Current Search: Vonnegut, Kurt Slaughterhouse-five (x)
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Title
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Strange time: block universes and strange loop phenomena in two novels by Kurt Vonnegut.
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Creator
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Altomare, Francis C., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
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Abstract/Description
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Einsteinian relativity forever altered our understanding of the metaphysics of time. This study considers how this scientific theory affects the formulation of time in postmodern narratives as a necessary step toward understanding the relationship between empirical science and literary art. Two novels by Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan and Slaughterhouse-Five, exemplify this synthesis. Close readings of these texts reveal an underlying temporal scheme deeply informed by relativity....
Show moreEinsteinian relativity forever altered our understanding of the metaphysics of time. This study considers how this scientific theory affects the formulation of time in postmodern narratives as a necessary step toward understanding the relationship between empirical science and literary art. Two novels by Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan and Slaughterhouse-Five, exemplify this synthesis. Close readings of these texts reveal an underlying temporal scheme deeply informed by relativity. Furthermore, this study explores how relativity manifests in these texts in light of the block universe concept, Gèodelian universes, and strange loop phenomena. Vonnegut's treatment of free will is also discussed. All of these considerations emphasize Vonnegut's role as a member of the Third Culture, an author who consciously bridges C.P. Snow's two cultures.
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Date Issued
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2010
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2684306
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Subject Headings
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Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Postmodernism (Literature), Literature and science, Science and the humanities in literature, Space and time in literature
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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Title
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CHARACTERIZATIONS OF TRAUMA IN LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION.
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Creator
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Owsiany, Dylan, McGuirk, Carol, Florida Atlantic University, Department of English, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
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Abstract/Description
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The prevalence and impact of trauma has been mischaracterized and misinterpreted throughout time, and this has undoubtedly affected the health and treatment of countless people throughout history. Considering this, some authors impacted by firsthand or cultural traumas before and/or during World War II and the Cold War era, went on to write works of science fiction that handled heavy and taboo characterizations of traumatic stress. Looking back at these short stories and novels with a modern...
Show moreThe prevalence and impact of trauma has been mischaracterized and misinterpreted throughout time, and this has undoubtedly affected the health and treatment of countless people throughout history. Considering this, some authors impacted by firsthand or cultural traumas before and/or during World War II and the Cold War era, went on to write works of science fiction that handled heavy and taboo characterizations of traumatic stress. Looking back at these short stories and novels with a modern clinical perspective of the impacts of trauma, one can see how these characterizations turned out to be strikingly accurate, or, at the very least, closer to truth than perspectives and hypotheses of their era. Two short stories, “Thunder and Roses” by Theodore Sturgeon and “Scanners Live in Vain” by Cordwainer Smith, and two novels, The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, will be examined.
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Date Issued
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2019
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013402
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Subject Headings
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Science fiction--20th century, Trauma, Vonnegut, Kurt Slaughterhouse-five, Dick, Philip K Man in the high castle, Sturgeon, Theodore Thunder and roses, Smith, Cordwainer, 1913-1966--Criticism and interpretation
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Format
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Document (PDF)
