This essay was an assignment for my “Science Fiction and American Culture” class.
Science and technology are mirrors in which humankind can see who they are, what they want to be and what they are afraid of. In novels, movies and on television, popular culture explores these possibilities through works of fiction and horror. Sherry Turkle, [...]
Posts under ‘Literature’
A Mirror for Our Fear
The Terror and Appeal of the Machine
Contents
Introduction
The Self vs. The Other
The Computer as Other
The Robot as Other
The TV as Other
The Other becomes a Part of the Self
Conclusion
References
Introduction
There is a thin line between pleasure and pain, so too with fear and attraction. Sherry Turkle (1984) noted that "what disturbs is closely tied to what fascinates and what fascinates is deeply rooted in [...]
Master or Mastered: Machine or Alive
The following essay was a paper I wrote for a class I took called “Science Fiction and American Culture.” It compares Harry Bates’ short story “Farewell to the Master” to the movie based on it, The Day the Earth Stood Still.
“Farewell to the Master” first appeared in the October 1940 issue of Astounding Stories. You [...]
Shattered, Disassociated and Confused
This essay was written for a class I took called “Science Fiction and American Culture.” It was in response to reading several stories in Mirrorshades, edited by Bruce Sterling, as well as assigned readings from Storming the Reality Studio, edited by Larry McCaffery.
If you would like to read Mirrorshades, still considered an excellent introduction to [...]
Characters and Society in Science Fiction Stories after 1945
This essay was written for a class I took called “Science Fiction and American Culture.” It was in response to three short stories and one novel:
“Thunder and Roses” by Theodore Sturgeon,
“The Roads Must Roll” by Robert Heinlein,
“Coming Attraction” by Fritz Leiber, and
The Space Merchants, by Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth.
You should be able to find [...]
