In Science Fiction, composers not only challenge traditional perspectives on humanity but also experiment with textual forms and features in response to different contexts. Evaluate this statement with reference to TWO prescribed texts AND texts of your own choosing.
Intro The science-fiction genre of the spectulative fiction Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, the cyberpunk novel Neuromancer by William Gibson and the blockbuster movie Children of Men directed by Marc Abraham, Eric Newman, Hilary Shor, Iain Smith and Tony Smith challenge our interpretation of traditional values and expectations for the future by e nacting an active encounter with the en vironment by means of posing options, alternatives and warnings. They connect present reality to the unverifiable past and the unpredictable u npredictable future, demonstrating demonstrating the established disorder of our present world and foreshadowing the possible implications for humanity if we continue with our present advancement of civilization. This educates and imparts reflexivity which in turn impacts on our world and our traditions, as Mikhail Bakhtin said everyone and everything is interrelated in an eternal process of exchange and transformation and thus the impact of science fiction through its experimentation with textual forms and features has th e ability to enlighten us to the ever present dangers of progress and impacts deeply on our sense of self, community and traditional values of our world. Language is never innocent. Text 1: Brave New World Brave New World (theme of advancement advancement of science as it affects individuals) -Context The futuristic dystopian novel Brave New World portrays a sarcastic view of th e advances of civilization. The novel evolved during the Great Depression, a time when the populace became more self aware due to advances in psychiatry and psychology. Huxley challenged traditional ideologies and expressed an alternate perspective on humanity by highlighting the flaws inherent within existing perspectives. This is represented through allusion when Mustapha Mond says Because our world is not the same as Othellos world. You cant make flivvers without steel and you cant make tragedies without social instability. The worlds stable now. People are hap py: they get what they want, and they never want what they cant get vividly contradicting with the present human behaviours expressed today and incorporating control of the psyche into the text. The Brave New World has accepted technological advances and luxury, pleasure and consumerism as the number one priority in place of freedom and integrity that societies have traditionally held as vitally important. Huxley foreshadows a technological world of bland conformity where all todays traditional values of family, love, sexual sexual morality, integrity and education are obsolete. obsolete.
The influence of Sigmund Freuds Oedipus complex is clearly seen i n Brave New World where family structure is deemed such a dangerous and powerful force that it has been eliminated from civilized life as far as possible.. Huxley warns humanity that since knowledge is power, h e who controls and uses knowledge wields the power. Cognitive estrangement is enacted through the scientific and technical language used such as embryo, decant and fertilizer as it dehumanizes our traditional methods of reproduction embedding dissonance in the reader and expressing the possible outcomes of misapplied technology. Verisimilitude is enacted through a sense of wonder wit h the obvious connection between the Brave New World of genetically engineered mass produced humans and our present day cloning of animals, the scientific advances in psychiatry, psychology and sociology such as Pavlovian conditioning, which is widely used today and this combined with the modern day soma of religion and drug induced holidays through alcohol/drugs that we use to cope with the physical and emotional demands of existence reveals our similarities in cultural conditioning embedding the idea that the Brave New World is but a step away. The changing perspective used in the text when John the savage is isolated due to his rejection of moral decadence and threat to individual freedom is revealed th rough anaphora when he states I dont want comfort, I want God, I want p oetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness, I want sin. This challenges the circumstantial values of the regime and reveals through foreshadowing that the power to control the environment gives absolute power over humanity and allows the knowledge through the composers use of contextual techniques and the challenging of traditional values to impart deep understanding of the impact of cultural conditioning and science/technological developments and thereby contributes to and influences greatly the shifting values of our world.
The relationship between science fiction and Darwin's The Origin of the Species long has been apparent. Neuromancer is
historically significant. Most critics agree that it was not only the first cyberpunk novel, it was and remains the best. Gibson's rich stew of allusion to contemporary technology set a new standard for SF prose. If his plots and characters are shallow and trite, that mattered little, for it is not the tale but the manner of its telling that stands out The opening image of the book, comparing nature to technology, sets the tone of the narrative. "Case," the name of the protagonist, could suggest detective fiction, or it could suggest technology. His body--which he treats as almost an alien entity with which he is not friendly terms--is a kind of case for his mind and for the cyberspace with which it fuses, no more significant in itself than the case of a computer CPU. universe was also one of hyperreality, in which models and codes determined t
alinking technology, identity and culture. bandoned the ³desert of the real´ for the ecstasies of hyperreality and a new realm of computer, media, and technological experience. .
Neuromancer (themes of greed, corporate power and cyberspace The cyberpunk novel Necromancer depicts a society where the environment is controlled by greed, corporate control and moral decadance. Darwins origin of the species has long been connected with science fiction due to characters being dealt with as if they were creatures as adaptable as the protoplasm from which they emerged. Darwins naturalist theory that if you change the environment life changes is parallel to that of the science fiction contexts which express the notion that environment is the controlling factor in futuristic development. Gibsons compelling novel reveals a new mythology and philosophical vision for the technological age by for eshadowing a futuristic urban landscape where society
has become a cybernetic urban jungle dominated by multinational corporations. Information has replaced money as the most valuable commodity, and the gap between the haves and the have-nots is a yawning abyss. It is a future whose moral decay is as prominent as its technological progress and is shown when Michelle states ³Where did you go tonight, Case? The girl picked up her pistol and rested it on her thigh, without actually pointing it at him. ³Jules erne, couple of bars, got high. How about you? The creation of a futu ristic dystopia that closely resembles the present exemplifies the process of encouraging self-reflection because it calls the trends of th e present into question by imagine what kind of future they will construct. Corporate control of the environment is all encompassing and expressed by Case when he metaphorically states he'd always imagined it as a gradual and willing accommodation of the
machine, the system, the parent organism. It was the root of street cool, too, the knowing posture that implied connection, invisible lines up to hidden levels of influence´ Gibsons future is simultaneously exciting and devasting as we move through cyberspace and evolve into new beings not imagined in our world b ut a vital component of artificial imagination and cyberculture. The tension between the se dialogues of oppositional ideas opens up a expansive space for the reader to process self reflection about the current technological trends. Neuromancer through contextual features and adaption of cultural ideologies enacts the ability of humanity to recognise the controlling aspect of the landscape. and choose a course other than that instilled by its environment.
CHILDREN OF MEN
CHILDLREN OF men is an epic science fiction film that infuses mythological overtones to express a cautionary tale of a d ystopian world where reproduction is now impossible and challenges our traditional cultural values of procreation and advancement of mankind. Philosopher Girogio Agamben stated it is possible to be physically alive but politically abandoned, and this is clearly the position that Kee wh o is pregnant and an illegal immigrant finds herself in the film, however she gains political protection through her fetus. Kees body is the battleground for the politics of migration and th e future of humanity. Mass hysteria and chaos has consumed most of the world while only Britain soldiers on. From the bowels of turmoil a socialist government h as arisen to rule this new society with all its deficiencies. Through allusion to messianism we see a miraculous fatherless pregnancy and the immanent birth of mankinds savior and the ensuing quest to deliver the pregnant immigrant to the hu man project who are dedicated scientists attempting to cure infertility against the agenda of the resistance group for immigrants in new Britain as well as the British government who might use the baby for their own use. The changing perspective of Theo the anti-hero creates verisimilitude by raising the stakes of action and questioning exactly what i s important to humanity. The depth of this profound revelation is evident when he rescues her from the bombed out building and chaos is halted with freedom fighters, refugees, and soldiers alike pausing to marvel at the miracle before them, offering hope and transcending the complications of actual politics.
Once again we are confronted with undeniable similarities between this futuristic landscape and present day cultural ideologies whereby countries refuse to accept immigrants and the uprising of political groups worldwide rebelling against Government policy is prolific. Children of Men employs a very different representation of violent spectacle and ventures beyond conventional entertainment moving into the realm of simulated reportage, and this profound extrapolating trajectory of mankinds future enacts deep contemplation and self reflexivity in effect shifting the very b oundaries of our cultural values and moralities.
. Science fiction connects our reality to the h yperreality of an imagined future by challenging our present day traditional values and demonstrating the possible consequences of the present trends of development. Brave New World, Neuromancer and Children of men express these issues i n different contexts and cultures whilst revealing the intricate connections between the texts of environmental control impacting on societal control and the future of mankind. These texts by challenging our traditional ideologies chart new ways that science and technology are impacting on human life creating new individuals and n ew technological environments that have the
capacity to endanger and enslave humanity. They express the notion of environments where humanities cognitive operations are suspended and controlled by the powers who control the technological environment. Crucially these texts illuminate the present through the analysis of future trends that are already manifest and explode boundaries between philosophy, social theory and media culture and disperse a dire warni ng for the next stage of human evolution.
