American Science Fiction TV: Star Trek, Stargate and BeyondFrom "The Next Generation" and "The X-Files", to "Farscape" and "Enterprise", sci-fi television series in the US have multiplied since the 1980s. Jan Johnson-Smith shows how, in line with national political upheavals, this vibrant and perplexing genre set about expanding the myth of the Western frontier into deep space. She looks at the "sense of wonder" or sublime that infuses much Frontier art and science fiction, and traces a possible historical precedent to the genre in the fabulous and heroic journeys of the Classical epic. She discusses narrative styles and their influences, from the overarching narrative of "Babylon 5" to the episodic formula of "The Outer Limits", considers how experimental series such as "Twin Peaks" challenge conventional structures, and how and why sci-fi television has adopted new technologies. She also explores the juxtaposition of arcane language and technological jargon in modern American sci-fi television, revealing the extraordinarily alien, yet curiously familiar arena it creates. |
From inside the book
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Page 1
... associated strongly with the secure, the familiar and the domestic. From the mid 1980s, the number of science fiction and fantasy shows skyrocketed. As the elegiac Western genre rides into the sunset, science fiction is proving a ...
... associated strongly with the secure, the familiar and the domestic. From the mid 1980s, the number of science fiction and fantasy shows skyrocketed. As the elegiac Western genre rides into the sunset, science fiction is proving a ...
Page 5
... associated with Immanuel Kant and Edmund Burke, and served as a major criterion of the Romantic period. 10 Yet it is also described in less terrifying terms by authors like Blaise Pascal and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin who consider such ...
... associated with Immanuel Kant and Edmund Burke, and served as a major criterion of the Romantic period. 10 Yet it is also described in less terrifying terms by authors like Blaise Pascal and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin who consider such ...
Page 9
... associated ideas of identity, representation and questions of 'otherness' – all issues common to science fiction. Certainly in the new context of alien encounters, humanity can pull together against a common enemy, our shallow ...
... associated ideas of identity, representation and questions of 'otherness' – all issues common to science fiction. Certainly in the new context of alien encounters, humanity can pull together against a common enemy, our shallow ...
Page 21
... associated with the Sublime. This in turn further challenges our cognitive capacity, sometimes stalling it completely. Science fiction relies upon a careful combination of these practices to achieve its break with mundane reality and in ...
... associated with the Sublime. This in turn further challenges our cognitive capacity, sometimes stalling it completely. Science fiction relies upon a careful combination of these practices to achieve its break with mundane reality and in ...
Page 24
... associated with the genre.42 Jameson's discussions of postmodernism and cognitive mapping can be helpful in explaining why this is so; where the cultural symbols and icons of our world have become simulacra, empty and meaningless they ...
... associated with the genre.42 Jameson's discussions of postmodernism and cognitive mapping can be helpful in explaining why this is so; where the cultural symbols and icons of our world have become simulacra, empty and meaningless they ...
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Common terms and phrases
action actually alien allows American ancient appears articulated associated audience Babylon become called Centauri challenge characters comes command concept concerns consider context continuity create crew cultural Dark Deep Space Delenn demonstrates diegesis Earth effect Enterprise epic episode equally established example existence experience exploration film final forces frontier future genre human idea identified ideology images individual issues John language later light lives London Maquis McQueen means military Minbari narrative nature Nine occurs offers original parallel past perhaps planet political potential present Press problem programmes question races reality reference remarkable says science fiction season sense Shadows Sheridan ship shows Sinclair Star Trek Stargate station story Sublime suggests television tells texts turn universe Vietnam visual Voyager Western whilst wormhole