Current Search:  Smith, Cordwainer, 1913-1966 (x)

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From the horse's mouth
Title
From the horse's mouth: speech and speciesism in Cordwainer Smith and Sheri S. Tepper.
Creator
Cox, Jennifer K., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description
This thesis challenges dualistic human and animal ontologies by interpreting science fiction (sf) literature, and argues that whereas words can equivocate and obscure meaning, bodies do not lie. Linguistics and semiology extend the definition of "language" to include human and nonhuman gestures and movement, and posthumanist theory expands definitions of "human" and "animal" to explore species boundaries. Scrutinizing opposing dualisms ultimately questions Western epistemology and authority,...
Show moreThis thesis challenges dualistic human and animal ontologies by interpreting science fiction (sf) literature, and argues that whereas words can equivocate and obscure meaning, bodies do not lie. Linguistics and semiology extend the definition of "language" to include human and nonhuman gestures and movement, and posthumanist theory expands definitions of "human" and "animal" to explore species boundaries. Scrutinizing opposing dualisms ultimately questions Western epistemology and authority, allowing for an exploration of embodied animal communications within the larger discourse on species and speciesism. This perspective results in a more comprehensive understanding of the interdependence of all species: human, animal, and "other." Although the fictional texts I employ use fantastic elements to posit hypothetical realities, current scientific research reveals that communication with nonhuman animals is indeed possible.
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Date Issued
2013
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3360775
Subject Headings
Criticism and enterpretation, Criticism and enterpretation, Human-animal relationships, Interpersonal communication, Animal communication, Language and emotions, Emotive (Linguistics)
Format
Document (PDF)
CHARACTERIZATIONS OF TRAUMA IN LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION
Title
CHARACTERIZATIONS OF TRAUMA IN LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION.
Creator
Owsiany, Dylan, McGuirk, Carol, Florida Atlantic University, Department of English, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Abstract/Description
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
2019
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013402
Subject Headings
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
Format
Document (PDF)
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.
Creator
Herzek, Charles Barry., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description
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...
Show moreScience 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.
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Date Issued
2008
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/77644
Subject Headings
Characters and characteristics in literature, Humanity, Ethics, Modern
Format
Document (PDF)
Hope on the horizon
Title
Hope on the horizon: Mordecai Roshwald, Cordwainer Smith, and James Tiptree, Jr. look into the future.
Creator
Ebert, Valorie., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description
This project considers the future, and the hope for humanity within three dystopian science fiction works : Mordecai Roshwald's Level 7, Cordwainer Smith's "The Dead Lady of Clown Town," and James Tiptree, Jr.,'s "The GIrl Who Was Plugged In". There are many aspects and different manifestations of hope in science fiction, even in authors who show readers the darkest side of human nature and what will become of humans, and by default earth, if an effort is not made to change the world's...
Show moreThis project considers the future, and the hope for humanity within three dystopian science fiction works : Mordecai Roshwald's Level 7, Cordwainer Smith's "The Dead Lady of Clown Town," and James Tiptree, Jr.,'s "The GIrl Who Was Plugged In". There are many aspects and different manifestations of hope in science fiction, even in authors who show readers the darkest side of human nature and what will become of humans, and by default earth, if an effort is not made to change the world's direction. Though some dystopian stories show horrible possible futures, there is an underlying hope within these stories that the story will change readers' thinking about how the future might unfold. It is because there is a chance to save the world that science-fiction-authors tell stories about disasters, destruction, and post apocalyptic scenarios. It is within the hopeless story lines that hope for humanity manifests itself.
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Date Issued
2012
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3355566
Subject Headings
Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Speculative fiction, American, Criticism and interpretation, Science fiction, American, Criticism and interpretation, Literature and science, Criticism and interpretation, Dystopias in literature
Format
Document (PDF)