ABSTRACT While the sublime is most often associated with the theories of Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant in the eighteenth century, it has increasingly moved away from fine arts and become intertwined with developments in the advancement of technology. It is for this reason that science, and by extension science fiction, becomes an important element in the analysis of the sublime. Film and the cinema can be considered as two of the most prominent elements in translating, what may be termed, the ‘science fiction sublime’, hence it is the medium and setting chosen to illustrate this iteration of the sublime. This study explores the histories of both the sublime and science fiction in order to show how they have impacted one another. The SF films discussed have been chosen from the past decade, as the bulk of the research into the genre is concentrated on particular older films like 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Blade Runner (1982). Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin (2013), Joseph Kosinski’s Tron: Legacy (2010) and Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014) are used as examples of how visual effects may evoke the science fiction sublime, as well as how the sublime is represented in the themes of alienation/the Alien Other, technophilia/technophobia and infinity along the space-time continuum respectively. The study ultimately shows how the sublime is evoked, non-diegetically, through spectacular visual special effects and is represented diegetically, through the plot and themes of particular science fiction films. This is done through what is called “transcendence in immanence”. Title of dissertation: Close encounters of the sublime kind: a study of the science fiction sublime in contemporary film Name of student: Andrea van Wyk Supervisor: Professor Amanda du Preez Department: Department of Visual Arts Degree: Magister Artium (Visual Studies) KEY TERMS: The sublime, science fiction, science fiction sublime, immanence, transcendence, Under the Skin, Tron: Legacy, Interstellar. 1 FORM A UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA FACULTY OF HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT OF VISUAL ARTS The Department of Visual Arts places specific emphasis on integrity and ethical behaviour with regard to the preparation of all written work to be submitted for academic evaluation. Although academic personnel will provide you with information regarding reference techniques as well as ways to avoid plagiarism, you also have a responsibility to fulfil in this regard. Should you at any time feel unsure about the requirements, you must consult the lecturer concerned before you submit any written work. You are guilty of plagiarism when you extract information from a book, article or web page without acknowledging the source and pretend that it is your own work. In truth, you are stealing someone else’s property. This doesn’t only apply to cases where you quote verbatim, but also when you present someone else’s work in a somewhat amended format (paraphrase), or even when you use someone else’s deliberation without the necessary acknowledgement. You are not allowed to use another student’s previous work. You are furthermore not allowed to let anyone copy or use your work with the intention of presenting it as his/her own. Students who are guilty of plagiarism will forfeit all credit for the work concerned. In addition, the matter can also be referred to the Committee for Discipline (Students) for a ruling to be made. Plagiarism is considered a serious violation of the University’s regulations and may lead to suspension from the University. For the period that you are a student at the Department of Visual Arts, the under-mentioned declaration must accompany all written work to be submitted. No written work will be accepted unless the declaration has been completed and attached. I (full names) Andrea van Wyk Student number 04354427 Subject of work Close encounters of the sublime kind: A study of the science fiction sublime in contemporary film Declaration 1. I understand what plagiarism entails and am aware of the University’s policy in this regard. 2. I declare that this dissertation is my own, original work. Where someone else’s work was used (whether from a printed source, the Internet or any other source) due acknowledgement was given and reference was made according to departmental requirements. 3. I did not make use of another student’s previous work and submit it as my own. 4. I did not allow and will not allow anyone to copy my work with the intention of presenting it as his or her own work. Signature __________________________________ Date_________________________ ii CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE SUBLIME KIND: A STUDY OF THE SCIENCE FICTION SUBLIME IN CONTEMPORARY FILM By ANDREA VAN WYK Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Magister Artium (Visual Studies) in the FACULTY OF HUMANITIES UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA AUGUST 2018 Supervisor: Prof Amanda du Preez iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor Professor Amanda du Preez for her invaluable guidance and input, but above all, for her patience, kindness and understanding. Secondly, the staff at the UP Library’s Interlending Department time and again urgently assisted me with copies of books and articles not available in South Africa. My parents provided me with enormous emotional support while completing this study and without them this work could not have been completed. Finally, I dedicate this to all the others with mental illnesses who supported me during my times of great difficulty as I took on this mammoth task: all is possible. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT i DECLARATION ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv LIST OF FIGURES vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Rationale and need for study 2 1.2 Aim of the study 4 1.3 Literature study 6 1.4 Methodological approach 7 1.5 Overview of chapters 9 CHAPTER TWO: A HISTORICAL AND THEORETICAL OVERVIEW OF THE 10 SUBLIME 2.1 The origins of the sublime 10 2.2 The development of the sublime in the seventeenth and eighteenth century 12 2.2.1 Edmund Burke and the empirical sublime 15 2.2.2 Immanuel Kant and the transcendental sublime 22 CHAPTER 3: THE TECHNOLOGICAL SUBLIME AND OTHER MOVEMENTS 29 3.1 The Industrial Revolution and the American sublime 29 3.2 The (bio)technological, digital and contemporary sublimes 35 3.3 The cinematic sublime 43 3.4 Subverting Kant: The feminine and material sublime 49 CHAPTER FOUR: THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION IN LITERATURE AND FILM 53 4.1 Identifying science fiction: Archetypal stories and visual icons 53 4.2 The origins of science fiction in literature: The fantastical and outer worldly 60 4.2.1 Proto-SF: From the ancient to the nineteenth century 60 4.2.2 The nineteenth century: Gothic meets science fiction 63 4.2.3 The early twentieth century: Dystopias and the magazine era 67 4.3 The emergence of science fiction film and the ‘Golden Age’ of SF 69 4.4 The 1960s and 1970s: New Wave, feminism and space opera 76 v 4.5 From the 1980s to the new millennium: Cyberpunk to superheroes 83 4.6 Towards the new millennium and beyond: The impact of digital technology and special effects 87 4.7 SF’s affinity with special effects 90 CHAPTER FIVE: TOWARDS THE SCIENCE FICTION FILM SUBLIME 95 5.1 Special effects and the science fiction sublime 95 5.2 Representing the science fiction sublime: Thematic concerns 103 5.2.1 Alienation and the alien other 103 5.2.2 Technophobia and technophilia 106 5.2.3 Infinity along the space-time continuum 112 CHAPTER SIX: THE SF FILM SUBLIME – THREE CASE STUDIES 116 6.1 Under the Skin and the Alien other 116 6.2 Tron: Legacy and technophobia/technophilia 134 6.3 Interstellar and the space-time continuum 148 CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSION 163 7.1 Summary of chapters 163 7.2 Contribution and limitations of study, and suggestions for further research 165 7.3 Concluding remarks 166 SOURCES CONSULTED 170 vi LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1: Barnett Newman, Vir Heroicus Sublimis, 1950-51 38 Figure 2: The iconic “Tower of Babel” looms, Metropolis, 1927 58 Figure 3: The face of the moon, Le voyage dans la lune, 1902 70 Figure 4: Astounding magazine cover, December 1950 73 Figure 5: The interior of the spaceship, Discovery, 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968 80 Figure 6: Part of the Stargate sequence, 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968 81 Figure 7: The dark, grimy, rainy cityscape of cyberpunk, lit by garish neon lights, Blade Runner, 1982 85 Figure 8: Grids that denote data and neon lights against a dark background are representations of cyberspace and information, Tron, 1982 86 Figure 9: Neo (Keanu Reeves) dodges bullets in bullet-time, The Matrix, 1999 88 Figure 10: The construction of the eye, Under the Skin, 2013 117 Figure 11: Two silhouettes on a ‘blank canvass’, Under the Skin, 2013 119 Figure 12: The liquid black void that consumes the alien’s victims, Under the Skin, 2013 121 Figure 13: The river of blood that turns into a solid red line, Under the Skin, 2013 122 Figure 14: Barnett Newman, Adam, 1951-1952 123 Figure 15: The alien stares at herself in a tarnished mirror, Under the Skin, 2013 125 Figure 16: A shot of the wind blowing through the forest overlaid with a shot of the alien, Under the Skin, 2013 129 Figure 17: The alien stares at her human face, Under the Skin, 2013 130 Figure 18: Moving blue lines on a black screen representing the movement of data (the Grid), Tron: Legacy, 2010 135 Figure 19: 3D renderings of code ‘shoot out of’ the screen at the viewer as Sam falls through the Grid, Tron: Legacy, 2010 136 Figure 20: The grid is represented as a dark cityscape reminiscent of Blade Runner, Tron: Legacy, 2010 137