Global ETD Search

71	Extinction, or the Extension of Life : Biology and History as Representation and Metaphor in Ted Chiang's "Seventy-Two Letters" Jonsson, Sofia January 2022 (has links) This paper explores Ted Chiang's novella "Seventy-Two Letters" and the way in which it combines genres, scientific and historical ideas in an effort to examine topics about life and creation. The combinations result in an intriguing representation of a history which is then made different and where Chiang can creatively challenge past ideas. Research by Foucault and Gillian Beer yielded insight into how historic and scientific concepts from biology in the nineteenth century became a culture's dominant understanding of life. Lakoff and Johnson argue that concepts are metaphorical in nature and Chiang skillfully incorporates metaphors to examine the creative force of language in the story. Darwin's theory of evolution is used as a conceptual framework and incorporated with older and outdated theories like preformation and recapitulation to speculate about how life can be created. The resulting effect is a layered and complex story that engages the readers' critical awareness of fictional and factual worlds alike. Ted Chiang Speculative Fiction History of Ideas Michel Foucault Gillian Beer Biology History Evolutionary Theory Preformation Literature Metaphor Representation Darwin Nineteenth Century History of Ideas Idé- och lärdomshistoria Specific Literatures Litteraturstudier General Literature Studies Litteraturvetenskap
72	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.
73	Mitchell's mandalas : mapping David Mitchell's textual universe Harris-Birtill, Rosemary January 2017 (has links) This study uses the Tibetan mandala, a Buddhist meditation aid and sacred artform, as a secular critical model by which to analyse the complete fictions of author David Mitchell. Discussing his novels, short stories and libretti, this study maps the author's fictions as an interconnected world-system whose re-evaluation of secular belief in galvanising compassionate ethical action is revealed by a critical comparison with the mandala's methods of world-building. Using the mandala as an interpretive tool to critique the author's Buddhist influences, this thesis reads the mandala as a metaphysical map, a fitting medium for mapping the author's ethical worldview. The introduction evaluates critical structures already suggested to describe the author's worlds, and introduces the mandala as an alternative which more fully addresses Mitchell's fictional terrain. Chapter I investigates the mandala's cartographic properties, mapping Mitchell's short stories as integral islandic narratives within his fictional world which, combined, re-evaluate the role of secular belief in galvanising positive ethical action. Chapter II discusses the Tibetan sand mandala in diaspora as a form of performance when created for unfamiliar audiences, reading its cross-cultural deployment in parallel with the regenerative approaches to tragedy in the author's libretti Wake and Sunken Garden. Chapter III identifies Mitchell's use of reincarnation as a form of non-linear temporality that advocates future-facing ethical action in the face of humanitarian crises, reading the reincarnated Marinus as a form of secular bodhisattva. Chapter IV deconstructs the mandala to address its theoretical limitations, identifying the panopticon as its sinister counterpart, and analysing its effects in number9dream. Chapter V shifts this study's use of the mandala from interpretive tool to emerging category, identifying the transferrable traits that form the emerging category of mandalic literature within other post-secular contemporary fictions, discussing works by Michael Ondaatje, Ali Smith, Yann Martel, Will Self, and Margaret Atwood.
74	Reimagining Movements: Towards a Queer Ecology and Trans/Black Feminism Benavente, Gabriel 30 March 2017 (has links) This thesis seeks to bridge feminist and environmental justice movements through the literature of black women writers. These writers create an archive that contribute towards the liberation of queer, black, and transgender peoples. In the novel Parable of the Talents, Octavia Butler constructs a world that highlights the pervasive effects of climate change. As climate change expedites poverty, Americans begin to blame others, such as queer people, for the destruction of their country. Butler depicts the dangers of fundamentalism as a response to climate change, highlighting an imperative for a movement that does not romanticize the environment as heteronormative, but a space where queers can flourish. Just as queer and environmental justice movements are codependent on one another, feminist movements cannot be separate from black and transgender liberation. This thesis will demonstrate how writers, such as Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, Angela Davis, and Janet Mock, help establish a feminism that resists the erasure of black and transgender people. ecocriticism contemporary literature speculative fiction science fiction queer theory feminism english octavia butler janet mock toni morrison audre lorde climate change environmental justice african american activism transgender parable of the talents queer ecology African American Studies American Literature American Politics American Studies Arts and Humanities Continental Philosophy Ecology and Evolutionary Biology English Language and Literature Environmental Studies Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Feminist Philosophy Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Religion

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