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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
771

Informationist Science Fiction Theory and Informationist Science Fiction

Long, Bruce Raymond January 2009 (has links)
Master of Philosophy (MPhil) / Informationist Science Fiction theory provides a way of analysing science fiction texts and narratives in order to demonstrate on an informational basis the uniqueness of science fiction proper as a mode of fiction writing. The theoretical framework presented can be applied to all types of written texts, including non-fictional texts. In "Informationist Science Fiction Theory and Informationist Science Fiction" the author applies the theoretical framework and its specific methods and principles to various contemporary science fiction works, including works by William Gibson, Neal Stephenson and Vernor Vinge. The theoretical framework introduces a new informational theoretic re-framing of existing science fiction literary theoretic posits such as Darko Suvin's novum, the mega-text as conceived of by Damien Broderick, and the work of Samuel R Delany in investigating the subjunctive mood in SF. An informational aesthetics of SF proper is established, and the influence of analytic philosophy - especially modal logic - is investigated. The materialist foundations of the metaphysical outlook of SF proper is investigated with a view to elucidating the importance of the relationship between scientific materialism and SF. SF is presented as The Fiction of Veridical, Counterfactual and Heterogeneous Information.
772

Informationist Science Fiction Theory and Informationist Science Fiction

Long, Bruce Raymond January 2009 (has links)
Master of Philosophy (MPhil) / Informationist Science Fiction theory provides a way of analysing science fiction texts and narratives in order to demonstrate on an informational basis the uniqueness of science fiction proper as a mode of fiction writing. The theoretical framework presented can be applied to all types of written texts, including non-fictional texts. In "Informationist Science Fiction Theory and Informationist Science Fiction" the author applies the theoretical framework and its specific methods and principles to various contemporary science fiction works, including works by William Gibson, Neal Stephenson and Vernor Vinge. The theoretical framework introduces a new informational theoretic re-framing of existing science fiction literary theoretic posits such as Darko Suvin's novum, the mega-text as conceived of by Damien Broderick, and the work of Samuel R Delany in investigating the subjunctive mood in SF. An informational aesthetics of SF proper is established, and the influence of analytic philosophy - especially modal logic - is investigated. The materialist foundations of the metaphysical outlook of SF proper is investigated with a view to elucidating the importance of the relationship between scientific materialism and SF. SF is presented as The Fiction of Veridical, Counterfactual and Heterogeneous Information.
773

Varför Ava-tar de på allt? : En kvalitativ analys av hur visualiseringen av händers interaktion påverkar hur åskådare upplever världen i filmen Avatar / Ava-Targeting Hands? : A Qualitative Analysis of How the Visualisation of Hand Interaction Affects the Viewers’ Perceptions of the World in the Movie Avatar

Campbell, Cassandra January 2023 (has links)
Denna uppsats är en fenomenologisk studie som utreder hur visualiseringen av händer påverkar hur filmbetraktare upplever världen i filmen Avatar.  Analysen utreder tre scener från Avatar, som visar händer som interagerar med föremål som är okända för både filmkaraktärens och betraktarens del. Undersökningen applicerar teorier inom fenomenologi, perception, kognitionsteorier, och science fiction som narrativ form, i syfte att utreda hur människor påverkas av att betrakta händers interaktion i ett filmsammanhang. Resultatet i analysen landar i att visualiseringen av händers interaktion kan ha flera olika effekter för hur filmåskådaren upplever scenerna som har utretts. Interaktionerna har bland annat en narrativ funktion då de förmedlar information om hur den fiktiva filmvärlden är uppbyggd, vilket i sin tur fångar åskådarens intresse och skapar spänning. Vidare styrker fenomenologiska teorier att interaktionerna kan trigga sensoriska upplevelser hos betraktaren i form av exempelvis taktila förnimmelser. Analysen landar även i att åskådare kan triggas till att vilja interagera med filmmiljön på egen hand, eftersom teorier inom kognition styrker att händers närvaro gör att vi tolkar omgivningen som interaktiv. Samtidigt påvisar även resultatet att upplevelser är svåra att mäta, och att våra tolkningar skiljer sig åt eftersom de formas av våra tidigare erfarenheter och intressen. Analysen avslutas med en kritisk reflektion kring resultatet och öppnar sedan upp för hur ovannämnda aspekter kan bana väg för forskning inom filmberättande, medicin, interaktionsdesign, UX-design, och visuell kommunikation, samt hur analysen i uppsatsen hade kunnat breddas till en större studie.     Denna uppsats inkluderar även en designdokumentation efter sida 44 vid namn ”Arg på vargen?”, som är en del av examensarbetet som denna uppsats ingick i vid programmet Visuell kommunikation på Malmö Universitet. ”Arg på vargen?” är en animerad teater som belyser varför vargar behövs i den svenska naturen. / This essay is a phenomenological study that explores how the visualisation of hands affects the viewer’s perception of the world in the movie Avatar. The essay analyses three scenes from Avatar, consisting of hands that interact with objects that are unknown to both the movie character and the viewer. The analysis applies theories within phenomenology, perception, cognition, and science fiction as a narrative form, as it aims to explore how viewers perceive the interaction of hands in the context of watching a movie. The results suggest that the visualisation of hands can have several outcomes, regarding how the viewer reacts while watching the scenes that were involved in this study. The interactions serve a narrative function, as they convey information about the construction of the fictional film world. This in turn, engages the viewer’s interest and creates anticipation. Theories within phenomenology support that viewers can experience sensory perceptions, such as tactile sensations, while watching the scenes. The analysis also concludes that viewers may wish to interact with the film world by using their own hands, as cognition theories support that the presence of hands in our field of vision, prompts us to interpret our surroundings as being interactive. The findings in this study also conclude that experiences are difficult to measure and interpret, since our perceptions are shaped by our previous experiences and interests. The essay closes with a critical reflection on the results and elaborates on how the findings can be applied to different research fields, such as film narration, medicine, interaction design, UX design, and visual communication, followed by how the analysis in this essay could be expanded into a larger study.
774

La ville de Rebus : polarités urbaines dans les romans d'Ian Rankin (1987-2007)

Dujarric, Florence 07 December 2013 (has links) (PDF)
La présente étude analyse les représentations de la ville dans la série policière d'Ian Rankin dont l'inspecteur John Rebus est le protagoniste. La polarité étant l'un des principes organisateurs de l'écriture rankinienne, notre analyse s'articule autour de plusieurs couples de notions antinomiques. Nous remettons d'abord en cause la légitimité de l'antinomie qui oppose la littérature à la " littérature de masse ", dans laquelle est souvent classé le roman policier. Cela nous conduit à redéfinir le roman policier, et mettre en perspective la série dans le contexte du monde littéraire et artistique écossais contemporain. Puis nous étudions l'articulation entre topographie réelle et lieu imaginaire dans l'Edimbourg de Rankin. Toute une géographie urbaine se dessine dans les romans ; l'arpentage incessant de l'espace par le protagoniste fournit l'occasion de références très spécifiques à la topographie et à la toponymie, et la sérialité tisse peu à peu un dense réseau de points nodaux ainsi qu'une multiplicité de trajets potentiels que nous avons représentés par des cartes fournies en annexe. Mais dans d'autres cas, l'espace se fait générique, se réfère plus à des conventions cinématographiques qu'à la carte de la ville. Nous envisageons enfin la ville d'Edimbourg comme un personnage ambivalent dans la lignée des personnages du roman gothique. La filiation gothique est perceptible dans l'esthétique de la ville, et la surface de la carte est compartimentée suivant un ensemble d'axes polarisants. Toutefois, cette carte se déploie elle-même par-dessus un double souterrain et non cartographiable d'Edimbourg, à la fois mémoire et inconscient de la ville.
775

Em busca da cultura espacial

Borges, Fabiane Morais 14 June 2013 (has links)
Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:38:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabiane Morais Borges.pdf: 3503545 bytes, checksum: 7297b721aeaa0cb975f5cbd2df5be8ad (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-06-14 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This thesis has arisen from the complex Internet networks intending to build up new Space paradigms based on practices of free software and hardware and open source systems, as they appeared, roughly, since the turn of the century. In order to examine these new paradigms, I consider prior processes connected to the Space Culture. The text goes back to the history of the Space Race; the first rockets, the first satellites, some tenets of the international politics that guided the cold war in the years after the Second World War. I bring up interesting elements of the Space programs both of the US and the USSR, as well as the main technicians and scientists behind the engineering of the rockets. The research dives in the rockets of Nazi Germany who first invested in the production of rockets, goes to communist Russia as well as to liberal post-war America. The thesis brings up ideas concerning Space utopias, science fiction in literature and cinema and engages with the difference between Space exploration taken up by humans and by robots. It examines the first rocket flights and the first artificial satellites placed in outer Space, paying attention to the particulars of each of those first endeavors, to their purpose and to how much they accomplished their mission. The thesis is therefore ready to question the importance of the Space Race to human imagination and to analyse the realm of Space dreams from the late 19th century up to now. The last part of the thesis is concerned with the groups that are building Space travels in an independent way, moved either by ideological or by commercial reasons. The investigation uncovers the ideas of each of those groups concerning Space exploration. It then goes on to think the relation between the makers of such exploration and a possible industrial revolution. Finally, the thesis raises some criticisms to the creative processes of individuals, groups, networks and social movements that are concerned with the outer Space / Essa tese surge a partir das complexas redes de internet voltadas à construção de novos paradigmas espaciais, baseadas em práticas de software e hardware livre e sistemas open source que surgiram, a grosso modo, a partir dos anos 2000. Mas para chegar nesse ponto foi preciso investigar processos anteriores em relação à Cultura Espacial. O texto retoma a história da Corrida Espacial, os primeiros foguetes, os primeiros satélites, a política que estava em voga durante os anos da Guerra Fria pós II Guerra Mundial. Ela tenta levantar os pontos de tensão dos programas espaciais da União Soviética e dos Estados Unidos, assim como dos principais técnicos que estavam por traz de toda a engenharia de foguetes. Vai mergulhar na Alemanha Nazista que foi a primeira a investir irrestritamente na produção de foguetes, passeia pela Russia comunista e o liberalismo americano. A tese traz à tona ideias sobre utopias espaciais, ficção científica na literatura e no cinema, e analisa a diferença entre exploração espacial humana e robótica. Traz tabelas dos primeiros vôos espaciais e os primeiros satélites levados ao Espaço, atentando para as particularidades de cada um deles, para que serviam e que fim levaram. Levanta questionamentos sobre a importância da Corrida Espacial para a imaginação humana e analisa o arco dos sonhos espaciais desde o final do século XIX até os dias atuais. O final da tese é dedicada aos grupos que estão retomando a questão das viagens espaciais de forma independente, sejam grupos ideológicos ou mais empresariais e as ideias de cada um a respeito da exploração espacial. Pensa a relação dos makers com uma possível revolução industrial e levanta algumas críticas aos processos criativos de indivíduos, grupos, redes e movimentos sociais que se dedicam ao espaço
776

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.
777

SCIENCE FICTION THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN BIOETHICS

Smart, Jasmine 12 December 2012 (has links)
Science fiction is particularly apt as bioethical thought experiment. In considering the theories of James R. Brown, John D. Norton and Marco Buzzoni, I suggest that mental-modeling theories afford the best explanation for what thought experiments can do. I propose a version of mental modeling that has the flexible modalities of experience found in Nancy J. Nersessian's account, combined with Nenad Miš?evi?'s compelling vision of how existing knowledge is used to create mental models, and Tamar Gendler's use of schemas to understand ethical thought experiments. Bioethics makes use of thought experiments' capacity to move from abstraction to discrete instances. Sometimes thought experiments will be better, and sometimes real cases will be unavailable. Given the cognitive advantages that access to mental models provides, thought experiments will be of use in the field of bioethics. To identify literature that is thought-experimental I look to Geordie McComb's family resemblance theory, and consider accounts of literary thought experiments by Noel Carroll and Edward Davenport. Extended narratives will in some cases be more useful for ethical understanding than philosophical thought experiments. Science fiction has this same advantage: as ethical narrative it is detailed and humanized. In addition the specula-tive nature of science fiction lends itself to the exploration of new and emerging sciences and technologies including those in the field of bioethics.
778

The attraction of sloppy nonsense: resolving cognitive estrangement in Stargate through the technologising of mythology

Whitelaw, Sandra January 2007 (has links)
The thesis consists of the novel, Stargate Atlantis: Exogenesis (Whitelaw and Christensen, 2006a) and an accompanying exegesis. The novel is a stand-alone tie-in novel based on the television series Stargate Atlantis (Wright and Glassner), a spin-off series of Stargate SG-1 (Wright and Cooper) derived from the movie Stargate (Devlin and Emmerich, 1994). Set towards the end of the second season, Stargate Atlantis: Exogenesis begins with the discovery of life pods containing the original builders of Atlantis, the Ancients. The mind of one of these Ancients, Ea, escapes the pod and possesses Dr. Carson Beckett. After learning what has transpired in the 10,000 years since her confinement, the traumatised Ea releases an exogenesis machine to destroy Atlantis. Ea dies, leaving Beckett with sufficient of her memories to reveal that a second machine, on the planet Polrusso, could counter the effects of the first device. When the Atlantis team travel to Polrusso, what they discover has staggering implications not only for the future of Atlantis but for all life in the Pegasus Galaxy. The exegesis argues that both science and science fiction narrate the dissolution of ontological structures, resulting in cognitive estrangement. Fallacy writers engage in the same process and use the same themes and tools as science fiction writers to resolve cognitive estrangement: they technologise mythology. Consequently, the distinction between fact and fiction, history and myth, is blurred. The exegesis discusses cognitive estrangement, mythology, the process of technologising mythology and its function as a novum that facilitates the resolution of cognitive estrangement in both fallacy and science fiction narratives. These concepts are then considered in three Stargate tie-in novels, with particular reference to the creative work, Stargate Atlantis: Exogenesis.
779

"A complex and delicate web" : a comparative study of selected speculative novels by Margaret Atwood, Ursula K. Le Guin, Doris Lessing and Marge Piercy

Glover, Jayne Ashleigh January 2008 (has links)
This thesis examines selected speculative novels by Margaret Atwood, Ursula K. Le Guin, Doris Lessing and Marge Piercy. It argues that a specifiable ecological ethic can be traced in their work – an ethic which is explored by them through the tensions between utopian and dystopian discourses. The first part of the thesis begins by theorising the concept of an ecological ethic of respect for the Other through current ecological philosophies, such as those developed by Val Plumwood. Thereafter, it contextualises the novels within the broader field of science fiction, and speculative fiction in particular, arguing that the shift from a critical utopian to a critical dystopian style evinces their changing treatment of this ecological ethic within their work. The remainder of the thesis is divided into two parts, each providing close readings of chosen novels in the light of this argument. Part Two provides a reading of Le Guin’s early Hainish novels, The Left Hand of Darkness, The Word for World is Forest and The Dispossessed, followed by an examination of Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time, Lessing’s The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five, and Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. The third, and final, part of the thesis consists of individual chapters analysing the later speculative novels of each author. Piercy’s He, She and It, Le Guin’s The Telling, and Atwood’s Oryx and Crake are all scrutinised, as are Lessing’s two recent ‘Ifrik’ novels. This thesis shows, then, that speculative fiction is able to realise through fiction many of the ideals of ecological thinkers. Furthermore, the increasing dystopianism of these novels reflects the greater urgency with which the problem of Othering needs to be addressed in the light of the present global ecological crisis.
780

Connections between the gothic and science fiction in Frankenstein, Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the island of Dr. Moreau

Pereira, Ismael Bernardo January 2018 (has links)
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.

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