Author: Dustin A. Abnet
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022669271X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
Although they entered the world as pure science fiction, robots are now very much a fact of everyday life. Whether a space-age cyborg, a chess-playing automaton, or simply the smartphone in our pocket, robots have long been a symbol of the fraught and fearful relationship between ourselves and our creations. Though we tend to think of them as products of twentieth-century technology—the word “robot” itself dates to only 1921—as a concept, they have colored US society and culture for far longer, as Dustin A. Abnet shows to dazzling effect in The American Robot. In tracing the history of the idea of robots in US culture, Abnet draws on intellectual history, religion, literature, film, and television. He explores how robots and their many kin have not only conceptually connected but literally embodied some of the most critical questions in modern culture. He also investigates how the discourse around robots has reinforced social and economic inequalities, as well as fantasies of mass domination—chilling thoughts that the recent increase in job automation has done little to quell. The American Robot argues that the deep history of robots has abetted both the literal replacement of humans by machines and the figurative transformation of humans into machines, connecting advances in technology and capitalism to individual and societal change. Look beneath the fears that fracture our society, Abnet tells us, and you’re likely to find a robot lurking there.
The American Robot
Author: Dustin A. Abnet
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022669271X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
Although they entered the world as pure science fiction, robots are now very much a fact of everyday life. Whether a space-age cyborg, a chess-playing automaton, or simply the smartphone in our pocket, robots have long been a symbol of the fraught and fearful relationship between ourselves and our creations. Though we tend to think of them as products of twentieth-century technology—the word “robot” itself dates to only 1921—as a concept, they have colored US society and culture for far longer, as Dustin A. Abnet shows to dazzling effect in The American Robot. In tracing the history of the idea of robots in US culture, Abnet draws on intellectual history, religion, literature, film, and television. He explores how robots and their many kin have not only conceptually connected but literally embodied some of the most critical questions in modern culture. He also investigates how the discourse around robots has reinforced social and economic inequalities, as well as fantasies of mass domination—chilling thoughts that the recent increase in job automation has done little to quell. The American Robot argues that the deep history of robots has abetted both the literal replacement of humans by machines and the figurative transformation of humans into machines, connecting advances in technology and capitalism to individual and societal change. Look beneath the fears that fracture our society, Abnet tells us, and you’re likely to find a robot lurking there.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022669271X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
Although they entered the world as pure science fiction, robots are now very much a fact of everyday life. Whether a space-age cyborg, a chess-playing automaton, or simply the smartphone in our pocket, robots have long been a symbol of the fraught and fearful relationship between ourselves and our creations. Though we tend to think of them as products of twentieth-century technology—the word “robot” itself dates to only 1921—as a concept, they have colored US society and culture for far longer, as Dustin A. Abnet shows to dazzling effect in The American Robot. In tracing the history of the idea of robots in US culture, Abnet draws on intellectual history, religion, literature, film, and television. He explores how robots and their many kin have not only conceptually connected but literally embodied some of the most critical questions in modern culture. He also investigates how the discourse around robots has reinforced social and economic inequalities, as well as fantasies of mass domination—chilling thoughts that the recent increase in job automation has done little to quell. The American Robot argues that the deep history of robots has abetted both the literal replacement of humans by machines and the figurative transformation of humans into machines, connecting advances in technology and capitalism to individual and societal change. Look beneath the fears that fracture our society, Abnet tells us, and you’re likely to find a robot lurking there.
Robots in American Popular Culture
Author: Steve Carper
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476635056
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 302
Book Description
They are invincible warriors of steel, silky-skinned enticers, stealers of jobs and lovable goofball sidekicks. Legions of robots and androids star in the dream factories of Hollywood and leer on pulp magazine covers, instantly recognizable icons of American popular culture. For two centuries, we have been told tales of encounters with creatures stronger, faster and smarter than ourselves, making us wonder who would win in a battle between machine and human. This book examines society's introduction to robots and androids such as Robby and Rosie, Elektro and Sparko, Data, WALL-E, C-3PO and the Terminator, particularly before and after World War II when the power of technology exploded. Learn how robots evolved with the times and then eventually caught up with and surpassed them.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476635056
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 302
Book Description
They are invincible warriors of steel, silky-skinned enticers, stealers of jobs and lovable goofball sidekicks. Legions of robots and androids star in the dream factories of Hollywood and leer on pulp magazine covers, instantly recognizable icons of American popular culture. For two centuries, we have been told tales of encounters with creatures stronger, faster and smarter than ourselves, making us wonder who would win in a battle between machine and human. This book examines society's introduction to robots and androids such as Robby and Rosie, Elektro and Sparko, Data, WALL-E, C-3PO and the Terminator, particularly before and after World War II when the power of technology exploded. Learn how robots evolved with the times and then eventually caught up with and surpassed them.
The Science Fiction Book
Author: Franz Rottensteiner
Publisher: New York : Seabury Press
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 168
Book Description
Discusses the history of science fiction, including Frankenstein, Mr. Hyde, Dr. Moreau, Mars stories, dime novels and pulp heroes, Cyrano de Bergerac, Hugo Gernsback, Tsiolkovsky, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Abraham Merritt, robots, E.E. "Doc" Smith, H.P. Lovecraft, John W. Campbell Jr., Jules Verne, Olaf Stapledon, C.S. Lewis, H.G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, hollow earth stories, Arthur Conan Doyle, anti-utopian fiction, Albert Robida, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert A. Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Hannes Bok, Buck Rogers, Superman, television science fiction, aliens, science fiction in the Soviet Union, France, Japan, Italy, Spain, Rumania, and Germany, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Stanislaw Lem, science fiction fandom, the Nebula Awards and the Hugo Awards.
Publisher: New York : Seabury Press
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 168
Book Description
Discusses the history of science fiction, including Frankenstein, Mr. Hyde, Dr. Moreau, Mars stories, dime novels and pulp heroes, Cyrano de Bergerac, Hugo Gernsback, Tsiolkovsky, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Abraham Merritt, robots, E.E. "Doc" Smith, H.P. Lovecraft, John W. Campbell Jr., Jules Verne, Olaf Stapledon, C.S. Lewis, H.G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, hollow earth stories, Arthur Conan Doyle, anti-utopian fiction, Albert Robida, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert A. Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Hannes Bok, Buck Rogers, Superman, television science fiction, aliens, science fiction in the Soviet Union, France, Japan, Italy, Spain, Rumania, and Germany, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Stanislaw Lem, science fiction fandom, the Nebula Awards and the Hugo Awards.
Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns
Author: Paul Green
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476662576
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
From automatons to zombies, many elements of fantasy and science fiction have been cross-pollinated with the Western movie genre. In its second edition, this encyclopedia of the Weird Western includes many new entries covering film, television, animation, novels, pulp fiction, short stories, comic books, graphic novels and video and role-playing games. Categories include Weird, Weird Menace, Science Fiction, Space, Steampunk and Romance Westerns.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476662576
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
From automatons to zombies, many elements of fantasy and science fiction have been cross-pollinated with the Western movie genre. In its second edition, this encyclopedia of the Weird Western includes many new entries covering film, television, animation, novels, pulp fiction, short stories, comic books, graphic novels and video and role-playing games. Categories include Weird, Weird Menace, Science Fiction, Space, Steampunk and Romance Westerns.
Science Fiction from Wells to Heinlein
Author: Leon E. Stover
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
Wells's most self-conscious descendant is Robert Heinlein, whose rapid rise to fame during the magazine era made him "the dean of American SF." He so succeeded in winning literary recognition for the genre that it all but vanished into the mainstream, save for a lingering identity in classified paperbacks and in television programming.".
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
Wells's most self-conscious descendant is Robert Heinlein, whose rapid rise to fame during the magazine era made him "the dean of American SF." He so succeeded in winning literary recognition for the genre that it all but vanished into the mainstream, save for a lingering identity in classified paperbacks and in television programming.".
The Frank Reade Library
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Adventure stories, American
Languages : en
Pages : 392
Book Description
SUMMARY: A 10-volume collection of "dime novels" originally published from 1892 to 1898 featuring Frank Reade, Jr., a young inventor of scientific machines whose adventures take him all over the world.
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Adventure stories, American
Languages : en
Pages : 392
Book Description
SUMMARY: A 10-volume collection of "dime novels" originally published from 1892 to 1898 featuring Frank Reade, Jr., a young inventor of scientific machines whose adventures take him all over the world.
The Huge Hunter; Or, The Steam Man of the Prairies
Author: Edward Sylvester Ellis
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 3387067232
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 149
Book Description
Reproduction of the original. The publishing house Megali specialises in reproducing historical works in large print to make reading easier for people with impaired vision.
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 3387067232
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 149
Book Description
Reproduction of the original. The publishing house Megali specialises in reproducing historical works in large print to make reading easier for people with impaired vision.
Horseless Carriage Gazette
The Bulb Horn
Pilgrims Through Space and Time
Author: James Osler Bailey
Publisher: Westport, Conn : Greenwood Press
ISBN:
Category : Comparative literature
Languages : en
Pages : 360
Book Description
Publisher: Westport, Conn : Greenwood Press
ISBN:
Category : Comparative literature
Languages : en
Pages : 360
Book Description