The depiction of the hero in Soviet Russian scientific fantasy: Aspects of alienation in a peripheral genre
Year: 1974
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This dissertation is based on the assumption that speculative literature, specifically its Soviet Russian component, is not receiving the amount of critical attention which it deserves due to its popularity and growing literary quality. The introduction attempts to show some of the reasons for this situation and to indicate the type of alienated hero who is the subject of this study. The second and third chapters are devoted to the depiction of the conventional Soviet positive hero in scientific fantasy and his more unusual partner, who is here named the 'positive superhero'. They demonstrate how both characters fail to meet the requirements of a futuristic literature, although they must be regarded as superior to most heroes of Western science fiction. Most space and consideration is given to the fourth chapter, which deals with the central figure of the dissertation. The first two subchapters evaluate the position of the alienated man in the history of Soviet scientific fantasy and also refer to some pre-revolutionary examples. The third sub-chapter concentrates on writers of non-fantasy and their interest in the genre as a whole and the alienated hero in particular. In the fourth and last part of this chapter the protagonists of anti-utopias are considered and the possibilities of an anti-utopia directed against the Soviet system are weighed. The conclusion attempts to sum up the similarities between alienated heroes of scientific fantasy and 'mainstream' literature and to state the differences. It considers the political advantages that scientific fantasy, compared to other genres, gains through its fantastic devices, especially time-travel and resulting parachronism. Finally, it defines the position of the alienated man among his more conventional counterparts. A bibliography is given at the end.
Author: Rullkotter, Bernd
Institutions: Universität Hamburg, University of Glasgow
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2975538753