scholarly journals Bowlers, ballads, bells, and blasters: Living history and fandom

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Soderstrom
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
Trade Secret ◽  
Living History ◽  
Social Activities ◽  
Fantasy Literature ◽  
Interest In Science ◽  
Historical Reenactment

In many people's lives the disposition to create community around historical interest or reenacted historical community practices, or even just entertainment in a mythic-history setting, intersects with a related and similar interest in science fiction/fantasy literature and participation on some level in the related fandoms and social activities of SF/F. The bowlers, ballads, bells, and blasters of my title come together not just in current steampunk scenes but also in the storied and genred lives of many reenactors and fans. Or, as a friend of mine suggested when discussing this essay, "historical reenactment is the trade secret to fandom."

UNFINISHED BUSINESS: REMEMBERING THE GREAT WAR BETWEEN TRUTH AND REENACTMENT

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 119-140
Author(s):  
Jay Winter
Keyword(s):  
Performing Arts ◽  
Living History ◽  
Great War ◽  
Historical Writing ◽  
Unfinished Business ◽  
Historical Experience ◽  
Historical Reenactment ◽  
The World ◽  
The Great War

AbstractThis paper analyses the phenomenon of historical reenactment of Great War battles as an effort to create what is termed ‘living history’. Thousands of people all over the world have participated in such reenactments, and their number increased significantly during the period surrounding the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War. Through a comparison with representations of war in historical writing, in museums and in the performing arts, I examine the claim of reenactors that they can enter into historical experience. I criticise this claim, and show how distant it is from those who do not claim to relive history but (more modestly) to represent it. In their search for ‘living history’, reenactors make two major errors. They strip war of its political content, and they sanitise and trivialise combat.

scholarly journals Moral psychology of sex robots: An experimental study − how pathogen disgust is associated with interhuman sex but not interandroid sex

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 233-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mika Koverola ◽  
Marianna Drosinou ◽  
Jussi Palomäki ◽  
Juho Halonen ◽  
Anton Kunnari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Sex Worker ◽  
Interest In Science ◽  
Sex Robots ◽  
Monogamous Relationship ◽  
Attitudes Toward Sex ◽  
First Time ◽  
And Robotics ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractThe idea of sex with robots seems to fascinate the general public, raising both enthusiasm and revulsion. We ran two experimental studies (Ns = 172 and 260) where we compared people’s reactions to variants of stories about a person visiting a bordello. Our results show that paying for the services of a sex robot is condemned less harshly than paying for the services of a human sex worker, especially if the payer is married. We have for the first time experimentally confirmed that people are somewhat unsure about whether using a sex robot while in a committed monogamous relationship should be considered as infidelity. We also shed light on the psychological factors influencing attitudes toward sex robots, including disgust sensitivity and interest in science fiction. Our results indicate that sex with a robot is indeed genuinely considered as sex, and a sex robot is genuinely seen as a robot; thus, we show that standard research methods on sexuality and robotics are also applicable in research on sex robotics.

The Walter Scott Experience

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Goode
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
American Civil War ◽  
Lost Cause ◽  
Living History ◽  
History Museum ◽  
Historical Reenactment ◽  
Colonial Williamsburg ◽  
Walter Scott ◽  
Living History Museum ◽  
Historical Fictions

Goode explores how Scott’s “potent historical fictions,” their “historically resigned but elegiac narrative of the Jacobite rebellions,” are deployed by Jefferson Davis, former President of the Southern Confederacy, to make sense of the “noble lost cause” of the American Civil War. For Goode, Scott’s own narrative “revivification” is best understood as an “ontological project of historical reenactment,” one that not only found resonance with apologists of the vanquished Confederacy but that is literalized in the long-running fantasy spectacle of the “living history museum” at “colonial” Williamsburg, Virginia.

Hannes Bok and the Lorelei

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan R. Eller
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Fairy Tales ◽  
Short Fiction ◽  
Religious Faith ◽  
Fantasy Literature ◽  
World War ◽  
Senior Year ◽  
The Universe

This chapter discusses Hans (later Hannes) Bok's influence on Ray Bradbury's short fiction “Lorelei,” which was inspired by a gift the latter received from the artist and writer: a tempura painting of a strange Bokian creature. In Los Angeles, Bradbury continued to write stories. In the middle of his senior year Bradbury met Bok at one of the meetings of Science Fiction League and was drawn to his tempura compositions. This chapter first looks at Bradbury's friendship with Hannes Bok and their shared fondness for fantasy literature and fairy tales before turning to “Lorelei,” a 10,000-word novella written in July 1938 that articulates Bradbury's fears that the coming World War would destroy him before he could become a writer. It also considers Bradbury's religious faith and experiences, along with his conviction that Man would eventually solve the riddle of the universe.

Journey to the Future

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Westfahl
Keyword(s):  
South Carolina ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Beat Generation ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Chance Discovery ◽  
Interest In Science ◽  
The Future

This chapter describes William Gibson's early years based on his autobiographical sketch, “Since 1948,” first posted to his blog on November 6, 2002. There, he relates the generally familiar story of how he was born in South Carolina and, as a child, frequently moved with his parents because of his father's various jobs. In these early years, the major influence on Gibson's life was television. This chapter first considers Gibson's childhood and adolescence before discussing how he discovered science fiction literature, which became his passion. It then considers the change in Gibson's perception of science fiction beginning in 1962, which he often attributes to his chance discovery of William S. Burroughs and, through him, other Beat Generation writers. It also looks at Gibson's publication of fanzines, his enthusiasm about Fritz Leiber, and how he developed an interest in science fiction poetry and later in nonfiction. Finally, the chapter documents the turbulent events of Gibson's first two decades of his life and notes that since the 1980s, his life has been remarkably uneventful.

scholarly journals Fantasia e ciência na Amazônia: O mundo perdido, de Arthur Conan Doyle

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto José Da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Fantasy Literature ◽  
Scientific Theories ◽  
New Novel ◽  
Arthur Conan Doyle ◽  
The Relationship

FANTASIA E CIÊNCIA NA AMAZÔNIA: O MUNDO PERDIDO, DE ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE   Resumo Em 1912 Arthur Conan Doyle publicou O mundo perdido, ingressando na ficção científica, a partir das pesquisas científicas realizadas pelos naturalistas, biólogos e zoólogos europeus que estiveram na Amazônia no século XIX. Nessa nova produção introduziu o Professor Challenger que se tornou personagem ícone de uma série de romances de ficção científicas que viriam a ser publicados a partir dessa obra. Maple White foi o nome dado à terra encontrada num platô na bacia Amazônica, onde habitavam seres pré-históricos e Arthur Conan Doyle recorreu como pressuposto para expor e discutir teorias científicas vigentes naquele momento como, por exemplo, a origem das espécies, de Charles Darwin. Desse modo, o objetivo desse trabalho é fazer um exame de O mundo Perdido à luz das descobertas científicas daquele momento, assim como estudar as relações entre ciência e ficção, tendo a Amazônia com cenário desse romance. Palavras-chave: Arthur Conan Doyle; ficção científica; Amazônia; literatura fantástica.         FANTAZY AND SCIENCE IN THE AMAZON: THE LOST WORLD, BY ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE Keywords In 1912 Arthur Conan Doyle published The Lost World, joining in the science fiction, from the scientific research conducted by Europeans naturalists, biologists and zoologists who went to Amazon in the nineteenth century. In this new novel Arthur Conan Doyle introduced Professor Challenger who became icon character of a series of scientific fiction novels that will be published from this work. Maple White was the name given to the land found on a plateau in the Amazon basin, where lived prehistoric beings and Arthur Conan Doyle appealed for granted to expose and discuss current scientific theories at that time, for example, the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. Thus, the aim of this study is to make an examination of The Lost World under the light of scientific findings that moment, and to study the relationship between science and fiction, been Amazon as scenary of this novel. Keywords: Arthur Conan Doyle; science fiction; Amazon; fantasy literature.            

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