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Representations of Stephen Hawking in American Popular Culture, 1974-2004

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Representations of Stephen Hawking in American Popular Culture, 1974-2004 HAWKING CULTURAL ICONS: REPRESENTATIONS OF STEPHEN HAWKING IN AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE, 1974-2004 By JAMES MCCAIN A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2005 Copyright 2005 by James McCain TABLE OF CONTENTS page ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................... vi 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................1 2 HISTORIOGRAPHY: HAWKING AND HÉLÈNE MIALET ...................................7 Mialet and The Distributed-Centered Subject ..............................................................7 Critique of Mialet .......................................................................................................13 Ascetic .................................................................................................................14 Black Hole Metaphor ..........................................................................................16 Turing Test ..........................................................................................................18 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................19 3 HISTORIOGRAPHY: SCIENCE AND POPULAR CULTURE ..............................20 Mythologies.................................................................................................................21 Einstein as Myth and Muse.........................................................................................25 Selling Science............................................................................................................27 The DNA Mystique......................................................................................................28 From Faust to Strangelove .........................................................................................29 Nuclear Fear...............................................................................................................31 Frankenstein’s Footsteps............................................................................................32 Spectacular Nature .....................................................................................................32 Primate Visions...........................................................................................................33 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................33 4 EARLY FAME TO LEADING THEORIST, 1974-1988 ..........................................35 Early Taglines.............................................................................................................36 The 1980s....................................................................................................................38 Disability .............................................................................................................38 Leading Theorist, Successor to Einstein, Genius ................................................40 Hearsay and Attributed Sources .................................................................................41 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................42 iii 5 SCIENCE SUPERSTAR TO CULTURAL ICON, 1988-1999 .................................44 Baseline: Science Superstar........................................................................................44 “Roaming the Cosmos” .......................................................................................45 “The Mind in Pursuit of the Universe”................................................................46 “Reading God’s Mind”........................................................................................48 A Comparative Turn............................................................................................49 Taglines and Short Descriptions.................................................................................50 Famous ................................................................................................................51 Einstein................................................................................................................53 Genius..................................................................................................................55 Disembodied........................................................................................................55 Hero .....................................................................................................................56 Disabled...............................................................................................................58 A Brief History of Time’s Clarity................................................................................59 Quasi-Metaphors Galore.............................................................................................60 Hawking as a Cosmological Expert ....................................................................61 Hawking as a Standard of Intelligence................................................................62 Hawking as a Standard of Complexity................................................................62 First Appearances as a Fictional Character ................................................................63 Star Trek: The Next Generation ..........................................................................63 The Onion ............................................................................................................64 Dilbert..................................................................................................................67 Characterization as a Nobel Prize Winner...........................................................71 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................72 6 CULTURAL ICON, 1999-2004.................................................................................73 Changing Taglines......................................................................................................73 Famous ................................................................................................................73 Genius..................................................................................................................74 Simple Taglines...................................................................................................74 Miscellaneous Taglines .......................................................................................75 True Metaphorical Uses..............................................................................................77 Anti-Hagiography: Vanity Fair ..................................................................................78 Appearances as Fictional Characters..........................................................................81 The Simpsons.......................................................................................................81 Futurama .............................................................................................................86 MC Hawking .......................................................................................................90 Repeated Characterizations of Hawking in Fiction....................................................94 Hawking as an Authority.....................................................................................94 Hawking as the Personification of Knowledge/Intellect.....................................97 Hawking as Transcendent..................................................................................100 Humanizing Hawking........................................................................................101 Emphasizing Hawking’s Disability...................................................................102 Hawking as an Aggressive Figure.....................................................................103 iv 7 CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................105 8 EPILOGUE: LOOKING TO THE FUTURE...........................................................110 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................112 Primary Sources........................................................................................................112 Secondary Literature.................................................................................................122 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...........................................................................................125 v Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts HAWKING CULTURAL ICONS: REPRESENTATIONS OF STEPHEN HAWKING IN AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE, 1974-2004 By James McCain May 2005 Chair: Vassiliki Smocovitis Major Department: History The thesis examines representations of Stephen Hawking from 1974 to 2004. It argues that Hawking has reached “iconic status” and examines that process. It argues that the primary
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