You are here
Man in the age of mechanical reproduction
| Title: | Man in the age of mechanical reproduction: variations on transhumanism in the works of Smith, Delany, Dick, Wells and Gibson. |
 175 views 29 downloads |
|---|---|---|
| Name(s): |
Herzek, Charles Barry. Florida Atlantic University Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters Department of English |
|
| Type of Resource: | text | |
| Genre: | Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation | |
| Date Issued: | 2008 | |
| Publisher: | Florida Atlantic University | |
| Physical Form: | electronic | |
| Extent: | vi, 53 p. | |
| Language(s): | English | |
| Summary: | Science fiction identifies three characteristics as definitive of and essential to humanity: 1) sentience or self-awareness, 2) emotions, and 3) most importantly, the capacity for sociability. Through the vital possession of these three traits any entity can come to be called human. In the first chapter, I examine Cordwainer Smith's "Scanners Live in Vain" and Samuel R. Delany's "Aye and Gomorrah...," two stories in which human subjects become Other than human. In the second chapter, I explore the prospect of creatures, not biologically human who gain human status through an analysis of Smith's "The Dead Lady of Clown Town" and Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? In the third chapter, I investigate the uniquely science fictional notion that "humanity" does not require biology through a comparison of H.G. Wells's The Island of Dr. Moreau and William Gibson's Idoru. | |
| Identifier: | 243800667 (oclc), 77644 (digitool), FADT77644 (IID), fau:4304 (fedora) | |
| Note(s): |
by Charles Barry Herzek. Works Cited (p. 54), reflected in the Table of Contents, lacking from the University Library's copy. Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2008. Includes bibliographical references based on the footnotes on pages 51-53. Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, FL : 2008 Mode of access: World Wide Web. |
|
| Subject(s): |
Smith, Cordwainer, 1913-1966 Smith, Cordwainer, 1913-1966 Delany, Samuel R Dick, Philip K Wells, H.G. (Herbert George), 1866-1946 Gibson, William, 1948- Characters and characteristics in literature Humanity Ethics, Modern -- 20th century |
|
| Persistent Link to This Record: | http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/77644 | |
| Use and Reproduction: | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | |
| Host Institution: | FAU |
