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
... individual series have received detailed critical attention, in particular The X-Files and Star Trek in its various guises, and a multitude of on-line or published programme guides, technical files, encyclopaedia, alien-English ...
... individual series have received detailed critical attention, in particular The X-Files and Star Trek in its various guises, and a multitude of on-line or published programme guides, technical files, encyclopaedia, alien-English ...
Page 16
... individual psychic and social development'.8 Yet this is a narrow view of sf, implying that only in an era of advanced technology can stories of future development emerge. Science fiction is 'often'but not always concerned with ...
... individual psychic and social development'.8 Yet this is a narrow view of sf, implying that only in an era of advanced technology can stories of future development emerge. Science fiction is 'often'but not always concerned with ...
Page 18
... individual reader and the reader's subconscious rather than within the text.13 In his 1989 study Fantasy and the Cinema, James Donald argues that genre involves: not just the obvious iconographic and narrative conventions ... but also ...
... individual reader and the reader's subconscious rather than within the text.13 In his 1989 study Fantasy and the Cinema, James Donald argues that genre involves: not just the obvious iconographic and narrative conventions ... but also ...
Page 20
... individual personality, of the relations between the individual and society, and perhaps most important, of the kind of significance which these aspects of the world can bear'.21 Readers identify specific components in a text and in ...
... individual personality, of the relations between the individual and society, and perhaps most important, of the kind of significance which these aspects of the world can bear'.21 Readers identify specific components in a text and in ...
Page 25
... individuals.44 Philip K. Dick's 'Breakfast at Twilight' (1954), for example, asks how a family would react if it were sucked temporarily into some dreadful apocalyptic future just eight years away and then sent back to the present to ...
... individuals.44 Philip K. Dick's 'Breakfast at Twilight' (1954), for example, asks how a family would react if it were sucked temporarily into some dreadful apocalyptic future just eight years away and then sent back to the present to ...
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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