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 vii
... Light Philosophical and narrative strategies Story arcs History Ideology History and science fiction as context Popular culture as context The confused citadel Foreshadowing Narrative complexity Sheridan and destiny Different choices ...
... Light Philosophical and narrative strategies Story arcs History Ideology History and science fiction as context Popular culture as context The confused citadel Foreshadowing Narrative complexity Sheridan and destiny Different choices ...
Page 28
... light: stripped of their everyday context they invite fresh consideration from a different perspective. In fantasy, the same moral values we prize in life mark out Frodo, Sam and Aragorn in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1954 ...
... light: stripped of their everyday context they invite fresh consideration from a different perspective. In fantasy, the same moral values we prize in life mark out Frodo, Sam and Aragorn in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1954 ...
Page 37
... light will be afraid of himself, and observing himself sustained in the body given him by nature between those two abysses of the Infinite and Nothing, will tremble at the sight of these marvels; and I think that, as his curiosity ...
... light will be afraid of himself, and observing himself sustained in the body given him by nature between those two abysses of the Infinite and Nothing, will tremble at the sight of these marvels; and I think that, as his curiosity ...
Page 43
... wilderness (the 'devil's territories') – thus making it ripe for charting, clearing and infusing with light – creates a semisurreal landscape scattered with symbols and icons representative of both nature 43 HISTORIES.
... wilderness (the 'devil's territories') – thus making it ripe for charting, clearing and infusing with light – creates a semisurreal landscape scattered with symbols and icons representative of both nature 43 HISTORIES.
Page 46
... light as religious rhetoric is common to these pictures. The God-given garden of the American West became not only an ideal but also the acceptable image of the West. These landscapes were seldom pictures of the wilderness in any real ...
... light as religious rhetoric is common to these pictures. The God-given garden of the American West became not only an ideal but also the acceptable image of the West. These landscapes were seldom pictures of the wilderness in any real ...
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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