Intermedial Forms of Humor in English Comic Songs
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The Meta-Trek: Metareference in the Star Trek TV Series Diplomarbeit zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades einer Magistra der Philosophie an der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz vorgelegt von Evelyne AUER am Institut für Anglistik Begutachter: O.Univ.-Prof. Mag.art. Dr.phil. Werner Wolf Graz, 2014 Acknowledgements Great gratitude I owe to my three Lieutenants whom I am proud to call my best friends: Silke Fraidl, Cecilia Servatius and Karin Kraus for their productive criticism, their academic expertise and above all mental support during our voyage. I am particularly thankful for the countless academic writing sessions (our “self-help” group), the extensive proofreading as well as the amazing leisure time filled with equally serious and humorous conversations and (non-holographic) activities. It has been a successful seven-year mission in which we boldly went where no student had gone before! Special thanks I have to express to crewman Erik Hartenfelser who is responsible for my personal discovery of Star Trek Voyager and, consequently, its metareferential potential. His skills in strategical procurement were instrumental. I am also indebted to Professor Wolf for thought-provoking conversations, his professional insights, patience and for providing (not only metareferential) inspiration. The Friday morning seminars were always enjoyed and looked forward to and will certainly be missed. Last, but not least, I would like to voice my deepest gratitude to my family, who gave me structural integrity and supported me in many ways during my studies. Live long and prosper. - Captain Evelyne Auer „There is nothing like Star Trek.” (Richards 1997: 1) “Star Trek is history; it is more than just good televisual entertainment.” (Geraghty 2007: 18) “The power of Star Trek is its ability to jump off the screen and say things to you which you maybe wouldn’t accept in a naturalistic drama.” (David Carson, director, cited in Geraghty 2007:23) “A deadline has a wonderful way of concentrating the mind.” (Professor Moriarty, fictional character in TNG 6.12 “Ship in a Bottle”) “[I]ndulging in fantasy keeps the mind creative.” (Garak, fictional character in DS9 4.9 “Our Man Bashir” Table of Contents 1. Introduction 001 2. Metareference as a Theoretical Framework 004 2.1 Typology of Reference on a Semiotic Basis 004 2.2 Metareference – Towards a Definition 005 2.3 Forms, Functions and Devices of Metareference 008 2.4 The Reality/Fiction Dichotomy as a Metareferential Theme 013 2.5 Metareference as a Transmedial Phenomenon 015 2.6 Television Analysis and Metareference 016 2.7 Analyzing Metareference in Television 017 2.8 Methodology 018 3. Metareference in Selected Star Trek Episodes 220 3.1 Discourse-transmitted Metareference 023 3.2 Story-transmitted Metareference 027 3.2.1 Metareference and the Reality/Fiction Dichotomy 027 3.2.1.1 The Holodeck 028 3.2.1.2 The Confusion of Reality and Fiction 034 3.2.1.3 The Dissolution of Reality and Fiction 068 3.2.1.4 Metareferential Genre Hybridity 079 3.2.2 Storyline Modification 083 3.2.2.1 The Circular Plot 084 3.2.2.2 The Plot Deletes the Story 090 3.2.2.3 Parallel Plots 097 3.2.2.4 Involuntary Time Travel and Reversed Causality 107 3.2.2.5 Voluntary Time Travel and Rewriting History 113 4. Star Trek in Context 126 4.1 Metareference in Star Trek – Themes, Forms, Functions 126 4.2 Star Trek and Genre 128 4.3 Popular Culture and Quality TV 129 5. Summary and Conclusion 131 6. Appendix 7. Sources 1) Introduction Metareference has become of increased academic interest in the last few years and is a phenomenon that is also known as ‘self-referentiality’ and ‘self-reflexivity’. However, all these terms refer to the same concept, namely the increase of awareness, in a recipient, of the consumption/reception of a medium, consuming/being addressed by some form of art, cultural product or semiotic system as a man-made representational artifact. (cf. Wolf 2009:25) Introduced first and foremost in the field of literary analysis, metareference has proven useful in, and applicable to, other media as well. Wolf (2009) declared it a transmedial phenomenon, calling for more research across media, the consequence of which was the application of the concept to the analysis of film, drama, poetry and most recently even music and television. Although not new – indeed the concept has a rather long history, as it appears in Shakespeare’s and Cervantes’s works, for instance, – the amount of metareference appears to have increased in cultural products and medial representations especially during (and after) the post-modern era. Wolf (2011) even speaks of a ‘metareferential turn’, which – judging by the prominence of a variety of metareferential forms in films, television series and even children’s books – can in fact be easily traced. It has long since dawned on scholars that the concept is not only a feature of what might be termed “high culture” representations, but also common practice in mass media and (products of) popular culture. Two recent examples supporting these findings are the dissertations by Erwin Feyersinger and Jeff Thoss1 on a special form of metareference, i.e. metalepsis. At this point, it is crucial to note that the decisive factor for the amount and nature of metareferential elements featured in a semiotic system are not only the quality of the product or the intended (educated) audience. Rather, the issue appears to have certain contemporary momentum. Metareference has become so wide-spread that nowadays it can be encountered, to varying degrees, in virtually any medium and any genre, as is the case with television and science fiction, and – most importantly for this thesis – science fiction television. 1 Thoss, Jeff . Metalepsis i Coteporar Popular Fitio, Fil ad Cois. Diss. U of Graz. Feersiger, Eri . Metalepsis i Aiatio. Diss. U of Isruk. 1 As I will argue, the Star Trek series present one example of science fiction television that contains various meta-referential elements. Commonly perceived a (or perhaps the) ‘classical’ science fiction franchise, the various series of Star Trek – from The Original Series to The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager – are marked by a high potential for metareferential elements, which are either of minor importance, if they occur solely in a comparatively small part of an episode, or contribute largely to an episode. In some cases, as will be shown in the subsequent analysis, whole episodes are centered on a single metareferential issue and its consequences for the established fictional world of the characters. Since Star Trek has been the most popular science fiction franchise of all times and is considered the best-known of science fiction television series, there is a vast amount of (secondary) literature on almost any topic imaginable, including, for instance, scientific explanations and descriptions of the technology depicted in the series, detailed guides to the fictional world with all its inhabitants, as well as more serious scholarly fields of interest, such as the cultural implications and ideological beliefs represented in the series. However, there is little on the analysis of recurring themes, plot structures and on metareference. The present thesis aims at filling this gap, based on the hypothesis that the Star Trek TV series have a wide range of metareferential forms and functions with various effects. This leads, due to a lack of research conducted in this specific area, to the following research questions; 1) What forms of metareference can be encountered in the various Star Trek television series (particularly in the very successful new series The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager)? 2) How do these forms manifest themselves in the selected episodes (particularly on story, characters and discourse)? 3) What are the functions and effects of those metareferential forms in each episode as well as in the context of the respective series? 4) From a diachronic perspective, is there a change in quantity and/ or quality with regard to metareference in the series and if so, what is the effect of and what may be the reason for that development? 5) What are the major themes connected to or types of metareference in the series? 6) What are the implications with regard to genre, popular culture, and franchise as well as media development? 2 In order to obtain answers to these questions, I will make use of Wolf’s transmedial concept of metareference, which will be briefly explained in the following theoretical chapter, before analyzing selected relevant episodes of the new Star Trek series The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager in the subsequent chapters. The thesis is an attempt to contribute to current research and should therefore be seen in the light of the afore-mentioned ‘metareferential turn’. By providing a diachronic overview of the development throughout the various series in chapter 4, potentially new insights into genre development and at least in the evolution of the franchise might be gained. Moreover, it may offer another perspective on Star Trek’s popularity and success as well as its relatively low reputation among the majority of scholars due to its categorization as popular culture (often of allegedly low quality), as also dealt with in chapter 4. Last, but not least, the conclusion will provide a short summary of the findings as well as address further research suggestions. 3 2) Metareference as a Theoretical Framework As already indicated in the introduction, metareference will be used in the present thesis as the conceptual framework for the analysis of the Star Trek television series. Since metareference is a special form of reference, it is essential to look at the various types of reference first, so that the context and classification of the concept are comprehensible before adapting it to the medium of television.