This thesis investigates not so much the engineer as a character in fiction but the writer of fiction, the novelist, as a person who can have surprising insights into engineering principles without formal study or training in engineering. The engineer has featured in fiction novels significantly in the last century. The engineer as a protagonist in the novel on many occasions has been created by an author who is not an engineer. The same comment could well be made regarding the writers of science fiction who indeed are not necessarily scientists but write credibly about scientific inventions, usually set in the future. This thesis argues that there is a distinction between writing science fiction and writing about engineering, although the two are often combined in the one novel. This thesis distinguishes science fiction (Sci-Fi) from what is described as En-Fi or engineering fiction. Engineering fiction or En-Fi is based upon real life engineering feats, if one accepts that the definition of engineering is the “application” of science and technology. The specific hypothesis of this thesis is that credible engineering fiction (En- Fi) can be constructed by non-engineer trained authors. To support this hypothesis there is both a review of novels with the engineer as a central character and an examination of novels where engineering concepts used in developing a storyline are outlined in detail. Indeed, to support the above hypothesis a supplementary “En-Fi” novel has been created. This novel, titled, “Amber Reins Fall”, is used as the central device in addition to the literature review to prove that a writer untrained in engineering can write an En-Fi novel that has a high degree of credibility in engineering terms. The construction of this engineering fiction (En-Fi) novel is carried out in detail outlining the various engineering devices used to strengthen the storyline. Examples of engineering such as a light engineering factory of the 1950’s, operational aspects of the Panama Canal and the disposal of nuclear waste in the Australian desert are included in the novel. Three other novels by the author (of this thesis) are included as part of the argument supporting the hypothesis. They also demonstrate the combination of En-Fi and Sci-Fi. In the first novel “Greenwars” (d’ettut 1998) the overriding engineering component is AARDVARK (accelerated animal reasoning, decision making, voicing and reflective kinetics); the interactive voting video and dolphin scooters. The second novel “Pie Square” (d’ettut 2000) has as the major engineering component the interactive video games. The third novel, “Vampire Cities” (d’ettut 2000) has as the major engineering component a conductor’s baton (although this might be construed as science fiction). Two of the actual novels, “Greenwars” and “Pie Square” have been appended as part of the thesis presentation. They both deal with the central character “Adam Teforp”, also featured in “Amber Reins Fall”. “Vampire Cities” has not been appended as this critical character is not part of that novel. The literature review and the construction of ����Amber Reins Fall���� point to the validity of the hypothesis; that is that non-engineers can write convincing engineering orientated novels. Its also asserted that there is sufficient evidence to recognize a genre called En-Fi, different from the science fiction genre. / Master of Engineering (Hons.)

In this thesis I argue that science fiction is not a genre exclusively made up of written texts but a community or series of communities. I examine the science fiction community's engagement with questions of femeninity, masculinity, sex and sexuality over the past seventy years, that is from 1926 until 1996. My examination of this engagement is centred on the battle of the sexes, the lives of James Tiptree, Jr. and the Award named in Tiptree's honour. I make connections between contemporary feminist science fiction and the earliest pulp science fiction engagements with sex and sexuality.

<p>Science Fiction har sedan sin uppkomst gestaltat samhället och de samhällsfrågor som för sin tid är aktuella. Alltifrån ifall människans existens är kroppslig eller andlig, till vad som händer när livsformer från andra planeter kommer till Jorden, har diskuteras i Science Fiction. I tv-serien Battlestar Galactica gestaltas och problematiseras vår samtid. Genom att flytta mänskligheten från Jorden och ut i rymden, där de konfronteras med en mängd etiska och moraliska frågor – tvingade att se över vad de själva är och vad de håller på att bli. Undersökningen avser att besvara frågor kring hur BG gestaltar människan och hennes förhållande till etik, moral, politik och religion.</p>

<p>Titel: Genusframställningen i Star Trek – en utopi eller dystopi</p><p>Författare: Gustav Ekholm och Torbjörn Karlsson</p><p>Handledare: Malin Nilsson</p><p>Examinator: Veronica Stoehrel</p><p>Typ av arbete: C-uppsats i Medie och Kommunikationsvetenskap, 10p HT-06</p><p>Plats: Högskolan i Halmstad</p><p>Syfte: Uppsatsen syfte är att fastställa huruvida åtta olika avsnitt ur tv-serien Star Trek belyser genusfrågor och utmanar avsnitten i så fall de rådande genusdiskurserna.</p><p>Metod: Den här uppsatsen fokuserar på åtta Star Trek avsnitt som producerades mellan 1960-talet och 2000-talet.</p><p> Metoden för analysen är en kritisk diskursanalys med utgång från Norman Fairclougs diskurskritiska modell.</p><p>Resultat: Uppsatsens slutsats är att Star Trek-serierna berör genusfrågor i olika utsträckning beroende på vilket årtal avsnitten är från. Det konstateras också att viktiga genusämnen, likt homosexualitet, tas upp men beroende på olika omständigheter saknas ofta ett djup i framställningen.</p><p>Nyckelord: Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, science fiction, genus, diskurs, diskursanalys, textanalys, makt, tv-serier, dominansförhållanden.</p>

Titel:Genusframställningen i Star Trek – en utopi eller dystopi Författare:Gustav Ekholm och Torbjörn Karlsson Handledare:Malin Nilsson Examinator:Veronica Stoehrel Typ av arbete:C-uppsats i Medie och Kommunikationsvetenskap, 10p HT-06 Plats:Högskolan i Halmstad Syfte:Uppsatsen syfte är att fastställa huruvida åtta olika avsnitt ur tv-serien Star Trek belyser genusfrågor och utmanar avsnitten i så fall de rådande genusdiskurserna. Metod:Den här uppsatsen fokuserar på åtta Star Trek avsnitt som producerades mellan 1960-talet och 2000-talet. Metoden för analysen är en kritisk diskursanalys med utgång från Norman Fairclougs diskurskritiska modell. Resultat:Uppsatsens slutsats är att Star Trek-serierna berör genusfrågor i olika utsträckning beroende på vilket årtal avsnitten är från. Det konstateras också att viktiga genusämnen, likt homosexualitet, tas upp men beroende på olika omständigheter saknas ofta ett djup i framställningen. Nyckelord:Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, science fiction, genus, diskurs, diskursanalys, textanalys, makt, tv-serier, dominansförhållanden.

Speculative fiction is a genre that is gaining urgency in the contemporary Canadian literary scene as authors and readers become increasingly concerned with what it means to live in a nation implicated in globalization. This genre is useful because with it, authors can extrapolate from the present to explore what some of the long-term effects of globalization might be. This thesis specifically considers the long-term effects of globalization on communities, a theme that speculative fictions return to frequently. The selected speculative fictions engage with current theory on globalization and community in their explorations of how globalization might affect the types of communities that can be enacted. This thesis argues that these texts demonstrate how Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri’s notion of “cooperative autonomy” can be uniquely cultivated in the conditions of globalization – despite the fact that those conditions are characterized by the fragmentation of traditional forms of community (Empire 392).

Cette thèse porte sur la reconstitution imaginaire de l’histoire et de la société dans la science-fiction (SF) uchronienne et utopienne du Canada français et du Québec. À partir d’un survol de la poétique des genres dont il est question et d’un panorama historique de leur production globale et locale, ainsi que de l’approfondissement de l’exploitation particulière des notions d’idéologie et d’altérité dont ces œuvres font preuve, nous proposons une lecture allégorique du phénomène culturel d’après une étude de cas de la SF canadienne-française et québécoise (SFCFQ) contemporaine : La Suite du temps (1983/2004-2008), une trilogie romanesque de Daniel Sernine. Bien que les littératures de SF nationales aient progressivement fait place à une littérature mondiale régie par des codes qui déterminent leur appartenance à une poétique spécifique, l’allégorie nationale se réalise de façon récurrente : est mise en œuvre une configuration dominante dans laquelle sont présentés des modèles mondiaux comme systèmes alternatifs, qui, tout en étant éloignés ou distanciés, évoquent inéluctablement le paysage, la langue, les mœurs et les valeurs des milieux culturels dans le cadre desquels les œuvres paraissent. Au delà d’une possibilité théorique de lecture, il y a des preuves empiriques de ce phénomène, surtout dans le cadre des sous-genres de l’utopie, de l’uchronie et de l’anticipation, où abondent des visions de soi et de la « nation » altérées qui sont inextricablement déterminées par le lieu de leur production. Nous cherchons à mettre en valeur cet aspect de la SF à partir d’un survol des récits précurseurs de la SFCFQ contemporaine et d’une analyse approfondie d’une de ses œuvres charnières. Cette analyse comprendra deux lectures allégoriques, l’une au niveau régional, l’autre à l’échelle globale. Ainsi, nous espérons démontrer en quoi la SFCFQ s’inscrit dans la poétique de la SF dans son ensemble tout en constituant sa propre innovation critique ou « Novum », ce qui lui permet de se distinguer en tant que courant particulier.

Dana, the Black female protagonist in Octavia Butler’s novel Kindred (1979), finds herself literally and figuratively in medias res as she sporadically travels between her present day life in 1976 and her ancestral plantation of 1815 – two time periods that represent two converse concepts of her identity as a Black woman. As a result, her time travel experiences cause her to revise her racial and gendered identity from a historically fragmented Black woman, who defines herself solely on her contemporary experiences, to a Black woman who defines herself based on her present life and her personal and ancestral history of experiencing and overcoming racial and gendered oppression. Using Black feminist theory scholarship, this thesis examines Dana’s movement out of in medias res, through temporal double-consciousness, into a historically integrated identity or interstitial consciousness.

With shows such as Big Bang Theory and the increased mainstreaming of San Diego Comic-con, now more than ever before, it is acceptable to be a “nerd”. The question now becomes what efforts are being made to appeal to fans of color in traditional “nerd” activities, specifically comic books (this can include television shows and movies based on comic book characters), anime, and science fiction. Throughout the decades, there have been various attempts to have a discourse about the lack of diversity in nerd culture, both among its creators and characters from various properties considered beloved to nerds. Only, at the time of this writing, in recent years does there seem to be an increase among fans of color discussing these issues in the world at large, and not just in their own social group(s). This research will discover how minority fans feel about representation, or lack thereof, in the three above fandom. It will examine how minority fans feel about specific instants involving race and ethnicity in fandom from the past year. What I have discovered is that, issues of race are not discussed among the majority of fans and creators. Occasionally, when such issues are discussed there is an amount of hostility from white fans.

This thesis explores how science fiction and fantasy retellings of the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" bring visionary insights to the fairy tale. Stories such as Tanith Lee's science fiction novella "Beauty" and Mercedes Lackey's fantasy novel The Fire Rose constitute living and developing incarnations of "Beauty and the Beast." To better explore the visionary leaps made by these stories, they are placed in contrast with one of the original recordings of the story by Madame Marie Le Prince de Beaumont and the 1991 Disney film version, Beauty and the Beast.