Science Fiction Re-Visioned: Posthuman Gothic in Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams

In this essay, I analyse two episodes from the recent television series, Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams. I contend that, by adapting Philip K. Dick’s short stories from the 1950s for the screen, the creators of “Impossible Planet” and “The Commuter” offer an important new perspective from which to...

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Bibliographic Details
Author: Mitchell, Paul
Format: article
Publication Date:2023
Country:España
Institution:Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir
Repository:RIUCV. Repositorio de la Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir
Language:Spanish
OAI Identifier:oai:riucv.ucv.es:20.500.12466/4257
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12466/4257
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Posthuman
Gothic
Adaptation
Science fiction
Posthumano
Gótico
Adaptación
Ciencia ficción
6202 Teoría, Análisis y Crítica Literarias
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spelling Science Fiction Re-Visioned: Posthuman Gothic in Philip K. Dick’s Electric DreamsLa ciencia ficción revisada: el gótico posthumano en Philip K. Dick’s Electric DreamsMitchell, PaulPosthumanGothicAdaptationScience fictionPosthumanoGóticoAdaptaciónCiencia ficción6202 Teoría, Análisis y Crítica LiterariasIn this essay, I analyse two episodes from the recent television series, Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams. I contend that, by adapting Philip K. Dick’s short stories from the 1950s for the screen, the creators of “Impossible Planet” and “The Commuter” offer an important new perspective from which to appreciate the value of his early fiction, which is too often dismissed by critics as juvenilia. Moreover, by re-visioning Dick’s work as posthuman Gothic narratives, the episodes refract long-standing Gothic anxieties about alterity and (post)human existence through a lens that is more often associated with science fiction. This hybridization is instrumental to Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams’ interrogation of the paradigmatic binaries between life/death, interiority/exteriority and reality/virtuality. In my analysis, I use Rosi Braidotti’s theory of posthuman death, as well as Roger Luckhurst’s concept of Weird zones, to illuminate how Electric Dreams explores some of the existential issues that arise from human-technological imbrication.En este ensayo analizo dos episodios de la reciente serie de televisión Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams. Sostengo que, al adaptar los cuentos de Philip K. Dick de la década de 1950 para la pantalla, los creadores de “Impossible Planet” y “The Commuter” ofrecen una visión nueva e importante, a través de la cual podemos apreciar el valor de su primera ficción, que es a menudo descartada por los críticos como juvenil. Además, al revisar el trabajo de Dick en calidad de narraciones góticas poshumanas, los episodios reflejan prolongadas ansiedades góticas sobre la alteridad y la existencia (pos)humana a través de una visión que se asocia más frecuentemente con la ciencia ficción. Esta hibridación es fundamental para el cuestionamiento que Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams lleva a cabo de las dicotomías paradigmáticas entre vida/muerte, interioridad/exterioridad y realidad/virtualidad. En mi análisis utilizo la teoría de la muerte poshumana de Rosi Braidotti, así como el concepto de zonas extrañas de Roger Luckhurst, para aclarar el modo en que Electric Dreams explora algunos de los problemas existenciales que surgen de la imbricación humano-tecnológica.20242024-05-1620232023-06-0120232023-06-0120242024-05-02journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12466/4257reponame:RIUCV. Repositorio de la Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártirinstname:Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente MártirEspañolspaopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacionalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:riucv.ucv.es:20.500.12466/42572026-06-19T08:32:07Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Science Fiction Re-Visioned: Posthuman Gothic in Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams
La ciencia ficción revisada: el gótico posthumano en Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams
title Science Fiction Re-Visioned: Posthuman Gothic in Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams
spellingShingle Science Fiction Re-Visioned: Posthuman Gothic in Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams
Mitchell, Paul
Posthuman
Gothic
Adaptation
Science fiction
Posthumano
Gótico
Adaptación
Ciencia ficción
6202 Teoría, Análisis y Crítica Literarias
title_short Science Fiction Re-Visioned: Posthuman Gothic in Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams
title_full Science Fiction Re-Visioned: Posthuman Gothic in Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams
title_fullStr Science Fiction Re-Visioned: Posthuman Gothic in Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams
title_full_unstemmed Science Fiction Re-Visioned: Posthuman Gothic in Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams
title_sort Science Fiction Re-Visioned: Posthuman Gothic in Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Mitchell, Paul
author Mitchell, Paul
author_facet Mitchell, Paul
author_role author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Posthuman
Gothic
Adaptation
Science fiction
Posthumano
Gótico
Adaptación
Ciencia ficción
6202 Teoría, Análisis y Crítica Literarias
topic Posthuman
Gothic
Adaptation
Science fiction
Posthumano
Gótico
Adaptación
Ciencia ficción
6202 Teoría, Análisis y Crítica Literarias
description In this essay, I analyse two episodes from the recent television series, Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams. I contend that, by adapting Philip K. Dick’s short stories from the 1950s for the screen, the creators of “Impossible Planet” and “The Commuter” offer an important new perspective from which to appreciate the value of his early fiction, which is too often dismissed by critics as juvenilia. Moreover, by re-visioning Dick’s work as posthuman Gothic narratives, the episodes refract long-standing Gothic anxieties about alterity and (post)human existence through a lens that is more often associated with science fiction. This hybridization is instrumental to Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams’ interrogation of the paradigmatic binaries between life/death, interiority/exteriority and reality/virtuality. In my analysis, I use Rosi Braidotti’s theory of posthuman death, as well as Roger Luckhurst’s concept of Weird zones, to illuminate how Electric Dreams explores some of the existential issues that arise from human-technological imbrication.
publishDate 2023
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2023
2023-06-01
2023
2023-06-01
2024
2024-05-16
2024
2024-05-02
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12466/4257
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12466/4257
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Español
spa
language_invalid_str_mv Español
language spa
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:RIUCV. Repositorio de la Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir
instname:Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir
instname_str Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir
reponame_str RIUCV. Repositorio de la Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir
collection RIUCV. Repositorio de la Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,301629

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