Science Fiction as Social Fiction: British Sci-fi and its Antecedents
| Thesis title in Czech: | Science fiction jako sociální fikce: Britské sci-fi a jeho předchůdci |
|---|---|
| Thesis title in English: | Science Fiction as Social Fiction: British Sci-fi and its Antecedents |
| Key words: | science fiction|sociální fikce|Velká Británie|spekulativní|původ|historie |
| English key words: | Science Fiction|Social Fiction|British|Speculative|Origins|history |
| Academic year of topic announcement: | 2014/2015 |
| Thesis type: | Bachelor's thesis |
| Thesis language: | angličtina |
| Department: | Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures (21-UALK) |
| Supervisor: | Colin Steele Clark, M.A. |
| Author: | hidden - assigned and confirmed by the Study Dept. |
| Date of registration: | 03.07.2015 |
| Date of assignment: | 08.07.2015 |
| Administrator's approval: | not processed yet |
| Confirmed by Study dept. on: | 22.05.2017 |
| Date and time of defence: | 20.06.2017 00:00 |
| Date of electronic submission: | 22.05.2017 |
| Date of proceeded defence: | 20.06.2017 |
| Submitted/finalized: | committed by student and finalized |
| Opponents: | Mgr. Pavla Veselá, Ph.D. |
| Guidelines |
| Thesis: The goal of this thesis is to trace the roots of British science fiction literature and examine the evolution of the genre, noting the recurring themes, tropes and overall legacy of the canonical works of British sci-fi in contemporary literature. Those uniquely and exclusively British characteristics of the genre will also be analyzed. Firstly, selected works representative of the genre will be examined with regards to the problematics of defining the science fiction genre (focusing particularly on the definitions proposed by Robert A. Heinlein, Darko Suvin, Brian Aldiss and Robert Scholes). These multiple, more or less conflicting definitions will be argued to demonstrate the diversity of the subgenres of science fiction, thus exploring the genre's boundaries as they apply today. Secondly, the works will be explored with regards to their signifance within the genre and placed on the timeline of the development of British science fiction. Specifically, this thesis will chronologically cover the representative works of Mary Shelley, H. G. Wells, Olaf Stapledon, C. S. Lewis, John Wyndham, Arthur C. Clarke, Brian Aldiss, J. G. Ballard, Ken MacLeod and Adam Roberts as key authors of the 19th and the 20th century. Thirdly, I will consider contemporary classics and emergent subgenres and suggest their importance as a function of social science fiction and political speculation. This thesis will be based on research into and analysis of canonical texts and secondary literature on the genre and other works of fiction inspired or derived from these core texts – the last section will be dedicated to sci-fi as a "metatext" (covering pastiche, parody and other intertextual figures and their role in the genre). |
| References |
| I. Primary:
Aldiss, Brian W., and David Wingrove. Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction. New York: Atheneum, 1986. James, Edward, and Farah Mendlesohn. The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003. Roberts, Adam. The History of Science Fiction. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. II. Secondary: a) fiction: Aldiss, Brian W. Hothouse. London: Panther, 1979. Aldiss, Brian W. Moreau's Other Island. S.l.: House Of Stratus, 2001. Ballard, J. G. High-rise. New York: Liveright, 2012. Clarke, Arthur C. Childhood's End. New York: Ballantine, 1990. Clarke, Arthur C. The Sentinel. New York: Berkley, 1983. Jones, Gwyneth A. Bold as Love. San Francisco: Night Shade, 2005. Lewis, C. S. Space Trilogy. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1996. MacLeod, Ken. Newton's Wake: A Space Opera. New York: Tor, 2004. Roberts, Adam. New Model Army. London: Gollancz, 2011. Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus. London: Penguin, 1994. Stapledon, Olaf. Last and First Men And, Star Maker: Two Science-fiction Novels. New York: Dover Publications, 1968. Wells, H. G. Five Great Science-fiction Novels. New York: Dover Publications, 2004. Wyndham, John. The Day of the Triffids. New York: Modern Library, 2003. Wyndham, John. The Midwich Cuckoos. London: Michael Joseph, 1957. b) theoretical: Alkon, Paul K. Science Fiction before 1900: Imagination Discovers Technology. New York: Twayne, 1994. Ellis, Markman. Fictions of science in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein [online]. Sydney Studies in English, Vol. 25, 1999: 27-46. Freedman, Carl Howard. Critical Theory and Science Fiction. Hanover: Wesleyan UP, 2000. Lightman, Bernard. Victorian Science in Context. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago, 1997. Malmgren, Carl Darryl. Worlds Apart: Narratology of Science Fiction. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1991. Shaw, Debra Benita. Women, Science, and Fiction: The Frankenstein Inheritance. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave, 2000. Suvin, Darko. "On the Poetics of the Science Fiction Genre." College English 34.3 (1972): 372-82. JSTOR. Web. 25 May 2015. Suvin, Darko. ""The Time Machine versus Utopia" as a Structural Model for Science Fiction." Comparative Literature Studies 10.4, Special Issue on Utopian Social Thought in Literature and the Social Sciences (1973): 334-52. JSTOR. Web. 25 May 2015. Telotte, J. P. Replications: A Robotic History of the Science Fiction Film. Urbana: University of Illinois, 1995. Wells, H. G. H.G. Wells: Early Writings in Science and Science Fiction. Berkeley: University of California, 1975. |