Feminism and ScienceFiction SF and the Idea of Sexuality
Fabulation
Representations of Women in ScienceFiction Methodological Framework
Definition of Terms
From the Paper "This is an argument about the prospect of feminist SF to portray sexualities, whether alternative or normative. It is an argument that is rooted in the approaches to sexuality and gender studies under the rubric of queer theory. In the 1980s, when the subject of sexuality in feminist SF started to gain critical attention, it was not unusual for literary critics to condemn the dearth in SF of positive representations of alternative sexualities. One might ask whether feminist SF has by tradition been better at envisioning machines and their conjunction than it has been at envisioning bodies and their possible relationships."
Tags: objectification novum performativity myths, comparative study
Abstract This paper looks at the life of famed novelist H.G. Wells. The author describes his childhood, education, marriages, and most importantly, Wells' sciencefictionworks, such as "The Time Machine", and "The Island of Dr. Moreau". The paper also discusses Wells as a staunch socialist and how he conveyed his political beliefs in his writing.
From the paper:
"Herbert George Wells was born at Bromley, Kent, on September 21, 1866, and died in 1946. H.G. Wells? family was not wealthy. His father owned an old China shop and his mother was a lady's maid. Both parents made very little money. George Wells had little education and had been hired at a large drapery emporium. At the emporium he had the position of a draper's apprentice. Here he had to wait on customers, show samples of merchandise, stock, and also account of all money taken in."
Tags: machine, time, socialism, utopia, jules, verne, swift, bertie, science, fiction, moreau, island, morlocks
Abstract The range of subjects that ScienceFiction films can cover makes the genre a broad field. This paper examines one recognized subgroup which features alien contact. This theme first emerged in the 1951 film "The Thing From Another World". To consider the development of feature films involving alien contact, three examples are discussed in this paper. Firstly, Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977), secondly "Contact" (1996) and, finally, "Solaris" (2002). These films are each discussed for the purpose of showing how they fit into the sciencefiction genre.
From the Paper "In this scene, Spielberg uses special effects in the form of lighting and the scene has a strong visual appeal. However, this visual appeal also creates a certain mood. The entire focus of the movie is based on showing that aliens encounters are not necessarily going to be the feared event that everyone should panic over. Spielberg's perspective is that it is more likely to be a peaceful and moving event. The visual appeal effectively creates this exact response in the viewer. The beauty of the lights and the scene creates a sense of calmness and awe, rather than anything that suggests fright. The important point is that the special effects create a mood that enhances the meaning of the film. It is this effective use of special effects that resulted in the new era. Spielberg showed how special effects could create meaning and this was the basis of their success, not just the fact that it was a nice scene to look at."
