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1	Fixing the Future: Examining Social Cycles in Cold War Science Fiction Fix-Up Novels Boyer, Elizabeth Ann 29 May 2024 (has links) This thesis examines the relationship between Cold War science fiction fix-up novels and social cycle theory. The study engages with textual, cultural, and comparative analysis to elucidate and analyze links between the fix-up novel format, a cyclical conception of human history, and the Cold War setting of the construction and publication of three SF novels. The objects of this study are three Cold War era fix-up novels with origins in World War II pulp science fiction magazine short stories: The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, City by Clifford D. Simak, and A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. The project examines these three novels alongside the reflective nature of the fix-up novel format, the authors' interactions with social cycle theory, and the Cold War cultural considerations of ideological instability and the threat of annihilation. By examining these works through the lens of retroactive continuity, social cycle theory, and the Cold War cultural imaginary, this thesis demonstrates the complex interplay between literature, culture, and history, and the ways in which SF authors have used their works to engage with the pressing concerns of their time. / Master of Arts / The Cold War era novels The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, City by Clifford D. Simak, and A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. share origins in pulp science fiction magazine short stories. These authors consolidated and revised previously published short stories to produce these works, known as fix-up novels. These three fix-up novels interact with representations of human progress as cyclical or non-linear. This project examines how the Cold War setting of the authors may have influenced science fiction authors' conceptions of human progress as cyclical. This thesis studies how the revision process of creating fix-up novels combined with the transition from World War II to the societal anxieties of the Cold War may have impacted the cultural messages of these novels. Science fiction pulp fiction fix-up retcon social cycle theory Cold War The Martian Chronicles Ray Bradbury City Clifford D. Simak A Canticle for Leibowitz Walter M. Miller Jr.
2	Walter M. Miller, Jr.’s A Canticle for Leibowitz: A Study of Apocalyptic Cycles, Religion and Science, Religious Ethics and Secular Ethics, Sin and Redemption, and Myth and Preternatural Innocence Smith, Cynthia M. 12 June 2006 (has links) Walter M. Miller, Jr.’s A Canticle for Leibowitz is a timeless story about apocalyptic cycles, conflicts and similarities between religion and science, religious ethics and secular ethics, sin and redemption, myth and preternatural innocence. Canticle is a very religious story about a monastery dedicated to preserving scientific knowledge from the time before nuclear war which devastated the world and reduced humanity to a pre-technological civilization. The Catholic Church and this monastery are portrayed as a bastion of civilization amidst barbarians and a light of faith amidst atheism. Unfortunately, humanity destroys the Earth once again, but Miller ends with two beacons of hope: a starship headed for the unknown to help humanity begin again and the preternaturally innocent Rachel who portends a future for similarly innocent human beings repopulating the Earth. Thus, faith ultimately triumphs over atheism even in the midst of almost total catastrophe. myth Graduate degree Georgia State University Walter Miller Canticle for Leibowitz masters thesis Catholic Christian science fiction science religion preternatural innocence ethics saint monk abbey monastery apocalyptic nuclear war catastrophe Wandering Jew mutant Pope New Rome sin redemption faith English Language and Literature

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Fixing the Future: Examining Social Cycles in Cold War Science Fiction Fix-Up Novels

Walter M. Miller, Jr.’s A Canticle for Leibowitz: A Study of Apocalyptic Cycles, Religion and Science, Religious Ethics and Secular Ethics, Sin and Redemption, and Myth and Preternatural Innocence