Tracing a line from Lewis Carroll to 20th-century science fiction and cyberpunk, this project establishes an alternate genealogy based on the use of linguistic nonsense. Science fiction, rather than being merely a genre defined by specific narrative devices or character traits, is instead a language in and of itself. And like any language, it must be learned in order to be understood.
Carroll used nonsense as a means of subverting conventional 19th-century opinions of language and, and by extension, society. Carroll was so successful at this that in 1937 American psychiatrist Paul Schilder discussed the dangers to a child's mind inherent in Carroll's work. For Schilder, Carroll's writing, through the violence he commits on language, mirrors a physical violence found in the actions of the characters in Carroll's works. The linguistic violence that Schilder points out is subtle in Carroll's works, but is made more overt in science fiction. But before jumping into science fiction, one must acknowledge James Joyce's contribution to the genre. Joyce borrows heavily from Carroll in Finnegan's Wake while he adds to the English language a multiplicity of words, phrases, and voices from outside the English language, creating a complex linguistic matrix. It is Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange that merges Carroll's nonsense with Schilder's feared violence. As cyberpunk burst onto the scene in the 1980's, with William Gibson's Neuromancer, nonsense took on new levels as technology-driven language blended with multi-cultural phrases in the fluid environment of cyberspace. The fluid environment of cyberspace, and its language, is explored through the works of Pat Cadigan and through Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-07062007-110742 |
| Date | 10 July 2007 |
| Creators | Farrell, Jennifer Kelso |
| Contributors | James Stoner, Carl Freedman, Elsie Michie, Elisabeth Oliver, Robin Roberts |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-07062007-110742/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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