Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích Pedagogická fakulta Katedra anglistiky Bakalářská práce A Comparison Between Science Fiction Works of Arthur C. Clarke and Douglas Adams' Parody of the Genre Vypracoval: Michal Horák Vedoucí práce: PhDr. Alice Sukdolová, Ph.D. České Budějovice 2017 Prohlášení Prohlašuji, že svoji bakalářskou práci jsem vypracoval samostatně pouze s použitím pramenů a literatury uvedených v seznamu citované literatury. Prohlašuji, že v souladu s § 47b zákona č. 111/1998 Sb. v platném znění souhlasím se zveřejněním své bakalářské práce, a to v nezkrácené podobě elektronickou cestou ve veřejně přístupné části databáze STAG provozované Jihočeskou univerzitou v Českých Budějovicích na jejích internetových stránkách, a to se zachováním mého autorského práva k odevzdanému textu této kvalifikační práce. Souhlasím dále s tím, aby toutéž elektronickou cestou byly v souladu s uvedeným ustanovením zákona č. 111/1998 Sb. zveřejněny posudky školitele a oponentů práce i záznam o průběhu a výsledku obhajoby kvalifikační práce. Rovněž souhlasím s porovnáním textu mé kvalifikační práce s databází kvalifikačních prací Theses.cz provozovanou Národním registrem vysokoškolských kvalifikačních prací a systémem na odhalování plagiátů. Datum: Podpis studenta: Anotace Úkolem práce je nejprve definovat žánr science fiction na základě odborné literatury a dále rozebrat obecně literárně teoretický pojem parodie. Součástí práce budou stručné životopisy obou autorů (Arthur C. Clarke a Douglas Adams) a analýza Clarkovy série románů Vesmírná Odysea. Cílem práce je srovnání Clarkovy legendární série a Adamsovy parodie žánru Stopařův průvodce Galaxií, přičemž v každé sérii práce vytyčí hlavní postavy, motivy a symboly a následně porovná prostředí obou sérií, motivaci hrdinů, narativní strategii a vypravěčský styl. Abstract The first purpose of this paper is to define the term of science fiction genre, using literature specialized in the subject and later analyse the theoretical concept of parody in literature. The second part of the paper will consist of brief biographies of both authors (Arthur C. Clarke and Douglas Adams) and an analysis of Clarke's novel series Space Odyssey. The purpose of this paper is a comparison of Clarke's legendary series with Adams' parody of the genre The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by identifying main characters, motifs and symbols, and subsequently compare the settings of both series, character motivations and narrative strategies. Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 Science Fiction, Parody .............................................................................................................. 2 Science Fiction ....................................................................................................................... 2 Parody, Science Fiction Parody ............................................................................................. 3 Arthur C. Clarke ......................................................................................................................... 4 Biography ............................................................................................................................... 4 Space Odyssey ............................................................................................................................ 5 2001: A Space Odyssey .......................................................................................................... 5 2010: Odyssey Two ................................................................................................................ 7 2061: Odyssey Three .............................................................................................................. 8 Characters ................................................................................................................................. 11 Moon-Watcher ..................................................................................................................... 11 David Bowman ..................................................................................................................... 12 Heywood Floyd .................................................................................................................... 13 Symbols and Motifs in Space Odyssey .................................................................................... 14 Artificial Intelligence ........................................................................................................... 14 Evolution .............................................................................................................................. 15 Politics .................................................................................................................................. 16 Douglas Adams ........................................................................................................................ 17 Biography ............................................................................................................................. 17 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ...................................................................................... 18 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (book) ...................................................................... 18 The Restaurant at the End of the Universe ........................................................................... 20 Life, Universe and Everything ............................................................................................. 23 So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish .................................................................................. 26 Mostly Harmless .................................................................................................................. 28 Characters ................................................................................................................................. 32 Arthur Dent .......................................................................................................................... 32 Ford Prefect .......................................................................................................................... 33 Zaphod Beeblebrox .............................................................................................................. 34 Trillian .................................................................................................................................. 35 Marvin .................................................................................................................................. 35 Symbols and Motifs in The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy .................................................. 37 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy .................................................................................. 37 42 .......................................................................................................................................... 38 Vogons ................................................................................................................................. 39 Agrajag ................................................................................................................................. 40 Towel .................................................................................................................................... 40 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 42 Introduction When Douglas Adams came with the idea of writing The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy he has managed not only to create a popular science fiction radio play and a series of novels, but also something new and unique in the genre. Its uniqueness came from a simple fact - it completely differed from any other science fiction work made so far. The reason for this is obvious to anyone who has read or heard The Guide and is at least familiar with other science fiction works - while The Guide definitely fulfils the "fiction" part of the genre, the "science" inside is at the very least debatable, if it is even there. In this work I will attempt to compare The Guide with another well-known science fiction - Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey. Unlike Adams', Clarke's series is well-known for its strict adherence to science - even going so far that each of his book is slightly deviates from the previous one in order to incorporate the latest scientific findings and theories. The comparison of the two series will be made on three levels - there will be short summaries of plot for each book followed by analysis of their main characters and finally motifs and symbols found in them. In the end this paper will be divided into three separate parts. The first part will consist of relevant terminology - more precisely the terms Science Fiction and Parody will be explained. The second part will focus on Arthur C. Clarke, his series and the symbolic, motifs and characters found in Space Odyssey, while the third part will do the same with the work of Douglas Adams. During this work I will mostly use the novels of the two series, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Space Odyssey for the comparative part and D'Ammassa's Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Roberts' History of Science Fiction and