This thesis analyzes H. G. Wells’s The Island of Doctor Moreau and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness within the context of nineteenth-century evolutionary theory. I explore how Charles Darwin and Thomas Huxley used evolution by natural selection to develop differing explanations of the origins of ethics and how this impacted the place each scientist gave morality in civilization. By exploring how Huxley and Darwin understood morality to derive from the phenomena of sympathy and restrain, I illustrate how Wells’s and Conrad’s novellas interrogate these discourses of altruism.

This study discusses how the literary device of time travel can limit or empower protagonists. The main focus is on H.G. Wells The Time Machine and the two films of the same name inspired by the novel. The popularity of time travel in film springs from the myriad storytelling possibilities the device provides, and the writers agenda determines what place, if any, logic and causality have in the story. Some narratives endorse the theory of eternalism, where time is fixed and the time travellers actions are fated to be consistent with the history the traveller knows. But many films rely on theories of multiple timelines and many worlds, giving the traveller a much greater range of agency. Paradoxes of causality can inhibit the travellers actions as well. This essay discusses the broad spectrum in time travel narrative, where at one end travellers are imprisoned in history, and at the other they enjoy a great deal of freedom.

This study discusses how the literary device of time travel can limit or empower protagonists. The main focus is on H.G. Wells The Time Machine and the two films of the same name inspired by the novel. The popularity of time travel in film springs from the myriad storytelling possibilities the device provides, and the writers agenda determines what place, if any, logic and causality have in the story. Some narratives endorse the theory of eternalism, where time is fixed and the time travellers actions are fated to be consistent with the history the traveller knows. But many films rely on theories of multiple timelines and many worlds, giving the traveller a much greater range of agency. Paradoxes of causality can inhibit the travellers actions as well. This essay discusses the broad spectrum in time travel narrative, where at one end travellers are imprisoned in history, and at the other they enjoy a great deal of freedom.

“Doctor Moreau and The Hunt for The Ethical Figure. From unsuccessful man-making to respectful relations with Jacques Derrida, Donna Haraway and H. G. Wells” In H. G. Wells’ science fiction novel, The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), a scientist on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean attempts to create humans from animals. Wells draws on Charles Darwin’s theories on the origins of species and the descent of man to create a horror story in which the uniqueness of the human is called into question. This study uses the novel to investigate the re-emergent interest in human-animal relations, within the natural sciences as well as the arts and humanities, in the past twenty years. In what is often termed “the Animal Turn,” theorists such as Jacques Derrida and Donna Haraway, who are at the centre of this study, have dedicated a significant amount of their work to the animal question and in particular to the ethics of inter-species relationships. Furthermore this essay stages the interaction of fiction and theoretical discourse in an analysis that probes challenges inherent to the relations of humans to other species, such as the practice of eating meat, the killing of animals, and animal rights. Moreover, it considers how the figure of the animal has been used to define the human, as well as to dehumanize people in the justification of abuse and persecution. However, human-animal ethics also has positive connotations, discussed through the figures of positivity and possibility in play, sharing, contact and responsive responsibility. Taking its inspiration from Karen Barad’s method of diffraction, this study foregrounds new pattern-making while exploring how Derrida’s and Haraway’s strategies for formulating a new ethics are present in their use of tropes and figures. / Science fiction-romanen The Island of Doctor Moreau skrevs 1896 och handlar om hur en vetenskapsman på en avlägsen ö i Stilla havet försöker skapa människor av djur. Författaren H. G. Wells inspirerades av Darwins teorier om arternas uppkomst till att skriva en skräckberättelse där mänsklighetens unikhet sätts ur spel. Den här studien använder Wells text i syfte att undersöka hur relationen mellan människor och andra arter har kommit att få ett nytt intresse inom en mängd olika vetenskapliga, praktiska och konstnärliga ämnen i slutet av 1900-talet och början av 2000-talet, något som har kommit att kallas ”The Animal Turn”.  I centrum för studien återfinns teorier formulerade av filosofen Jacques Derrida och den feministiska vetenskapsteoretikern och biologen Donna Haraway. Båda två har ägnat stor del av sina respektive arbeten åt djurfrågan, framför allt med enträget intresse för hur ett etiskt förhållande mellan arter kan se ut. Studien låter romanen och de teoretiska texterna samverka i en analys som diskuterar utmaningar i människa-djur-relationer – som köttätande, dödande och rättigheter. Människan har till exempel använt sig av djuret för att definiera sig som människa, men också för att dehumanisera andra människor, och därmed kunnat utnyttja eller våldföra sig på dessa människor. Men människa-djur-etiken har också positiva aspekter: kontakt över språkgränser, att tillsammans utgöra världsmedborgare som alla består av och är beroende av varandra, att dela lek och arbete, att se och upptäcka den andre.  Med inspiration från Karen Barads användning av metoden diffraktion vill den här uppsatsen utforska Derridas och Haraways strategier för att formulera en ny etik genom bruket av figurer och troper.

Analisa os objetivos e propostas de organização da informação desenvolvidos pelo Movimento Bibliográfico e indica sua influência na Ciência da Informação. Esta pesquisa de natureza exploratória, realizada através de levantamento, revisão e análise bibliográficos, investiga o pensamento de Paul Otlet, Wilhelm Ostwald, H. G. Wells, John Cotton Dana e Watson Davis, expoentes do Movimento Bibliográfico, no contexto da modernidade. O Movimento Bibliográfico caracterizava-se por sua pluralidade e buscava responder às alterações no mundo informacional decorrentes da modernidade. O movimento atribuía à informação a potencialidade de transformação dos indivíduos e, portanto, transformou o foco dos serviços de informação da preservação para o acesso, procurando organizar acervos em função de seus conteúdos. O desenvolvimento tecnológico contemporâneo ao movimento fez com que seus expoentes enfatizassem a aplicação de novas tecnologias ao processo de disseminação da informação, pois entendiam que este seria facilitado e agilizado. A Ciência da Informação herdou seu papel social parcialmente do Movimento Bibliográfico, objetivando a organização da informação para seu acesso, e compartilha com o movimento a perspectiva de emprego de alta tecnologia na disseminação da informação. O espírito do tempo no qual se originou o Movimento Bibliográfico levou ao aparecimento de um ideário comum que permitiu a elaboração de propostas similares, entretanto, não se descarta a influência mútua entre os indivíduos analisados na pesquisa. Apesar de sua especificidade histórica, o Movimento Bibliográfico compartilha com a Ciência da Informação o ideário informacional moderno e a relação deste com a cultura. Conclui-se que a cultura da informação contemporânea e aquela do movimento pesquisado apresentam diferenças, porém são culturas que se entrelaçam; muitos de seus problemas sendo semelhantes e necessitando soluções similares. / Analyses the objectives and proposals of information organisation developed by the Bibliographic Movement, and indicates its influence in Information Science. This exploratory research, accomplished through bibliographic survey, literature review, and analysis, investigates in the context of modernity the ideas of Bibliographic Movement exponents Paul Otlet, Wilhelm Ostwald, H. G. Wells, John Cotton Dana, and Watson Davis. The Bibliographic Movement was characterized by its plurality, and aimed to respond to modernity\'s effects in the information world. The movement attributed to information the potentiality of individual transformation. Therefore, it changed the focus of information services from preservation to access, and pursued the organisation of collections according to its contents. The development of technology made the Bibliographic Movement exponents emphasise the application of new technologies to the process of information dissemination in order to facilitate and accelerate it. Information Science inherited its social role partially from the Bibliographic Movement, and aims at organising information so that it can be accessed. Information Science also shares with the movement the perspective of employing high technology to disseminate information. The Zeitgeist that gave rise to the Bibliographic Movement led to a common set of ideas and allowed the elaboration of similar proposals for the organisation of information. However, it is not discarded the probability of mutual influence between the individuals analysed. Despite its historical specificity the Bibliographic Movement shares with Information Science modern ideas and its relation to culture. It is concluded that the current information culture and the information culture of the Bibliographic Movement have differences, notwithstanding, they are entwined cultures and many of their problems are similar and need similar solutions

Analisa os objetivos e propostas de organização da informação desenvolvidos pelo Movimento Bibliográfico e indica sua influência na Ciência da Informação. Esta pesquisa de natureza exploratória, realizada através de levantamento, revisão e análise bibliográficos, investiga o pensamento de Paul Otlet, Wilhelm Ostwald, H. G. Wells, John Cotton Dana e Watson Davis, expoentes do Movimento Bibliográfico, no contexto da modernidade. O Movimento Bibliográfico caracterizava-se por sua pluralidade e buscava responder às alterações no mundo informacional decorrentes da modernidade. O movimento atribuía à informação a potencialidade de transformação dos indivíduos e, portanto, transformou o foco dos serviços de informação da preservação para o acesso, procurando organizar acervos em função de seus conteúdos. O desenvolvimento tecnológico contemporâneo ao movimento fez com que seus expoentes enfatizassem a aplicação de novas tecnologias ao processo de disseminação da informação, pois entendiam que este seria facilitado e agilizado. A Ciência da Informação herdou seu papel social parcialmente do Movimento Bibliográfico, objetivando a organização da informação para seu acesso, e compartilha com o movimento a perspectiva de emprego de alta tecnologia na disseminação da informação. O espírito do tempo no qual se originou o Movimento Bibliográfico levou ao aparecimento de um ideário comum que permitiu a elaboração de propostas similares, entretanto, não se descarta a influência mútua entre os indivíduos analisados na pesquisa. Apesar de sua especificidade histórica, o Movimento Bibliográfico compartilha com a Ciência da Informação o ideário informacional moderno e a relação deste com a cultura. Conclui-se que a cultura da informação contemporânea e aquela do movimento pesquisado apresentam diferenças, porém são culturas que se entrelaçam; muitos de seus problemas sendo semelhantes e necessitando soluções similares. / Analyses the objectives and proposals of information organisation developed by the Bibliographic Movement, and indicates its influence in Information Science. This exploratory research, accomplished through bibliographic survey, literature review, and analysis, investigates in the context of modernity the ideas of Bibliographic Movement exponents Paul Otlet, Wilhelm Ostwald, H. G. Wells, John Cotton Dana, and Watson Davis. The Bibliographic Movement was characterized by its plurality, and aimed to respond to modernity\'s effects in the information world. The movement attributed to information the potentiality of individual transformation. Therefore, it changed the focus of information services from preservation to access, and pursued the organisation of collections according to its contents. The development of technology made the Bibliographic Movement exponents emphasise the application of new technologies to the process of information dissemination in order to facilitate and accelerate it. Information Science inherited its social role partially from the Bibliographic Movement, and aims at organising information so that it can be accessed. Information Science also shares with the movement the perspective of employing high technology to disseminate information. The Zeitgeist that gave rise to the Bibliographic Movement led to a common set of ideas and allowed the elaboration of similar proposals for the organisation of information. However, it is not discarded the probability of mutual influence between the individuals analysed. Despite its historical specificity the Bibliographic Movement shares with Information Science modern ideas and its relation to culture. It is concluded that the current information culture and the information culture of the Bibliographic Movement have differences, notwithstanding, they are entwined cultures and many of their problems are similar and need similar solutions

In 1898, H G Wells published The War of the Worlds, a scathing indictment of colonialism from the perspective of the colonized. The following year, Rudyard Kipling penned The White Man’s Burden, describing colonial conquest as driven by duty, for the sake of the subjugated. They shared a vantage point from the literary pedestal of fin-de-siècle London, but what they saw was very different.            The War of the Worlds can be read as an allegory of colonialism where the tables are turned and the colonial masters are suddenly exposed to a ruthless and technologically superior power. What can be inferred about the Martians’ motives? Can they be perceived as driven by duty, by wishing to take care of or serve their captives’ needs? With the information provided in the The War of the Worlds, could a Martian Kipling write “The Green Man’s Burden” to motivate the invasion of the Earth?           Using postcolonial tools of analysis, this essay digs into the britishness of Wells’ colonizers and colonized, as well as into the britishness of Wells’ own perspective. Some postcolonial theorists argue that representatives of the colonial powers cannot represent the subjugated. Does his background and nationality disqualify Wells to describe the effects of colonialism? I argue that it does not. Staying in the social space of the West helped Wells erode the ideology of colonialism by tailoring it to be received and understood by his target audience, his contemporary countrymen.

No description available.

The thesis aims to give an overview of the treatment of media in texts that have formed modern dystopian writing and to which new additions in the genre necessarily relate. This set of texts consists of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and When the Sleeper Awakes by H. G. Wells; first chapter substantiates this selection and proceeds to define the concepts of "media" and "dystopia". Second chapter is concerned with the understanding of history in dystopian societies and shows that the very concept of historicity is undesirable for a totalitarian state, which seeks to blur history and reduce it to a three-point schema "before the Event - the Event (revolution) - after the Event". Closer analysis then shows that the Event itself can be divided into a further triad that has to be completed in order to pass into eternal post-Event society. Third chapter describes the use of citizens as media and shows that while Huxley's society uses what Michel Foucault calls "biopower" to achieve this goal, Orwell's society rather uses the concept of "discipline". Fourth chapter turns to printed media a the privileged role they are ascribed in the novels: The authors see literature as an embodiment of individuality and, at the same time, as a guarantee of tradition established by an...

A presente dissertação tem como objetivo estabelecer um diálogo entre três obras da literatura britânica do século XIX: o romance Frankenstein (1818), da autora Mary W. Shelley; a novela O Médico e o Monstro (1886), de autoria de Robert Louis Stevenson; e o romance A Ilha do Dr. Moreau (1896), de H. G. Wells. Tal comparação será feita com base nas convenções advindas dos gêneros Gótico e Ficção científica, presentes nas obras. Como principal alicerce teórico para a definição de gêneros entendem-se as considerações de Tzvetan Todorov, que defende que os gêneros são inevitáveis como horizonte de interpretação, além de serem entidades em constante mudança numa cadeia de influências através da qual novos gêneros são criados a partir de outros pré-existentes. O presente trabalho parte desse pressuposto para determinar de que maneira os gêneros Gótico e Ficção científica estão presentes nas obras, observando como os traços do Gótico, ao se adaptarem através do tempo, deram lugar a convenções ainda semelhantes, mas que já apontavam para o que posteriormente seria considerado um novo gênero literário. Primeiramente, são feitas considerações sobre conceitos de gênero textual/literário através do tempo, as quais mostram o quanto seu estudo permaneceu constante. A seguir são definidas certas convenções dos dois gêneros, assim como o modo como dialogam entre si. A segunda parte do trabalho analisa as duas primeiras obras em ordem cronológica, Frankenstein e O Médico e o Monstro, de maneira a perceber a predominância de convenções do Gótico – especialmente relacionadas ao conflito interior dos personagens, como o "duplo" – ao mesmo tempo que a emergência de temas da ciência, como os de criador/criatura e ambição científica. O último capítulo verifica como a primeira fase da Ficção científica de H. G. Wells em geral e A Ilha do Dr. Moreau em particular resgatam convenções dos dois gêneros supracitados, ao mesmo tempo servindo como consolidador das convenções do último. Conclui-se, portanto, que houve uma evolução que possibilitou a emergência de um novo gênero ligado ao contexto histórico das obras, o que legitima a consideração dos gêneros como entidades mais livres e não restritivas, que podem estar presentes em diversas obras ao mesmo tempo e ampliar seu horizonte de interpretação. / This thesis establishes a dialogue among three books from 19th century British literature: the novel Frankenstein (1818), by M. W. Shelley; the novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), by Robert Louis Stevenson; and the novel The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), by H. G. Wells. This comparison is made based on the specific Gothic and Science fiction conventions present in the books. The main theoretical support for the definition of genres employed here comes from Tzvetan Todorov. The author argues that genres are inevitable as horizons of interpretation, entities in constant change which tend to create new genres from pre-existent ones, in a chain of influences. This thesis considers this supposition to determine how Gothic and Science fiction make themselves present in the works analyzed, in a way that Gothic traits, being adapted through time, give way to similar but yet innovative conventions, which subsequently would be considered a new literary genre. Primarily, considerations concerning the concept of genres through history are made, all of which show how this study was kept constant. Hereafter, certain conventions regarding both genres are defined, as well as the manner they dialogue amongst themselves. The second part of the thesis is dedicated to the analysis of Frankenstein and Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and establishes the predominance of Gothic conventions – especially the ones related to the inner conflict of the characters, such as the "double" –, while considering the emergence of scientific themes, such as the creator/creature relationship and scientific ambition. The last section verifies how the first cycle of H. G. Wells' Science fiction in a broad sense, and The Island of Dr. Moreau in a strict sense, reemploy conventions of both genres, serving to consolidate the latter. Therefore, it is concluded that there was an evolution which enabled the emergence of a new genre, considering the historical contexts and the books analyzed. This consideration justifies genres as wide-ranging, non-restrictive entities, which may be present in various works simultaneously and broaden their horizon of interpretation.