Publication details
Mimicking the Other : The Aftermath of First Contact in Mid-20th Century Science Fiction Novels
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Hypothetical encounters between humans and alien civilizations have been a hallmark of science fiction since the inception of the genre. However, the accompanying transformation of human society in these narratives has been largely neglected in critical analyses, especially by those that fit under the "cognitive" moniker. My paper will attempt to fill this gap, by comparing how the aftermath of first contact is treated in novels by the "Big Three" of mid-twentieth century science fiction - Clarke (Childhood's End), Asimov (The Gods Themselves), and Heinlein (Stranger in a Strange Land). The paper will argue that the upshot of first contact in these novels is always hyper sociality - for better or worse. In addition, their success hinges on the depiction of a post humanist perspective - focusing either on aliens or on "altered" humans. This perspective interferes with standard mechanisms of reader immersion reliant on evolved cognitive biases, but makes up for it by utilizing cultural (mainly Cold War related) anxieties, and the strategic placement of counterintuitive biases. |
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