The (Short) Robot Chronicle (On the 20th Century Cultural History of Robots) Jana Horakova Department of Theatre and Interactive Media Studies, Masaryk University Gorkeho 7, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic [email protected] Abstract: The contribution is dedicated to the history of the word robot, notably to its meaning transformations during the 20th (and a beginning of the 21st) century. In order to show the vitality of Karel Capek’s concept of robot we will deal with fields of art, popular culture, science and engineering. We assert that vitality of Capek’s robot is a result of both, its ability to incorporate different connotations and representations (as a concept) and to provoke vide range of emotional reactions(as a physical object). Keywords: Robots, Robotics, History, Science Fiction, Art, Engineering I WHAT IS A ROBOT? man that are associated with and articulated by a concept of robot. The question in the title of this Asimov’s introductory definition of a paragraph is the same with which ´The robot is simple enough, and generally Robot Chronicles´1 by Isaac Asimov acceptable. A robot is, according to begins. He provides two answers, two him ‘an artificial object that resembles descriptions, referring to two cultural a man.’ (Asimov, 2003:191). This contexts – context of myths, mysticism definition traces a link between robots and art, and to the context of science and the long history of artificial fiction and scientific and technological creatures starting in the Ancient Greek development. In this contribution we (see Hephaestus’ golden handmaids), would like to indicate that if we want goes through medieval mystics’ to talk about a history of robots we are experimens (Homunculi and Golems), not able to reduce it only to one of the unique clockworks of the these contexts. It is just the Enlightenment (e.g. the androids by intersection or the interaction between Droz family or Vaucanson) and the fields and contexts of art, popular romantic Frankenstein´s monster culture, science, and technological (introduced by Mary Shelley in 1818). development in which circulates ideas In the second part of his robots’ and concepts of artificial life, super history Asimov describes a shift in machine, super man and mechanised understanding of robot that is possible th to trace from about half of the 20 1 century. He connects this shift with the Chapter in the book GOLD: The Final American science fiction context (see Science Fiction Collection (1995, EOS, e.g. production of magazines as 2003) Amazing Stories, Astounding Science his collection I, Robot. In PR of the Fiction, Super Science Stories – so movie was many times Asimov called pulp-fiction magazines). Since presented as an author of the word this time, the robot is understood not `robotic` but names of Karel and Josef anymore as a metaphor (of man and Capek as authors of the word robot technology relationship) but merely as was completely ignored. a machine, better to say as a We assert that, however, Capek’s technology of the future. understanding and interpretation of We can see as a certain turning point robot cannot be reduced into a short of the ´Robots Chronicles´ work by anecdotic definition (or mathematical Isaac Asimov, particularly some of his equitation) as it is possible in a case of short stories. The first one has been the Asimov’s robot, it is just this Robbie (1939-40), perhaps the most irreducible character of Capek’s robots famous one, the Runaround (1942), in that gives them a power to become a which he introduced the word robotics, conceptual source (wherever and presented his influential three laws knowingly or not) for scientists, artists, of robotics). These stories were and engineers of the 20th and 21st originally written in an opposition to century. Moreover, Capek’s robot is science fiction stories of these times in able to transform itself from image of which human and robots where the man oppressed by mechanical presented in an impassable opposition work in the beginning of the 20th and conflict. Asimov doesn’t share the century to the man powered by fearful attitude against robots. He technological prosthesis (the cyborg) wrote all his stories with an effort to of the beginning of the 21st century, overcome the bias against them, that and even to become a symbol of he calls the ‘Frankensteinian technology of post-humanism – an complex’. For Asimov the robot is not autonomous intelligent and emotional a symbol of hi-tech of the future in machine that is not anymore seen as an general but rather certain kind of alter ego of its creator but as a creature technology that he has defined by the yarning for its emancipation and statement: ‘robot = machine + respect for its ‘mechanic’ otherness. computer’. II ROBOT, THE WORD In a contrary to Asimov’s statement presented e.g. in his Robot Chronicles It is a generally known fact that an we would like to present Capek’s play author of the word robot was not Karel R.U.R., the Rossum’s Universal Robots Capek (1890-1938) but his brother and (1921) as a source of imagination of for many years close collaborator Josef human – machine relationship in a 20th (1887-1945). Karel Capek described as well as 21st century. From our point the birth of the word robot in an of view Asimov’s robots express only anecdotic way for the Lidove noviny one of many possible faces of robots’ newspaper (Dec. 24, 1933) re-presentations, however very It was like this: the idea for the play came powerful because of their convenience to said author in a single, unguarded for a broad public. (See movie I, Robot moment. And while it was still warm he (2004) which script was inspired by rushed immediately to his brother Josef, Asimov’s stories published in 1950 in the painter, who was standing before an easel and painting away at a canvas till it rustled. its origins in the old Czech word "Listen, Josef," the author began, "I think I ‘robota’ referring primarily to serfdom have an idea for a play." (robiti that means hard manually work, "What kind," the painter mumbled (he or to enslave somebody). really did mumble, because at the moment he was holding a brush in his mouth). The author told him as briefly as he could. "Then write it," the painter remarked, without taking the brush from his mouth or halting work on the canvas. The indifference was quite insulting. "But," the author said, "I don't know what to call these artificial workers. I could call them Labori, but that strikes me as a bit bookish." "Then call them Robots," the painter muttered, brush in mouth, and went on painting. And that's how it was. Thus was the word Robot born; let this acknowledge its true creator. Figure 1 In 2006 we celebrate the 85th A cartoon of Karel Capek by Josef Capek with a anniversary of the event when the date of official first night of R. U. R. on his chest, and the Robot Radius from an official first word robot was introduced to the night in National Theatre in Prague, January 25, public and put to use. Alike the word 1921 robot has in fact two authors, we can say that the play R.U.R. has two first In other words, we can say that Capek nights as well. The official one that sees his robot (a dramatic character) as took part in National Theatre in a tool restricted for robeni (for doing Prague, January 25, 1921, and the un- hard work in the English translation). official but historically the first one Important for appreciation of that was executed by group of theatre conceptual potential of the word robot amateurs called Klicpera in a is that an old Slavic basis of the word municipal house of town Hradec robot – ‘rob’ is present in words Kralove already at January 2, 1921. referring to living creatures as well: Since the first night of the play in the The old Czech word rab means slave, Prague National Theatre, the word robě means little child, a baby, but robot has penetrated to languages all originally not every child but pure around the world. It is understandable baby or orphan only, and roba means a that etymological2 roots of this woman or a girl. neologism were more or less ‘lost in We can conclude that connotations of translation’to different cultural and the word robot refer both to tool for language contexts. The word robot has hard manual work (robot as a technology, machine) and to human beings (robot as an intelligent or living 2 Etymological aspects of the word robot machine or an artificial man). This are presented according to information conceptual width makes possible to by V. Saur from the Silesian University express the metaphorical meaning at Opava, Czech Republic (provided to the author by J. Kelemen) given by an author to robots as traditionally private conflict between dramatic characters in the play R.U.R. the human master and the artificially created slaves made by him. III ROBOT, THE DRAMATIC According to Asimov, in R.U.R. play CHARACTER is this motif even enlarged from Let us see now how Karel Capek private to global conflict between describes robots in a list of characters humankind and robots, presented as a of the R.U.R. play: machines with a super-human power ‘In the Prologue the robots are that aspire to annihilate the whole dressed like people. Their movements mankind. and speech are laconic. Their faces are expressionless and their eyes fixed.