Popular culture consists of the cultural patterns and expressions which are recognized and reflected by the society. Speculative fiction, which includes genres of speculation like science fiction, fantasy, horror, futuristic utopia/dystopia, alternative history and cyberpunk, is a staple of popular interest and consumption. In the wake of advanced breakthroughs in scientific innovations, the speculative explores the immense possibilities that technology has brought into our lives. As an integral part of popular culture, the speculative reflects on the values of society and draws from its common beliefs, shared values, fears and superstitions. Moreover, it is informed by the postmodern outlook which subverts the distinction between high and …show more content…
She grew up in Jamaica, Guyana, and Trinidad before moving to and settling in Toronto, Canada, in 1977. The evocative, often troubling, novels of Hopkinson explore far-reaching issues of race, gender relations, power hierarchies and the recovery of a genuine female voice free of the limitations imposed by the patriarchal society. Her narratives blend the elements of science fiction and fantasy with motifs of tricksterism and storytelling from Afro-Caribbean folklore. This hybrid nature of her works largely transforms them into vehicles of addressing cultural issues with depth, passionate intensity and complexity. She taps into the potential of speculative fiction to be “perverse and subversive and oppositional and revolutionary” which makes it “a wonderful literature for radical and marginalised communities” (Burwell 41). Hopkinson, as a part of the Afrofuturist mode of discourse, portrays digital futures hybridized with the cultural landscape of African diaspora. The peculiar situations based on technological advancement depicted in her narratives, craft unorthodox versions of societies where there is an intermingling of histories, languages, and
Essay: Science Fiction Dystopian Society Imagine a world full of technology to the extent where everyone becomes reliant on it, and due to its prevalence, technology is forced by the government to the general public. Societies like these are conveyed by the two well known authors, Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut. In Bradbury’s “Pedestrian” and “Fahrenheit 451,” most of the society is seemingly in a “bubble,” where the public is unable to think for themselves and develop a complete reliance on the technology around them. The very few minorities that are not completely occupied by technology, either is unaccepted by the government or is considered an abnormal individual in society. Likewise in Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron,” society’s way
In Fahrenheit 451 distraction and ignorance are hallmarks of the culture in which Montag lives. Montag’s culture encourages conformity and everyone acting in the same mindless ways. Self-expression is frowned deeply upon, and anyone who thinks for themselves is thought of as “weird” and “odd.” Mindless entertainment and thoughtless lifestyles are considered normal, and anyone who dares to think for themselves or question the status quo is deemed a threat to society, as they may cause others to face the difficult questions their society is protecting them from. Montag’s society is organized to snuff out personal thought and opinion, exactly the things Montag searches for to find answers to the very questions his society condemns.
Aldous Huxley utilises a variety of conventions of speculative fiction in Brave New World to provoke a response within the audience by incorporating them into the text along with his complex and descriptive style of writing. This is to make the audience react in different ways and think of certain ideas or messages as the story goes on. Huxley uses a variety of themes of speculative fiction to evoke a reaction within the viewers as they give them an overview of how the story will play out. The theme of technology and control makes the audience feel worried as having control over advanced and powerful technologies such as Bokanovsky's Process and special conditioning can be especially dangerous.
Emma Ettinger Professor Marafino Humanities 200 March 18, 2023 The Reality of Growing Technology in Society As it takes place at an unreported time in the prospective future, the novel Fahrenheit 451 is a broad representation of our future. Ray Bradbury uses technology as a warning to readers. Technology is an encouragement for people to sit down in front of a television, indulge in social media, and tune out the real world. This in turn causes society to miss out on interactions with others along with becoming isolated.
Here, Hurston conveys the idea of freedom and independence of African American women, a freedom which is often hindered by gender and race. At another point in the novel, Hurston states, "She felt the old thrill of touching the secret springs of life that made her feel the pull of unknown forces" (90, Chapter 10). This quote speaks to the idea of African American women having the power to control their own destiny, despite the restrictions imposed upon them by society and gender roles. Through these two quotes, Hurston provides a unique perspective on how gender and race can be used to limit people, but how individuals can still find freedom despite these restrictions and as long as they have faith in
#14 Anabelle Hicks Feb.13 Beta TKAM/ Scrappy Little Nobody Heroes of Literature Imagine an idyllic superhero. What superpower ability will they have?
A popular sub-genre commonly mentioned when one thinks of a dystopia is the ever so terrifying rogue technological future society that we one day might become. What is it that makes this idea so popular and so scary? It is the fear hidden within the unknown, the question of, what if we become too advanced. A trend can be seen within this genre, technology is created and it becomes so powerful that the citizens that use it become so obsessed that they become blind to what’s around them. Two prime examples of this are Minority Report and Fahrenheit 451, they share many similarities within the plot line as well as the characters and perhaps even the moral lessons that run at the heart of the stories.
In Small Island, Hortense is ridiculed in London by the host society for her aspirations despite being a Black woman. Hortense trained as a teacher in Jamaica and ‘was the talk of the college for several weeks.’ Hortense’s privileged upbringing is a reflection of her high hopes for England and the educational advantages she feels she will be entitled to in Britain. Although, Hortense is well-respected feelings of superiority often interject Hortense’s outlook on the opportunities available to her in Britain. Thus, she is alienated in the British educational system due to institutionalised racism and nowhere will hire her because she is black.
The effects of colonialism are intergenerational, this story exposes the raw feelings of victims of colonization and the internalization of racist ideologies that often occurs as a result of Caribbean history being wrongly painted. Conforming to the standards of society is often easier than bearing the challenges associated with being an outlier; however, conformity leads to resentment and hatred. Cynthia chooses to conform to society's standards of white supremacy, which results in her discarding her own body for the figure of a white woman. Unfortunately, Cynthia begins to form a deep hatred for herself and her culture which her parents and strangers are subjected to.
Octavia Butler is an Afrofuturist, science fiction author who writes many dystopian stories that allude to questions about gender, social structures, and an individual’s ability to control her body and sexuality. When people think of speculative and science fiction they tend to think of nerdy white men writing stories about space and light sabers, but Octavia Butler challenges this stereotype herself by being one of the few African American women in this genre. In Octavia Butler’s speculative fiction short story “Speech Sounds” there is a reversal of gender roles and a strong idea of feminism that is portrayed through the main character Rye. There is also the use of simile and metaphor to help point out flaws in the social structure of the story and the world of the reader.
In the novel, The Book of Negroes, Lawrence Hill writes a fictional account of an African woman’s struggle from enslavement to freedom. Hill researched the subject matter extensively, the book itself taking place during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries which includes historical events such as the American Revolution, the British military’s own Book of Negroes, as well as insights into one of the root causes of the American Civil War. The narrative begins with an elderly Aminata Diallo. She is a free woman in the city of London and sets about recalling her harrowing story. When Aminata was eleven years old, she was abducted from her village and forced to walk in a coffle for miles and miles to a slave ship.
A majority of the population thinks they want the traditional American dream the cliché of a picture-perfect life, dream job, and the beautiful home. What we truly long for is freedom from our government. Pop culture mirrors this through movies and media. Such as themes like the collapse of the government, the rebirth of the American dream, and end of the world scenarios. Pop culture reflects these fears that private and public entities will turn on our society.
In the story “Girl”, Jamaica Kincaid illustrates the talk given to a young Antiguan girl about what is expected of her in order to make a point about the cultural pressures and unfair social boundaries that come with being a girl in the Caribbean. The author plays with word choice and sentence structure in a way that makes this unconventional writing style enjoyable and metaphorically resonant. Though it is possible to read this prose as a mother talking directly to her daughter and the daughter interjecting, it is actually indicative of a larger conversation between a Caribbean society and its young women; this can be most clearly seen in the discussion of Benna, of plant, animal, and human life, of promiscuity, and of manners. Benna is a musical genre similar to calypso; its lyrics often discussed British political scandals and had lewd double meanings. The daughter is instructed not to sing it in church, because the songs are about sexuality, politics and open rebellion - however, this instruction has a much larger societal meaning.
The most significant theme in brave new world is the development in the economic system in the world state as well as how technology has brought the impact of these themes in social life of citizens. We can say that Brave New World is Huxley 's warning;
People are immersed in popular culture during most of our waking hours. It is on radio, television, and our computers when we access the Internet, in newspapers, on streets and highways in the form of advertisements and billboards, in movie theaters, at music concerts and sports events, in supermarkets and shopping malls, and at religious festivals and celebrations (Tatum,