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
Results 1-5 of 33
Page 3
... live up to its name. Caldwell's theory of the televisual offers a crucial combination of causes and effects specific to the 1980s; he identifies a crisis in American television production, citing authorial, industrial and technical ...
... live up to its name. Caldwell's theory of the televisual offers a crucial combination of causes and effects specific to the 1980s; he identifies a crisis in American television production, citing authorial, industrial and technical ...
Page 20
... lives to prioritise the narrative experience over the visual (somewhat strange in visual arts). Replacing the dominance of the narrative story with the parity or dominance of the visual experience creates the pleasures and awe of ...
... lives to prioritise the narrative experience over the visual (somewhat strange in visual arts). Replacing the dominance of the narrative story with the parity or dominance of the visual experience creates the pleasures and awe of ...
Page 23
... lives and with them the sf lives we read about, and reflects them back to us in an extravagant, extrapolated fashion. For Larry McCaffrey, in a 1990 collection of interviews with famous sf authors, this means places composed of ...
... lives and with them the sf lives we read about, and reflects them back to us in an extravagant, extrapolated fashion. For Larry McCaffrey, in a 1990 collection of interviews with famous sf authors, this means places composed of ...
Page 48
... lives on, both in its sense of destiny and in the Sublime. With the western frontier closed, 'Space, the final frontier' offers an alternative, or perhaps a mutation, with which to inspire the collective American psyche. Kennedy ...
... lives on, both in its sense of destiny and in the Sublime. With the western frontier closed, 'Space, the final frontier' offers an alternative, or perhaps a mutation, with which to inspire the collective American psyche. Kennedy ...
Page 50
... lives of almost everyone41 television is often considered an inferior pulp medium lacking the critical cultural status shared by other art forms – something it shares with sf, often regarded as 'just' fantasy and therefore for children ...
... lives of almost everyone41 television is often considered an inferior pulp medium lacking the critical cultural status shared by other art forms – something it shares with sf, often regarded as 'just' fantasy and therefore for children ...
Other editions - View all
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