Mimicking the Other : The Aftermath of First Contact in Mid-20th Century Science Fiction Novels

Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14210%2F18%3A00104343" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14210/18:00104343 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://aftermathconference.wordpress.com/" target="_blank" >https://aftermathconference.wordpress.com/</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
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Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Mimicking the Other : The Aftermath of First Contact in Mid-20th Century Science Fiction Novels
Original language description
Hypothetical encounters between humans and alien civilizations have been a hallmark of science fiction since the inception of the genre. However, the accompanying transformation of human society in these narratives has been largely neglected in critical analyses, especially by those that fit under the "cognitive" moniker. My paper will attempt to fill this gap, by comparing how the aftermath of first contact is treated in novels by the "Big Three" of mid-twentieth century science fiction - Clarke (Childhood's End), Asimov (The Gods Themselves), and Heinlein (Stranger in a Strange Land). The paper will argue that the upshot of first contact in these novels is always hyper sociality - for better or worse. In addition, their success hinges on the depiction of a post humanist perspective - focusing either on aliens or on "altered" humans. This perspective interferes with standard mechanisms of reader immersion reliant on evolved cognitive biases, but makes up for it by utilizing cultural (mainly Cold War related) anxieties, and the strategic placement of counterintuitive biases.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Publication year
2018
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

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