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Introduction: Deconstructing The Starships
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‘Deconstructing The Starships’ references a speech originally given at the June 1988 presentation of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. The speech discusses science fiction’s penetration into popular culture and its inclusion in 20th century mainstream fiction. It also analyses the structure and methodology of a science fiction novel, looking at the characterisation, narrative and literary conventions used in order to develop an understanding of the requirements of a science fiction text. The chapter references Star Wars and Star Trek throughout, and uses the two franchises to associate the Starship Enterprise with US Navy nuclear submarines in the Cold War, thus mirroring science fiction with reality.
Title: Introduction: Deconstructing The Starships
Description:
‘Deconstructing The Starships’ references a speech originally given at the June 1988 presentation of the Arthur C.
Clarke Award, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts.
The speech discusses science fiction’s penetration into popular culture and its inclusion in 20th century mainstream fiction.
It also analyses the structure and methodology of a science fiction novel, looking at the characterisation, narrative and literary conventions used in order to develop an understanding of the requirements of a science fiction text.
The chapter references Star Wars and Star Trek throughout, and uses the two franchises to associate the Starship Enterprise with US Navy nuclear submarines in the Cold War, thus mirroring science fiction with reality.
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