DOCSLIB.ORG

Shattered Realities: a Baudrillardian Reading of Philip K. Dick's Ubik

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Shattered Realities: a Baudrillardian Reading of Philip K. Dick's Ubik Shattered Realities: A Baudrillardian Reading of Philip K. Dick‟s Ubik [PP: 107-116] Hoda Shabrang Department of English Language and Literature, Khatam University Tehran, Iran Yasamin Hemmat (Corresponding Author) Department of English Language and Literature, Khatam University Tehran, Iran ABSTRACT Ubik by Philip K. Dick shows a hyperreal society in which everything is simulated and virtual and even the demarcation between life and death is indistinct. Therefore, the world of Ubik depicts the violation of the ontological boundary. Characters in this novel live in a simulated and virtual life of the half-life which is the symbol of the ordinary situation of people in the actual life since media and proliferation of signs and information construct a new media reality which is even more real than real or “hyperreal”. Although characters are in search of reality and a transcendental signified in order to maintain their identity, they are unable to achieve what they are searching for and they do not know whether they are undergoing the real or a simulation. Thus, they crave to fix the reality and their identities through the marketplace. Consequently, they purchase a product named Ubik which is a reality support, but the effect of this product is very transient; therefore, they have to keep buying it. The philosophical guide for the purpose of looking into Dick‟s novel is Jean Baudrillard‟s concepts of simulation, simulacra and hyperreality. The objective of this paper is to examine the commodified and simulated world of Ubik based on Baudrillard‟s theories to show that in the techno-capitalist world there is no objective truth since everything is reduced to signs and images and subject is dominated by the object; therefore, subjectivity is disappearing. Hence, in Ubik, it would be demonstrated that technology, proliferation of information and capitalism lead to disruption of all boundaries and generate the society of simulated realities. Keywords: Simulation, Hyperreality, Consumerism, Technology, Transcendental signified ARTICLE The paper received on Reviewed on Accepted after revisions on INFO 16/05/2019 25/06/2019 07/07/2019 Suggested citation: Shabrang, H. & Hemmat, Y. (2019). Shattered Realities: A Baudrillardian Reading of Philip K. Dick‟s Ubik. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies. 7(2). 107-116. 1. Introduction way to confirm whether it is truly there. This Philip Kindred Dick (1928-1982) is an question from his early studies persisted as a American novelist, short story writer and theme in many of his novels such as Ubik. essayist whose published works are entirely One of the reasons for choosing in the science fiction genre. Dick explores Dick‟s novels is that they are open to sociological, political and metaphysical different interpretations. Accordingly, themes in his novels dominated by Dick‟s works have been scrutinized from authoritarian governments. In his later different viewpoints, for example, in Politics works, Dick's thematic focus strongly and Metaphysics in Three Novels of Philip reflected his personal interest in metaphysics Dick by Eugênia Barthelmess examines and theology. He often draws upon his own Ubik through metaphysical perspective. This life experiences in addressing the nature of work also investigates existential anguish drug abuse, paranoia, schizophrenia, and and economic satire as a method of transcendental experiences. Through his representation of the complex contingencies studies in philosophy, Dick believes that of the human situation. Additionally, Worlds existence is based on internal human and selves falling apart by Mag Markus perception, which does not necessarily Widmer discusses the science fictions of correspond to external reality. After reading Philip K. Dick Such as Ubik against the the works of Plato and pondering the background of postmodernism. She possibilities of metaphysical realms, Dick examines the ontological experiments and comes to conclusion that, in a certain sense, compares them to the reality of postmodern the world is not entirely real and there is no culture. In addition, Christopher Palmer in International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies (www.eltsjournal.org) ISSN:2308-5460 Volume: 07 Issue: 02 April-June, 2019 Philip K. Dick: Exhilaration and Terror of overwhelmed by commodities which are the Postmodern, studies the fictions of Philip even more alive than human beings. K. Dick and their relationship to Baudrillard (2009) proclaims “the postmodernism. In this context it scrutinizes disappearance of the subject is the mirror several tensions in Dick's work; especially image of disappearance of the real. And in those between novelistic realism and Dick's fact the subject_ the subject as agency of desire towards fantasy and between the will, of freedom, of representation; the isolated individual and the social or subject of power, of knowledge, of history_ transcend entities that dominate Dick's is disappearing, but it leaves its ghost fictional worlds, between the political and behind” (p. 26-27). Therefore, this novel the theological inferences of Dick's science shows a postmodern society where in the fictions, and, above all, between Dick's world of the objects, the subject is humanist and ethical desires and the disappearing. posthumanist conditions in his novels that In Ubik, characters are searching for unavoidably threaten them. Furthermore, in objective reality but they are unable to find a How We Became Posthuman, N. Katherine definite answer to what reality is since in a Hayles separates hype from fact, world where the lines between nature, investigating the outcome of embodiment in technology, life and death are blurred, it is an information age. Hayles relates three impossible for one to ascertain the intertwined stories: how information lost its difference between reality and illusion. body, that is, how it came to be Christopher Palmer (2003) declares that conceptualized as an entity separate from the “Dick makes fictions of the disintegrations material forms that carry it; the cultural and of the real in contemporary society: the technological construction of the cyborg; action of perpetual change both on what and the dismantling of the liberal humanist previously existed, and on what is existing "subject" in cybernetic discourse, along with now but has no stable reality because it is the emergence of the "posthuman." already marked by its inevitable dissolution” Moreover, Mark Poster in Information (p. 32). This indicates that even in the world Please: Culture and Politics in the Age of we live in, reality can be questioned. Digital Machines, theorizing the social and Ubik also shows that in capitalist cultural effects of electronically mediated world, everything becomes commodified. information. In his book, Poster shows a “Ubik”, a spray can, becomes the symbol of new relation of humans to information all commodities on the market. Most machines, a relation that avoids privileging important thing in the novel is the endless either the human or the machine but instead bombardment of advertisement through the focuses on the structures of their television and radio. Throughout the novel, interactions. One of the chapters of this book each chapter is started by an advertisement is allotted to Ubik which is shown the for a multiplicity of products all called Ubik, dominance of broadcast media in consumer an instant coffee, a brand of beer, an culture. Brian Aldis (1979) in This World antiperspirant and other numerous product. and Nearer Ones asserts that, Dickian Therefore, it becomes the sign of all characters find themselves trapped in merchandises on the market. As stated by hallucinations or fake worlds, often without Baudrillard (1994), “today what we are knowing it or, if knowing it, without being experiencing is the absorption of all virtual able to do anything about it. And it is not modes of expression into that of advertising” only worlds that are fake, but also objects, (p. 87). Thus, this novel shows how subjects animals, people may also be unreal in are dominated by the system of objects; “the various ways. As Warrick (1983) states, for subject faces a world of objects which Philip K. Dick, “the clear line between attract, fascinate and sometimes control his hallucination and reality has itself become a or her perception, thought and behavior” kind of hallucination” (p. 205). Ubik by (Kellner, 1989, p. 8). Philip Dick is such a novel that concerns Ubik describes a condition where with the idea of reality against illusion. psionic powers - such as precognition and Throughout the novel, question about what prognostication - invade privacy. Glen is real and what is illusion engrosses the Runciter runs a company consists of characters. Like so many of Dick‟s novels, “inertials"_ individuals who can counteract Ubik focuses on the reality problem. Neither psionic powers. He takes a group of ten the characters nor the audiences are able to inertials to Luna; there, he is drastically find out any final comprehensive meaning. injured in an explosion. After the explosion, The world of Ubik is completely they find out they have been entered a world Cite this article as: Shabrang, H. & Hemmat, Y. (2019). Shattered Realities: A Baudrillardian Reading of Philip K. Dick‟s Ubik. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies. 7(2). 107-116. Page | 108 Shattered Realities: A Baudrillardian Reading of Philip K. Dick‟s Ubik … Hoda Shabrang & Yasamin Hemmat which is being regressed. The surviving representation but also carries the sense of a inertials experience a series of strange counterfeit, sham or fake. Simulacrum events: things such as food and cigarettes go seems to have referents (real phenomena stale, and machines transform into earlier they refer to), but they are merely pretend models. Some of the inertials die and their representations that mark the absence, not bodies quickly decay. The regression of their the existence, of the objects they purport to environment from 1992 to 1939 is the fault represent” (p. 1730). Baudrillard has of Jory, a teenage boy who feeds on the life established theory of media effects and of the others, causing them to decay.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Politics and Metaphysics in Three Novels of Philip K. Dick
    EUGÊNIA BARTHELMESS Politics and Metaphysics in Three Novels of Philip K. Dick Dissertação apresentada ao Curso de Pós- Graduação em Letras, Área de Concentra- ção Literaturas de Língua Inglesa, do Setor de Ciências Humanas, Letras e Artes da Universidade Federai do Paraná, como requisito parcial à obtenção do grau de Mestre. Orientadora: Prof.3 Dr.a BRUNILDA REICHMAN LEMOS CURITIBA 19 8 7 OF PHILIP K. DICK ERRATA FOR READ p -;2011 '6:€h|j'column iinesllll^^is'iiearly jfifties (e'jarly i fx|fties') fifties); Jl ' 1 p,.2Ò 6th' column line 16 space race space race (late fifties) p . 33 line 13 1889 1899 i -,;r „ i i ii 31 p .38 line 4 reel."31 reel • p.41 line 21 ninteenth nineteenth p .6 4 line 6 acien ce science p .6 9 line 6 tear tears p. 70 line 21 ' miliion million p .72 line 5 innocence experience p.93 line 24 ROBINSON Robinson p. 9 3 line 26 Robinson ROBINSON! :; 1 i ;.!'M l1 ! ! t i " i î : '1 I fi ' ! • 1 p .9 3 line 27 as deliberate as a deliberate jf ! •! : ji ' i' ! p .96 lin;e , 5! . 1 from form ! ! 1' ' p. 96 line 8 male dis tory maledictory I p .115 line 27 cookedly crookedly / f1 • ' ' p.151 line 32 why this is ' why is this I 1; - . p.151 line 33 Because it'll Because (....) it'll p.189 line 15 mourmtain mountain 1 | p .225 line 13 crete create p.232 line 27 Massachusetts, 1960. Massachusetts, M. I. T.
    [Show full text]
  • Panel About Philip K. Dick
    Science Fiction Book Club Interview with Andrew M. Butler and David Hyde July 2018 Andrew M. Butler is a British academic who teaches film, media and cultural studies at Canterbury Christ Church University. His thesis paper for his PhD was titled “Ontology and ethics in the writings of Philip K. Dick.” He has also published “The Pocket essential Philip K. Dick”. He is a former editor of Vector, the Critical Journal of the British Science Fiction Association and was membership secretary of the Science Fiction Foundation. He is a former Arthur C. Clarke Award judge and is now a member of the Serendip Foundation which administers the award. David Hyde, a.k.a. Lord Running Clam, joined the Philip K. Dick Society in 1985 and contributed to its newsletter. When the PKDS was discontinued, he created For Dickheads Only in 1993, a zine that was active until 1997. Since then, his activities include many contributions to and editorial work for the fanzine PKD OTAKU. His book, PINK BEAM: A Philip K. Dick Companion, is a detailed publication history of PKD's novels and short stories. In 2010, David organized the 21st century's first Philip K. Dick Festival in Black Hawk, Colorado. Recently, in partnership with Henri Wintz at Wide Books, he has published two full-color bibliographies of the novels and short stories of Philip K. Dick. In early 2019 Wide Books will publish the French bibliography. On the 35th anniversary of Phil’s passing in 2017 David held a memorial celebration for PKD fans in Ft. Morgan, Colorado, the final resting place of Phil and his twin sister Jane.
    [Show full text]
  • Sf Commentary 76
    SF COMMENTARY 76 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION October 2000 THE UNRELENTING GAZE GEORGE TURNER’S NON-FICTION: A SELECTION SF COMMENTARY No. 76 THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OCTOBER 2000 THE UNRELENTING GAZE GEORGE TURNER’S NON-FICTION: A SELECTION COVER GRAPHICS Ditmar (Dick Jenssen) Introductions 3 GEORGE TURNER: THE UNRELENTING GAZE Bruce Gillespie 4 GEORGE TURNER: CRITIC AND NOVELIST John Foyster 6 NOT TAKING IT ALL TOO SERIOUSLY: THE PROFESSION OF SCIENCE FICTION No. 27 12 SOME UNRECEIVED WISDOM Famous First Words 16 THE DOUBLE STANDARD: THE SHORT LOOK, AND THE LONG HARD LOOK 20 ON WRITING ABOUT SCIENCE FICTION 25 The Reviews 31 GOLDEN AGE, PAPER AGE or, WHERE DID ALL THE CLASSICS GO? 34 JOHN W. CAMPBELL: WRITER, EDITOR, LEGEND 38 BACK TO THE CACTUS: THE CURRENT SCENE, 1970 George and Australian Science Fiction 45 SCIENCE FICTION IN AUSTRALIA: A SURVEY 1892–1980 George’s Favourite SF Writers URSULA K. LE GUIN: 56 PARADIGM AND PATTERN: FORM AND MEANING IN ‘THE DISPOSSESSED’ 64 FROM PARIS TO ANARRES: ‘The Wind’s Twelve Quarters’ THOMAS M. DISCH: 67 TOMORROW IS STILL WITH US: ‘334’ 70 THE BEST SHORT STORIES OF THOMAS M. DISCH GENE WOLFE: 71 TRAPS: ‘The Fifth Head of Cerberus’ 73 THE REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PRESENT: ‘Peace’ George Disagrees . 76 FREDERIK POHL AS A CREATOR OF FUTURE SOCIETIES 85 PHILIP K. DICK: BRILLIANCE, SLAPDASH AND SLIPSHOD: ‘Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said’ 89 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: ‘New Dimensions I’ 93 PLUMBERS OF THE COSMOS: THE AUSSIECON DEBATE Peter Nicholls and George Turner George and the Community of Writers 100 A MURMURATION OF STARLING OR AN EXALTATION OF LARK?: 1977 Monash Writers’ Workshop Illustrations by Chris Johnston 107 GLIMPSES OF THE GREAT: SEACON (WORLD CONVENTION, BRIGHTON) AND GLASGOW, 1979 George Tells A Bit About Himself 111 HOME SWEET HOME: HOW I MET MELBA 114 JUDITH BUCKRICH IN CONVERSATION WITH GEORGE TURNER: The Last Interview 2 SF COMMENTARY, No.
    [Show full text]
  • Aron Dunlap & Joshua Ramey1
    THE MYSTICAL TEXT SOPHIA WITHIN, WITHOUT SOPHIA, WHITHER SOPHIA: THE LONGING OF PHILIP K. DICK Aron Dunlap & Joshua Ramey1 “Tired of lazy tastebuds?” Runciter said in his familiar gravelly voice. “Has boiled cabbage taken over your world no matter how many dimes you put into your stove? Ubik changes all that; Ubik wakes up food flavor, puts hearty taste back where it belongs, and restores fine food smell . One invisible puff-puff whisk of economically priced Ubik banishes compulsive obsessive fears that the entire world is turning into clotted milk, worn-out tape recorders and obsolete iron-cage elevators, plus other, further, as-yet- unglimpsed manifestations of decay. You see, world deterioration of this regressive type is a normal experience of many half-lifers, especially in the early stages when ties to the real reality are still very strong. A sort of lingering universe is retained as a residual charge, experienced as a pseudo environment but highly unstable and unsupported by any ergic substructure. This is particularly true when several memory systems are fused, as in the case of you people. But with today’s new, more-powerful-than-ever Ubik, all this is changed!” 2i 1 In the following text, Arabic numerals refer to our commentarial footnotes and Roman numerals refer to the bibliographic endnotes. 2 Where are we? Whither Sophia? Characters do not find themselves, in the novels of Philip K. Dick, at the level of a reality that can be accepted as real, but are constantly attempting to attain to that real, to follow an Ariadne’s thread back to something that could be counted on not to lie.
    [Show full text]
  • English Unit 2 the Academic Notebook
    SREB Readiness Courses Transitioning to college and careers Literacy Ready English Unit 2 The Academic Notebook Name 1 The Academic Notebook Literacy Ready . English Unit 2 Unit 2 Table of Contents Course Overview ................................................................................................2 Purposes of the Academic Notebook ................................................................2 Lesson 1: Ubiquitous Computing and Avatars: A Gateway ...............................4 Lesson 2: Identity: Ubik Chapters One to Four ...............................................10 Lesson 3: Consumerism: Ubik Chapters Five through Eight ...........................63 Lesson 4: Humanity: Ubik Chapters Nine through 12 .....................................99 Lesson 5: Concluding and Resolving the Novel ............................................132 Lesson 6: Writing a Literary Argument ...........................................................140 1 The Academic Notebook Literacy Ready . English Unit 2 Course Overview Welcome to the second English literacy unit of the SREB Readiness Course- Literacy Ready. What does English literacy mean? English literacy is based on an understanding that texts—both literary and informational—provide a terrain for interrogating the meanings of human experiences and that literary texts are open to dialogue between and among readers and texts. When reading texts and writing about them in English classes, both in high school and in college, students should be able to • decipher rhetorical strategies and patterns, • make inferences from details, • analyze how an author’s choices contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact, • draw on prior knowledge to construct interpretations, • use the text to reflect on the human condition or the reader’s life, • collect evidence for interpretations, and • present the interpretation and evidence in a literary argument. In this course, you will take part in several activities aimed at improving your literacy, specifically as literacy is used in English.
    [Show full text]
  • Media, Drugs, and Schizophrenia in the Works of Philip K. Dick Author(S): Anthony Enns Source: Science Fiction Studies, Vol
    SF-TH Inc Media, Drugs, and Schizophrenia in the Works of Philip K. Dick Author(s): Anthony Enns Source: Science Fiction Studies, Vol. 33, No. 1, Technoculture and Science Fiction (Mar., 2006), pp. 68-88 Published by: SF-TH Inc Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4241409 Accessed: 12/12/2010 18:23 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=sfth. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. SF-TH Inc is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Science Fiction Studies. http://www.jstor.org 68 SCIENCE FICTION STUDIES, VOLUME 33 (2006) Anthony Enns Media, Drugs, and Schizophrenia in the Works of Philip K.
    [Show full text]
  • NEW GNOSTIC GOSPELS by Amanda
    NEW GNOSTIC GOSPELS by Amanda B. Stevens April, 2013 Director of Thesis/Dissertation: Dr. Donald Palumbo Major Department: English Science Fiction writer Philip K. Dick’s quest for God becomes a binding theme in many of his works, including VALIS and The Divine Invasion, two of his final three novels. Together, these two novels, combined with his Exegesis, are Dick’s attempts to gain true knowledge and reconcile humanity with the divine. VALIS and The Divine Invasion each chronicle a Gnostic quest for knowledge and spiritual enlightenment. Individually, these novels tell the stories of characters whom, whether willingly or not, have been chosen to participate in God’s plans. Together, they express and explore Philip K. Dick’s drive for knowledge and spiritual enlightenment, and his journey toward Gnostic revelation. Accordingly, VALIS and The Divine Invasion can not only be understood as works of Science Fiction in which Gnostic thought is deliberately explored and expressed, but also as Gnostic gospels in which the writer has explained and evaluated his own spiritual evolution for both the salvation of himself and humanity. NEW GNOSTIC GOSPELS A Thesis Presented To the Faculty of the Department of English and the Program of Religious Studies East Carolina University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree M.A. Literature by Amanda B. Stevens April, 2013 © Amanda B. Stevens, 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………………………………. i COPYRIGHT ……………………………………………………………………………… ii TABLE OF CONTENTS .....................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Politics, Religion, and Philosophy in the Fiction of Philip K. Dick
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works Publications and Research New York City College of Technology 2005 How Much Does Chaos Scare You?: Politics, Religion, and Philosophy in the Fiction of Philip K. Dick Aaron Barlow CUNY New York City College of Technology How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/ny_pubs/25 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] How Much Does Chaos Scare You? Politics, Religion, and Philosophy in the Fiction of Philip K. Dick Aaron Barlow Shakespeare’s Sister, Inc. Brooklyn, NY & lulu.com 2005 © Aaron Barlow, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Foreword n 1989, while I was serving in Peace Corps in West Africa, II received a letter from an American academic publisher asking if I were interested in submitting for publication the doctoral dissertation I had completed the year before at the University of Iowa. “Why would I want to do that?” I asked. One disserta- tion on Philip K. Dick had already appeared as a book (by Kim Stanley Robinson) and Dick, though I loved his work, just wasn’t that well known or respected (not then). Plus, I was liv- ing in a mud hut and teaching people to use oxen for plowing: how would I ever be able to do the work that would be needed to turn my study from dissertation to book? When I defended the dissertation, I had imagined myself finished with studies of Philip K.
    [Show full text]
  • Embodied Visions
    Radical Detours A Situationist Reading of Philip K. Dick by Andrew Raba A thesis submitted to Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English Literature Victoria University of Wellington Te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika a Māui 2016 ii iii Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... iv Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... v Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 Aesthetics and Ideology Dip-Dyed Cheesecloth Cravats: Détournement and Ubik ....................................................... 37 Paranoid Reading and The Game-Players of Titan .................................................................. 67 Progress and Utopia Quality Time with Manfred Steiner ......................................................................................... 92 Astronomical Hash-Doctor .................................................................................................... 114 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 131 Works Cited............................................................................................................................ 134 iv Acknowledgements
    [Show full text]
  • How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later by Philip K
    How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later by Philip K. Dick, 1978 First, before I begin to bore you with the usual sort of things science fiction writers say in speeches, let me bring you official greetings from Disneyland. I consider myself a spokesperson for Disneyland because I live just a few miles from it—and, as if that were not enough, I once had the honor of being interviewed there by Paris TV. For several weeks after the interview, I was really ill and confined to bed. I think it was the whirling teacups that did it. Elizabeth Antebi, who was the producer of the film, wanted to have me whirling around in one of the giant teacups while discussing the rise of fascism with Norman Spinrad... an old friend of mine who writes excellent science fiction. We also discussed Watergate, but we did that on the deck of Captain Hook's pirate ship. Little children wearing Mickey Mouse hats—those black hats with the ears—kept running up and bumping against us as the cameras whirred away, and Elizabeth asked unexpected questions. Norman and I, being preoccupied with tossing little children about, said some extraordinarly stupid things that day. Today, however, I will have to accept full blame for what I tell you, since none of you are wearing Mickey Mouse hats and trying to climb up on me under the impression that I am part of the rigging of a pirate ship. Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 the Author As Explorer Judging Philip K. Dick's
    1 THE AUTHOR AS EXPLORER JUDGING PHILIP K. DICK’S RELEVANCE AND VALUE FOR DISCUSSIONS ON THE FACULTY OF MEMORY AND THE POSTHUMAN CONDITION A thesis submitted to the OGC in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at the University of Utrecht Literary Studies Programme By Maik Jacobus Elisabeth Arets Student Number 3230252 Thesis Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ann Rigney Second Reader: Prof. Dr. Kiene Brillenburg Wurth 2 Permission to Use In presenting this thesis to the OGC I agree that the libraries of Utrecht University may make it freely available for inspection. Copying (parts of) this thesis is allowed, provided interested parties do so for personal use only. Copying for financial gain is prohibited. It is also understood that my name shall not be removed from the material, and that due recognition shall be given to me online as well as in paper copies. 3 Abstract This thesis discusses select examples from Philip K. Dick's fictional oeuvre while attempting to build a bridge to and between three views on the location of the faculty of memory and two views on the posthuman relation between the mind and the body. By engaging with rather essentialist views on the location of memory (Draaisma, Baddeley, Schacter and others), views that free up memory by locating it in the media (Landsberg) and perspectives that increasingly disembody the mind from the human skin bag (Lyotard, Clark and Hayles), this thesis argues that Dick's fictions contain and contribute to various (interconnected) strands of science and philosophy. Analysis will show that Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) incorporates views on the purity of memory and the artificiality of the body to sustain a larger narrative on existentialism and humanity.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Fhe UNIVERSITY of HULL 3Litology and Ethics in the Writings of Philip K
    'fHE UNIVERSITY OF HULL 3litology and Ethics in the Writings of Philip K Dick being a Thesis submitted for the Degree of Phd. in the University of Hull by Andrew Mark Butler, B.A. (Wons) October 1995 Contents Acknowledgements A Note on References, Abbreviations and Editions vii Introduction 1 Chapter One: "Possible maybes" Realism and the Fantastic 6 Realism 7 Literary Realism 9 Author and Reader 15 Realism vs The Fantastic 19 Sf ,20) The "New Wave" (26) Realism or the Fantastic: In Milton Lumky Territory 29 Familiarization 31 Character Types 32 Conclusion Chapter Two: "Life is turning into a Philip K. Dick Novel": Ontology and its Discontents The Real 38 Access to the Real: Philosophical Realism 45 Access to the "Real": Dick's use of viewpoint 48 Postmodernism Fredric Jameson on Dick Jean Baudrillard on Dick 57 Other Postmodern Readings of Dick 60 Cyberpunk 63 Dick as postmodern icon 65 Conclusion 68 Chapter Three: "Can a person hallucinate without being psychotic?": Hallucinatory Environments 69 Basic Plots 69 Eye in the Sky 70 The Left and McCarthyism 72 Black Politics 76 Return to Reality? 77 Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said 79 The Left by 1970 81 The Position of Blacks 82 The Nature of the Conditional Environment 86 Conclusion 94 ii Chapter Four: "Skim milk masquerades as cream": Attempts to penetrate the veil 96 Time Out of Joint 96 Representing the 1950s 98 Misrepresenting the 1950s 101 From Time Out of Joint to The Man in the High Castle 105 The Man in the High Castle 106 Alternate Worlds 106 The "reality" of the conditional environment 108 False Identities 111 The 1-Ching - 113 "Inner Truth" 118 Fiction and Reality 121 Conclusion 125 Chapter Five: "Where are we really?": The Failure of Authenticity 126 Lies, Inc.
    [Show full text]