Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Review
SFRA
Fall 2014
Editor
Chris Pak
University of Lancaster, Bailrigg, Lan-
caster LA1 4YW.
A publication of the Science Fiction Research Association
chrispak@hotmail.co.uk
Managing Editor
In this issue
Lars Schmeink SFRA Review Business
Universität Hamburg, Institut für Anglis-
tik und Amerikanistik, Von Melle Park 6 Year’s End............................................................................................................... 2
20146 Hamburg.
lars@wortraub.com SFRA Business
Meanwhile, at the EC HQ . . . ............................................................................ 3
Noniction Editor Science is Trending............................................................................................... 4
Dominick Grace SFRA Election for Executive Committee for 2015-2016................................. 4
Brescia University College, 1285 Western
Rd, London ON, N6G 3R4, Canada Minutes of the SFRA Executive Committee ..................................................... 4
phone: 519-432-8353 ext. 28244. Association Bylaws ............................................................................................... 5
sfranonictionreviews@gmail.com Going Boldly - he Star Trek Symposium 2014 .............................................10
Having served on the Pioneer Committee and seen how As we did two years ago, we are using Survey Mon-
many people are publishing on SF-related topics but key to conduct the voting. he ballot can be found here:
are not yet members, I decided to use the information https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XNQKKMV.
gathered by Keren Omry (Pioneer Committee Chair) he ballot will remain open for 30 days ater publica-
and build on it to initiate a membership drive. Over the tion of the Review. he membership will be notiied by
summer, I sent nearly 60 e-mails personally inviting in- means of social media platforms, the listserv, and the
dividuals whose essays were considered for the Pioneer next issue of the Review.
Award to join us at SFRA. I hope a few new members are
reading this SFRA Review; if you are, we look forward to
meeting you in Stony Brook in the summer of 2015 at Minutes of the SFRA Executive
our annual conference.
In addition, Executive Council just met via Skype; we Committee
had a productive meeting, drating by-laws, putting to-
Meeting by Skype, 29 September 2014
gether oicer “cheat sheets” to pass on to our successors.
On a personal note, I want to briely share the enter-
Submitted by Jenni Halpin, SFRA Secretary
taining experience of attending “rockstar astrophysicist”
Neil deGrasse Tyson at an event at Alma College, a few Present: Pawel Frelik, Amy Ransom, Ritch Calvin, and
blocks from where I live in central Michigan. Riing of Jenni Halpin
recent headline items relating to astronomy and cos-
mology, Tyson’s talk was like stand-up comic science! BYLAWS REVISIONS: We intend to present the revi-
He opened by quoting a Tweeter who had raved about sions en masse rather than taking things point by point:
his work prior to the airing of Cosmos and plugging his many of the changes we are interested in require con-
own Twitter feed. He declared that “science is trend- current adjustments in other areas of the bylaws. Upon
ing”—which we already knew; SFRA is in good com- presenting the proposed changes in the Review and on
pany on the social media front. the website, the EC will take feedback until 21 Novem-
Share your own science-related excursions, media ber.
commentaries, and so on with us at the SFRA Facebook
page and Twitter feeds! CONFERENCES: Ritch’s preparations are going well for
the conference at Stony Brook. he ilm festival that will
be part of the conference is also coming together well
and will be an annual event of the SFRA. he EC also
SFRA Business discussed future conferences.
SFRA Election for Executive Com- COMMITTEES AND TRANSITIONS: Oicers and
awards committees are generating “cheat sheets” to fa-
mittee for 2015-2016 cilitate transitions. he ones submitted so far look good.
Ritch Calvin We are inalizing placement on committees for 2014. We
will be using the Review and the listserv this fall to seek
a new editor for media reviews.
PER THE SFRA bylaws, we are holding our semi-annual
elections for the four oices that comprise the Executive
OTHER DETAILS: It is time to review the fee schedule
Committee of the Science Fiction Research Association.
for institutional memberships to the SFRA. Amy con-
he candidate statements were published in the previ-
tacted a number of the people who had been consid-
ous issue of the Review. he candidates are as follows:
4 SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014
ered for the Pioneer award and invited them to join the active members in part a, above.
SFRA. Response was positive.
(c) Institutional Members: Certain appropriate academ-
ic or educational organizations may hold membership
in SFRA. Such organizations may designate appropri-
Association Bylaws ate individuals to represent them in the association and,
(Including proposed amendments for review October 2014) upon payment of annual dues, shall receive publications
as designated in ARTICLE VIII.
ARTICLE I Name and Purpose
(d) Subsidized Members: Students, the under-em-
Section 1 ployed, and emeritus members shall be eligible to pay
he organization shall be named, known, and styled as annual dues to the association at a reduced rate. Subsi-
the Science Fiction Research Association. It is incorpo- dized members shall receive all of the rights and beneits
rated in the state of Ohio as a non-proit organization. designated for active members in part a, above.
Section 2 Section 1
(a) Active members: Individuals paying annual dues to An annual conference open to all members of the as-
the association (or pairs sharing a residence paying joint sociation and such guests as may be determined by the
annual dues) thereby become active members of SFRA. Executive Committee shall be held at least once during
hey shall receive publications as designated in ARTI- each calendar year. he president and members of the
CLE VIII sections 1 and 2, have the right to vote on all committee of the host institution shall decide upon the
issues presented to the membership, and be eligible to time of the meeting subject to ratiication by a majority
hold oice and serve on committees. vote of the Executive Committee.
Section 5 Section 11
he treasurer shall be the chief inancial oicer of the he oice of the web director shall be responsible for
association and have charge of all receipts and disburse- the maintenance of the SFRA website. he web director
ments of the association and shall be the custodian of will report to the Executive Committee and will update
the association’s funds. he treasurer shall have full au- the contents and format of the website as deemed ap-
thority to receive and give receipts for all monies due propriate by the Executive Committee. he web director
and payable to the association and to sign and endorse will be appointed by the Executive Committee, and will
checks and drats in its name and on its behalf. he trea- serve an open-ended term, which can be terminated
surer shall deposit funds of the association in its name by either the web director or the Executive Committee.
and such depositories as may be designated by the Ex- he web director shall not be a member of the Executive
ecutive Committee. he treasurer shall furnish the Ex- Committee.
ecutive Committee an annual inancial report within 60
SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014 7
Section 12 a petition signed by at least ive persons of the member-
he public relations oicer will organize, in coordina- ship in good standing entitled to vote in the election to
tion with the vice president, the various internet and the secretary of the association. At the end of this 30-day
social media outlets, in order to publicize and further period nominations shall be closed and the ballot shall
the goals and mission of the organization. he public re- be prepared.
lations oicer will be appointed by the Executive Com-
mittee and will serve an open-ended term, which can be Section 5
terminated by either the public relations oicer or the Not later than October 1 of the election year, a ballot
Executive Committee. he public relations oicer shall containing the names of the nominees shall be made
not be a member of the Executive Committee. available to the membership via a secure electronic, on-
line voting format. he voting process will remain open
Section 13 for a four-week period.
he SFRA Review editor(s) shall be appointed by the
president and conirmed by the Executive Committee; Section 6
editor(s) shall serve for a three-year period with the irst Except as provided in these Bylaws, the Executive Com-
year to be probationary. Editor(s) shall be responsible mittee shall provide for administrative workings of the
for electronic preparation of the SFRA Review, for ob- elections and the method of return and receipt of ballots
taining and maintaining advertising, for coordinating cast by the membership. Except as otherwise speciied
print-on-demand requests, for coordinating other elec- herein, the immediate past president shall be respon-
tronic sales mechanisms (such as links to online stores), sible for conducting the election including the prepara-
and for fulilling back issue requests. tion and counting of ballots.
Section 7
ARTICLE VI Elections hose candidates receiving a plurality of the votes cast
shall be elected.
Section 1
Elections shall be held triennially. Section 8
he Executive Committee may ix a time not more than
Section 2 60 days prior to the date of any meeting of the member-
he general membership shall elect the president, vice ship or date of election as a record date for the determi-
president, secretary, and treasurer as set forth in AR- nation of the persons holding membership entitled to
TICLE V. notice and to vote at such meetings or election.
Section 3
In the last year of their term, the Executive Committee ARTICLE VII Dues
shall establish a time and date by which ballots for the
election of oicers must be received, which date shall be Section 1
known as the election date. he annual dues shall be set annually by the Executive
Committee.
Section 4
he immediate past president, in consultation with the
Executive Committee, shall submit a slate of candidates ARTICLE VIII Publications
of no fewer than two persons from the membership for
each position to be illed at least 60 days prior to the Section 1
election day. he immediate past president shall notify All members of the SFRA will automatically receive the
the membership in the SFRA Review, and all other ap- publications which are recognized as oicial publica-
propriate and available electronic and social outlets, of tions of the SFRA, which are listed in section 2, below.
this slate of candidates. Within 30 days of the publica-
tion of this slate of candidates in the SFRA Review, ad- Section 2
ditional candidates may be nominated by submission of he SFRA Review is an oicial publication of the SFRA
8 SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014
and shall be published four times per year or as directed no fewer than ive percent of the persons holding mem-
by the Executive Committee. he expenses of the SFRA bership in the association at the time of presentation of
Review shall be paid from the association’s general fund. the petition to the Executive Committee.
Section 3 Section 2
SFRA will continue to explore ways in which to sponsor he proposed amendments shall be distributed by ap-
and promote future publication of material valuable to propriate electronic and social media 60 days prior to
the study of science iction in the various media. the meeting or the voting process.
Section 4 Section 3
Arrangements involving publications will be made by he membership may by a majority vote of the member-
the president of the association with advice and consent ship present and voting at a meeting or by a majority of
of the Executive Committee, and such arrangements votes cast in electronic voting pass such an amendment.
shall be reported to the general membership at the ear-
liest time ater completion through the medium of the ***
SFRA Review.
he following sections were changed as a result of a vote
ARTICLE IX Ailiate Organizations of the membership of the SFRA in October 1992: Article
I:1, 2; II:b; III:2, 2.d, 2.e; IV:2, 4; VI:5; VIII:2,a,4. A new
Section 1 Article X: Assignment of Assets was created; old Article
Appropriate regional, subject matter, and other special X became Article XI: Amendments.
interest groups may seek ailiation with the Science
Fiction Research Association. Such ailiation must be he following sections were changed as a result of the
approved by the general membership upon recommen- vote of the membership of the SFRA in June 2004: Ar-
dation of the Executive Committee. Such recommen- ticle III:2a; V:3, 7; VIII:2a.
dation shall be made only following approval by the
committee of the group’s constitution, Bylaws, and iscal he following sections are proposed for change/addi-
procedures. tion by vote of the membership of the SFRA in June
2015: Article II:1,2; III:1, 2; IV: 2, 4; V: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11,
12, 13; VI; VII; VIII: 1, 2; XI.
ARTICLE X Assignment of Assets
Section 1
Should SFRA cease to be a viable organization, dissolu-
tion shall be efected in the same manner as amending
the Bylaws described in Article XI.
Section 2
In the case of a dissolution, the Executive Committee
shall determine at that time to which qualiied tax ex-
empt fund, foundation, and/or corporation organized
or operating for charitable or educational purposes any
SFRA assets remaining ater payment of debts or provi-
sions shall be distributed and paid.
ARTICLE XI Amendments
Section 1
Amendments to these Bylaws shall be proposed by the
Executive Committee or by petition to the committee by
SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014 9
AFFILIATED ORGANIZATION NEWS achieving such a device.
Discussions were ami-
cable but animated, lively
and oten thought provok-
ing, invoking many narra-
tives within the science ic-
Going Boldly - The Star Trek Sym- tion genre, especially with
posium 2014 reference to some of the
philosophical and moral
Victor Grech issues that the franchise
explores. his was particu-
ALBEIT INTRODUCED with a hackneyed cliché, this larly the case ater the talk Jason Eberl.
event truly went where no one had gone before: a two dealing with ethical issues in reproduction leading to
day academic meeting devoted solely to Star Trek. species and genetic discrimination. Indeed, a delegate
he irst Star Trek Symposium was held in Malta at the observed that perhaps all doctors should be made to
Dolmen Hotel on the 10 and 11 July, 2014, and was or- watch Andrew Niccol’s dystopian Gattaca (1997).
ganised by Victor Grech and David Zammit. he event he event closed with a discussion into the possibility
was opened by the US Ambassador to Malta, Her Ex- of repeating this unique event or widening it in order to
cellency Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley. Faculty was embrace science iction in general. he consensus was
varied, with an interesting preponderance of medical to hold a science iction symposium that would provide
doctors. a half or full day focus on Star Trek if a suicient num-
ber of related abstracts are submitted. Plans are also un-
derway for a conference to be held in Malta to celebrate
the itieth anniversary of Star Trek in 2016, which will
be advertised in future editions of the SFRA Review and
elsewhere.
Mugs, tumblers and beer steins commemorating the
symposium were available for sale.
LL&P
http://www.startreksymposium.com
Victor Grech – victor.e.grech@gov.mt
Her Excellency, the US Ambassador to Malta, Gina Abercrombie-
Winstanley, opening the Symposium.
Topics ranged from outright medically oriented top-
ics such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation in Star Trek,
to the chemical possibility of silicon life, to the intersec-
tion of Star Trek with the Big Bang heory sitcom to
the role of leisure in the utopian future depicted within
the franchise. Dinner on the irst day was preceded by a
plenary by Jason Eberl, entitled “he More Complex the
Mind, the Greater the Need for the Simplicity of Play.”
Overall, approximately half of the talks involved a
philosophical/ethical bent while the remainder focused
on scientiic aspects in the franchise, such as the hypo Open air course dinner at Batabulan Restaurant in Qawra, Malta.
thetical possibility of faster than light travel by warping Left to right: David Zammit (organiser), Neena Modi (Consultant
space-time. Some talks were given by two speakers, such Neonatologist at Imperial College and Chairman of the Ethics
as a talk describing the tricorder, followed by a doctor Committee of the British Medical Journal), Jason Eberl from
Marian University, Jennifer Vines, and Victor Grech (organiser).
explaining how close medical technology actually is to
10 SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014
Feature 101
Such gender bias is unsurprising as Steinke et al. have
The Importance and Relevance of shown that “male scientist characters were found to be
both more prevalent than female scientist characters” in
Star Trek in The Big Bang Theory this type of media depiction (2). Physical frailty, nerdi-
101 ness and geekiness are equally expected as “[m]ale sci-
entist characters were more likely to be shown with the
Victor Grech masculine attributes of independence and dominance,
but not athleticism” (2).
THE BIG BANG THEORY portrays scientists who iden- Sheldon is the principal character, a theoretical physi-
tify closely with characters and the lifestyle portrayed cist who obtained a PhD at 16 years of age and went on
in Star Trek (ST). he latter is in turn used to highlight to acquire a Doctor of Science degree. While his knowl-
their nerdism. his paper classiies references to ST as edge of theoretical physics is unparalleled, his lack of
those of simple viewing of ilms and episodes, passing interpersonal skills is equally breath-taking, leading to
allusions to ST in ordinary conversation, the obsessive him being referred to as “the crazy guy across the hall”
collection of ST memorabilia, the direct interaction with (Cendrowski, “he Staircase Implementation”). Jim
ST actors, intimate knowledge of the ictional Klingon Parsons, the actor who reprises the part, has won both
language, the deliberate introduction of ST elements an Emmy and a Golden Globe (Bednarek 202). Sheldon
into real life, using ST as metaphor for real life, men- shares an apartment with Leonard, an experimental
tal identiication with Spock, and ultimately acting out physicist who is much more humanised but is shy and
ST roles. he scientists’ uneven enculturation is em- unlucky with women. Raj is an astrophysicist with selec-
phasised through ST to humorous efect. Conversely, tive mutism, able to speak to women only while under
a blonde female waitress constitutes the representative the inluence of alcohol. Howard is the only non-PhD,
non-scientist viewing public, an overt observer and a possessing a masters degree in engineering. His ap-
surrogate judge of the antics that our eccentric scientists proach to women is the exact opposite to Raj’s, coming
indulge in. his paper will also demonstrate that there over too aggressively for any reasonable chance of suc-
is bidirectional low of information, with our waitress cess.
gaining knowledge from her friends since they seem to Penny is an attractive, blonde, would-be actress who
inspire her to achieve a higher level of education, while lives across the hallway from Sheldon and Leonard. Her
she encourages them to cope realistically with life. ST level of education is very poor compared with the boys,
is thus utilised to provide both textual and visual cues but in terms of language and diction, she serves as a foil,
about character and stereotype. contrasting sharply with Sheldon. Penny is a represen-
tative of the non-scientiic/nerd/geek public, who Shel-
don rejects as “muggles” (Cendrowski, “he Robotic
Introduction Manipulation”), a term derived from the Harry Potter
series referring to individuals who lack magical ability.
THE BIG BANG THEORY (BBT) is a sitcom which pre- Her role is clear. “[N]ot only are audiences interested
miered on September 24, 2007. BBT is owned by the Co- in televisual characters; they also engage with them in-
lumbia Broadcasting System (CBS), the company which terpersonally” (Bednarek 201). Indeed, it is almost as if
also own the Star Trek (ST) television franchise. Penny stands in as an extreme example of the general
public, a member of that group which in popular cul-
“In he Big Bang heory, the most relevant social ture is not considered to be “the brightest pixels in the
identity […] seems to be that of the nerd or geek” plasma screen: dumb blondes,” thereby constituting yet
(Bednarek 203). Indeed, the four principal male another stereotype (Inness 2).
characters in BBT are ultimate science geeks and BBT constantly refers to ST and this paper will cat-
prototypical nerds, skinny postdocs working at the egorise and analyse these references in an attempt to
California Institute of Technology. his accedes to identify the points that the directors endeavour to make.
the notion that the frank depiction of geeks and hese are mainly that nerdy and geeky scientists can
nerds is akin to the “freak show discourse of styl- successfully interact with non-scientists, and vice-versa,
izing people as ‘the other.’” (Engelhart 3) both within the show and with the covert audience that
SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014 11
watches the show, and that this interaction can be me- ceive.” Speculation continues: “maybe they had to go to
diated and actively fostered using ST since of all of the a clinic. Imagine Spock’s dad in a little room with a copy
movie and television franchises that are referenced in of pointy ears and shapely rears.” hey naturally also
the show, ST is mentioned most oten. wonder, again as scientists, “how come on Star Trek ev-
References to ST in BBT can be classiied into six types. erybody’s private parts are the same. No alien lady ever
In increasing order of obsession, the boys constantly told Captain Kirk, ‘hey, get your thing out of my nose’”
watch ST, they frequently allude to and quote from ST in (Cendrowski, “he Bat Jar Conjecture”).
passing conversation, and they avidly collect ST memo- To Sheldon, ST episodes are so important that as part
rabilia. Within the show, they directly interact with past of his “emergency provisions,” should a disaster befall
ST characters and display an excellent knowledge of the his apartment, he includes “season two of Star Trek: he
ictional Klingon language. he show goes on to intro- Original Series on a high-density lash drive,” along with
duce ST elements into real life and explains life through “an eight-day supply of food and water, a crossbow.”
metaphors derived from ST. Our characters, particu- When asked “what if there’s a disaster that destroys
larly Sheldon, identify with ST’s Spock and they readily all the USB ports?” Sheldon rejoins, in all seriousness,
act out ST roles. Since dialog projects a particular social “then there’s really no reason to live, is there?” (Cend-
identity, drawing on stereotypes and shared knowledge rowski, “he Plimpton Stimulation”).
with the audience” (Bednarek 199), direct quotations With such experts, criticism about new ilms inevi-
will be used. tably ensues. Sheldon remarks “it amazes me how you
his paper will show that ST is heavily alluded to in constantly obsess over ictional details when there are
BBT, and these references are used as “textual cues that more important things in the real world to worry about.
give rise to information about character” (Culpeper For example, why wasn’t William Shatner in the new
163). hese clues have been shown to be both explicit Star Trek movie?” (Cendrowski, “he Pants Alterna-
(167) and implicit (172), as will be shown in BBT. he tive;” Abrams, “Star Trek”)
scripts also “prove to be a masterpiece play on words to Interilm quality is also a topic of contention:
create humor and fun, with mystic science terminology,
ingenious use of rhetorical devices, and individualistic Raj: Yeah, Star Trek V, worse than I.
expressions” (Yin and Yun 1221), with ST references be- Sheldon: Okay, irst of all, that’s a comparison of
ing among the majority. ST is also used to highlight “the quality, not intensity. Secondly, Star Trek I is orders-
stereotypical nerd’s interest in science and […] identity of-magnitude worse than Star Trek V.
as an (intelligent) ‘scientist’-nerd” (Bednarek 214). Raj: Are you joking? Star Trek V is the standard
against which all badness is measured.
Sheldon: No, no, no. Star Trek V has speciic fail-
Watching ST ures in writing and direction, while Star Trek I fails
across the board, art direction, costuming, music,
THE BOYS ARE GREAT FANS of the franchise and sound editing. […]
regularly re-watch ST ilms and episodes such as the Raj: Star Trek V!
“Deep Space Nine/Star Trek he Original Series Trouble Sheldon: All right, will you at least stipulate that Star
With Tribbles crossover episode” (Cendrowski, “he Trek IV: he Voyage Home is inarguably the best?
Hofstadter Isotope”; West, “Trials and Tribble-ations”). Raj: I have three words for you. Wrath of Khan.
heir knowledge of ST is encyclopedic. New ilms are (Wise, Star Trek: he Motion Picture; Meyer, Star
avidly awaited and speculated upon. It is mentioned that Trek II: he Wrath of Khan; Nimoy, Star Trek IV: he
they waited in line […] for 14 hours to see the midnight Voyage Home; Shatner, Star Trek V: he Final Fron-
premiere of Star Trek: Nemesis” (Baird, Nemesis; Cend- tier; Cendrowski, “he Lizard-Spock Expansion”)
rowski, “he 21-Second Excitation”).
Even the ST reboot was eagerly expected, with conjec- Similarly, Sheldon notes “Did you see Star Trek: he Mo-
tures about it, such as “a scene depicting Spock’s birth.” tion Picture? […] Don’t. It’s terrible (Cendrowski, “he
he reply is that there would be more interest “in a scene Alien Parasite Hypothesis”).
depicting Spock’s conception.” Almost inevitably, as Characters in ST ilms are not immune to denuncia-
scientists the cast wonders that, since “his mother was tion, such as when Sheldon asks Leonard for his per-
human, his father was Vulcan, they couldn’t just con- sonal preference when judging whether Leonard would
12 SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014
make a suitable roommate: “Kirk or Picard?” To which Howard marries, Sheldon paraphrases “Boldly go, How-
Leonard replies “Oh, uh, well, that’s tricky. Um, well, uh, ard Wolowitz” (Cendrowski, “he Countdown Relec-
Original Series over Next Generation, but Picard over tion”).
Kirk” (Cendrowski, “he Staircase Implementation”). Supraluminal travel (travelling at warp speed) is fre-
Most other SF series are judged inferior to ST. “I quently alluded to as a metaphor for haste. For exam-
don’t want to watch Saturn 3. Deep Space Nine is better” ple, Leonard squelches the boys by telling them that
(Cendrowski, “he Lizard-Spock Expansion”). his is his amorous approach to Penny is to deliberately take
important to such dedicated fans: “things slow. Which, by the way, compared to you guys
approaches warp speed” (Cendrowski, “he Bad Fish
Amy: hat’d be my boyfriend. Happier playing his Paradigm”). Similarly, Penny receives a text message
dopey Star Trek game with his friends than hanging from “Leonard. He says they’re on the road and headed
out with me. for Bakersield at warp speed” (Cendrowski, “he Ba-
Penny: Wars. kersield Expedition”).
Amy: What? A superlative comparison in the franchise is to re-
Penny: Star Wars. hey get all cranky when you mix fer to William Shatner (Captain Kirk in Star Trek: he
the two up. Original Series). “I am the William Shatner of theoreti-
cal physics” (Cendrowski, “he Pants Alternative”). “He
But to an outsider who is not an SF fan: reminded me of a young William Shatner” is a compli-
ment (Cendrowski, “he Habitation Coniguration”).
Amy: What’s the diference? When a Star Trek actor jumps the line to see Raiders of
Penny: here’s absolutely no diference. (Cendrows- the Lost Ark (Spielberg), Sheldon invokes Patrick Stew-
ki, “he Weekend Vortex”) art, “as Captain Jean-Luc Picard once said, the line must
be drawn here! his far, no farther!” (Cendrowski, “he
Not allowing someone to watch ST is considered a pun- 21-Second Excitation;” Frakes, Star Trek: First Contact)
ishment. “I could not be allowed to go to the opening of When arguing with a lawyer, Sheldon pithily retorts
the next Star Trek movie” (Cendrowski, “he Fish Guts “you may have gone to Cambridge, but I’m an honor-
Displacement;” Abrams, Star Trek Into Darkness). ary graduate of Starleet academy” (Cendrowski, “he
Asking someone unfamiliar with the francise to watch Agreement Dissection”).
ST is also seen as a suicient explanation for the illus- he street address of the actor Wil Wheaton’s house is
tration of a diicult point, such as when Sheldon gits 1701, the registration number of the Starship Enterprise
a girl with the complete Next Generation DVD box set. (Cendrowski, “he Russian Rocket Reaction”).
“Star Trek DVDs? Why would I want this?” and Sheldon “Live long and prosper” is a traditional oral Vulcan
replies “get ready for 130 hours of I told you so” (Cend- salute that is regularly used in BBT, mostly by Sheldon,
rowski, “he Habitation Coniguration”). sometimes accompanied by the traditional Vulcan hand
salute consisting of a raised hand, palm forward, with
the ingers parted between the middle and ring inger,
Passing Allusions to ST in Ordinary Conversation and the thumb extended (Cendrowski, “he Russian
Rocket Reaction”).
SINCE THE BOYS ARE intimately familiar with all as- Sheldon also paraphrases the traditional incantation
pects of ST, it is to be expected that they frequently refer that Vulcans invoke when telepathically linking with
to ST and quote directly from speciic episodes or ilms. others. In this instance, Sheldon refers to a bowling ball.
It is typical that “dialogs are full of jargons and rhetorical “I am the ball. My thoughts are its thoughts. Its holes are
devices, unfolding the geeks’ unique language style be- my holes” (Cendrowski, “he Wheaton Recurrence”).
fore spectators’ eyes” (Yin and Yun 1220). Some of these “Resistance is futile” is the customary greeting of the
allusions are listed hereunder. Borg, a ictional cyborg race who assimilate all others,
Leonard remarks that Howard’s zero-gravity toilet for and are therefore “our most lethal enemy” (Frakes, First
the International Space Station will allow its crew “to Contact). his expression is used by Sheldon to attempt
boldly go where no man has gone before” (Cendrowski, to win an argument before its commencement (Cend-
“he Classiied Materials Turbulence”), referring to the rowski, “he Precious Fragmentation”).
opening credits of he Original Series. Similarly, when When Penny’s friend Zack asks how the boys are sure
SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014 13
that they will not blow up the moon with a laser experi-
ment, Leonard facetiously replies that the laser is set “to
One such box is actually opened on one occasion. “An
stun”. Sheldon then initiates the experiment with Cap- original mint-in-package Wesley Crusher action ig-
tain Picard’s famous order to “make it so” (Chakos, “he ure” is given to Sheldon by a ST actor and another actor
Lunar Excitation”). exclaims “oh, wow. I haven’t seen one of these in years.
And inally, Sheldon states that “the appropriate rank- (Rips open action igure packaging) Remember how we
ing of cool modes of transportation is jet pack, hov- used to make these things look like they were masturbat-
erboard, transporter, Batmobile, and then giant ant” ing?” Sheldon is mortiied: “what have you done? hat
(Cendrowski, “he Wheaton Recurrence”). was an original mint-in-package Wesley Crusher action
igure signed by my close personal friend, Wil Whea-
ton” (Cendrowski, “he Russian Rocket Reaction”).
Collecting ST Memorabilia Collectibles from other SF movies and franchises are
also collected, such as a bat-signal, the light device that
SUCH ARDENT FANS are expected to collect ST is used in Batman ilms to alert the hero to trouble brew-
memorabilia. hese include items such as “black market ing in Gotham City (Cendrowski, “he Pancake Batter
phasers, your screen-worn Lieutenant Uhura panties” Anomaly”).
(Cendrowski, “he Precious Fragmentation”).
Companies that produce such merchandise naturally
pander to fans. In fact, Sheldon comments “I don’t care Direct Interaction with ST Actors
for novelty editions of Monopoly. I prefer the classics,
regular and Klingon” (Cendrowski, “he Boyfriend SEVERAL ST ACTORS have made appearances on the
Complexity”). Even the classic Battleships game has a show as ictionalized versions of themselves. he irst
ST themed version (Cendrowski, “he Boyfriend Com- such actor to appear in BBT is reverently referred to as
plexity”). Sheldon and Leonard are seen playing three- “THE Wil Wheaton […] aka Ensign Wesley Crusher on
dimensional chess (Cendrowski, “he Pancake Batter Star Trek: he Next Generation is going to be participat-
Anomaly”) from he Original Series, and this is later ing in your tournament?” he answer is yes, since he
modiied by Sheldon to sport a “transporter pad,” an “lives around here. Big gamer.”
instantaneous matter transporter (Cendrowski, “he Sheldon is intensely adversarial and gives us an in-
Wildebeest Implementation”). his leads Sheldon to sight into his childhood obsessions, continually spicing
declaim “welcome to the exciting world of 3D chess” his commentary with quotes from Khan, the engineered
(Cendrowski, “he Hofstadter Insuiciency”). posthuman in Star Trek II: he Wrath of Khan (Meyer).
ST related props are strewn around their apartments.
For example, a Next Generation tricorder is seen on dis- You don’t understand. Growing up, I idolized Wil
play on a bookcase (Murray, “he Rhinitis Revelation”). Wheaton. Wesley Crusher had an eidetic memory
Indeed, the apartment was once referred to as “nerdva- just like me. […] I was such a fan that in 1995, I
na” (Cendrowski, “he Nerdvana Annihilation”). travelled ten hours by bus to a sci-i convention in
Most such collectibles are kept in their original pack- Jackson, Mississippi, wearing my Star Fleet Acad-
ing: “they’re mint in box. […] hey’re Collectables. […] emy cadet uniform in order to meet Wil Wheaton
Once you open the box it loses its value” (Cendrowski, and get him to autograph my mint in-package Wes-
“he Transporter Malfunction”). he threat to open ley Crusher action igure. […] My arduous journey,
such an item is very efective. his is witnessed when however, was for naught. Although advertised to
Leonard menaces Sheldon by threatening an action ig- appear, he did not show up. It was at that moment,
ure: I vowed eternal hatred for Wil Wheaton. […] In
the words of Khan Noonien Singh in the immortal
Okay. I did not want to do this but, I have here the Wrath of Khan, ‘he tasks me, he tasks me and I shall
rare mint condition production error Star Trek: he have him. […] From hell’s heart, I stab at thee.’
Next Generation Geordi LaForge, without his visor
in the original packaging. If you do not get out of Later, he continues to gripe, once again quoting Khan.
my way, I will open it. (Cendrowski, “he Nerdvana “Look at him. Wil Wheaton, my old friend, I have chased
Annihilation”) you round the moons of Nibia and round the Antares
14 SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014
maelstrom and round perdition’s lames!” having “latent homosexual tendencies.” Howard has an
Sheldon inally confronts Wheaton himself in the Enterprise D starship model in his room and Takei ap-
tournament and when Sheldon is tricked and loses, the pears to be wearing his costume from Star Trek IV: he
camera zooms out and away from him to a scene above Voyage Home (Nimoy).
the Earth in a parody of a famous ST movie scene (Mey- Takei ofers “Oh, my. Can I help? […] So you say. Yet,
er, Star Trek II: he Wrath of Khan), with Sheldon cy- here I am. […] It’s diicult. You try and stretch as an ac-
ing out “Wheaton! Wheaton! Wheaton!” (Cendrowski, tor, do Strindberg, O’Neill, but all they want is, Course
“he Creepy Candy Coating Correlation”) laid in, Captain” (Cendrowski, “he Hot Troll Devia-
In a later episode, Sheldon insults him by greeting him tion”).
“well, if it isn’t Wil Wheaton, the Jar Jar Binks of the Star LeVar Burton, the Next Generation engineer is invited
Trek universe” (Cendrowski, “he 21-Second Excita- by Sheldon over to his apartment via Twitter. But when
tion”). He also continues to insult him in a ilm queue he arrives, he inds three of the boys singing karaoke,
by remarking that “this is Indiana Jones, not Star Trek. and leaves, saying “Oh, I don’t think so. I am so done
here should be no value to his pseudo-celebrity here. with Twitter” (Cendrowski, “he Toast Derivation”).
And even at Star Trek conventions, they only let him in “Brent Spiner, Mr. Data himself ” also makes an ap-
if he helps set up” (Cendrowski, “he 21-Second Excita- pearance (Cendrowski, “he Russian Rocket Reaction”).
tion”). In the background during a party, we also witness ST
Wheaton is also faced in a bowling contest, and Shel- writers D.C. Fontana and David Gerrold (Cendrowski,
don names his team “he Russian Rocket Reaction”).
Brian George and Mark Harelik are also ST actors, but
the Wesley “Crushers” […] Wesley Crusher was Wil they appear as Raj’s father and the CalTech physics de-
Wheaton’s character on Star Trek […] It’s a blinding- partment chairman respectively. Other actors that oc-
ly clever play on words. By appropriating his charac- casionally appeared in both ST and BBT include Keith
ter’s name and adding the S, we imply that we’ll be Carradine and Pavel Lychnikof. Iris Bahr had appeared
the crushers of Wesley. in ST and also in the original unaired pilot for BBT.
Cast member Kaley Cuoco (Penny) also played William
During the same episode, Howard confesses to Whea- Shatner’s daughter in Priceline.com commercials.
ton: “Hey, I just wanted to tell you I’m a big fan […]
I’m sure you’re probably sick of Star Trek questions, but,
Whoopi Goldberg, you ever hit that?” (Cendrowski, Knowledge of Klingon
“he Wheaton Recurrence”).
In a later episode Wil Wheaton throws a party at his THE BOYS’S ARCANE KNOWLEDGE of ST includes
house, which has a painting of him as Wesley Crusher the ictional Klingon language, both spoken and writ-
in uniform and a USS Enterprise-D model. Raj remarks ten, to the extent of being able to play Klingon Boggle,
that he just met [the] gynaecologist of the “beautiful ac- and the ability to write and pronounce words such as
tress who plays the Borg Queen in First Contact,” Al- “kapla […] pokh […] potl […] pukhpa […] chorrr […]
ice Krige (Cendrowski, “he Russian Rocket Reaction;” nekhmakh […] qochbe […] lokh, makh, and cherrrkh”
Frakes, First Contact). (Cendrowski, “he Panty Pinata Polarization”). Indeed,
Sheldon furthers his insults: “enjoy the accolades now, Howard claims to speak ive languages, “six, if you count
Wil Wheaton, but like your time on Star Trek: Next Gen- Klingon!” But Leonard remarks that “girls don’t count
eration, your smug self-satisfaction will be short-lived Klingon” (Cendrowski, “he Creepy Candy Coating
(Cendrowski, “he Wheaton Recurrence”). Sheldon Corollary”).
attends a party and attempts to snub Wheaton by in- When Penny asks Sheldon whether he thinks that
forming him “well it was either this or another hot tub Leonard would eventually become bored with her
party at George Takei’s house” (Chakos, “he Stag Con- were they to date, Sheldon assess her by asking three
vergence”). he two eventually bury the hatchet (Cend- things, one of which refers to ST: “Do you have a work-
rowski, “he Habitation Coniguration”). ing knowledge of quantum physics? […] Do you speak
George Takei (who reprised Hikaru Sulu, Star Trek: Klingon? […] Do you know any card tricks?” (Cend-
he Original Series starship Enterprise’s helmsman) ap- rowski, “he Bad Fish Paradigm”).
pears in one of Howard’s dreams when he is accused of his language, belonging to a ierce, ictional warrior
SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014 15
race, is used by Sheldon to threaten Wheaton “bortaS paper-scissors, players familiar with each other will
bIr jablu’DI’ reH QaQqu’ nay’,” who asks “did that guy tie 75 to 80% of the time due to the limited number
just say revenge is a dish best served cold in Klingon?” of outcomes. I suggest rock-paper-scissors-lizard-
(Cendrowski, “he Creepy Candy Coating Corollary”). Spock. […] It’s very simple. Look, scissors cuts pa-
At one point, Howard Sheldon’s request to introduce per. Paper covers rock. Rock crushes lizard. Lizard
him to Stephen Hawking is met with the comment “you poisons Spock. Spock smashes scissors. Scissors de-
don’t seem to be understanding the English word no. capitates lizard. Lizard eats paper. Paper disproves
Maybe a diferent language will help. Russian, nyet. Chi- Spock. Spock vaporizes rock. And as it always has,
nese, bu. Japanese, iie. Klingon, qo. Binary coded Ascii, rock crushes scissors.
0110111001101111” (Cendrowski, “he Hawking Exci-
tation”). he symbol for Spock in this version of the game is the
When Bernardette prepares to marry Howard, her Vulcan salute, and all of the participants invariably hold
wedding invitations are mentioned. “I’m so glad you out the symbol for Spock (Cendrowski, “he Lizard-
talked Howard out of having your wedding invitations Spock Expansion”). Interestingly, we learn that “Rock-
in Klingon,” to which Bernardette replies “turn it over. Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock was created by Internet pi-
I’m hoping my relatives think it’s Hebrew” (Cendrowski, oneer Sam Kass as an improvement on the classic game
“he Vacation Solution”). Rock-Paper-Scissors. All hail Sam Kass” (Cendrowski,
During the wedding, Sheldon tries to give the wedding “he Rothman Disintegration”).
speech in Klingon. “I’ll do it, provided I can perform the Sheldon’s predilection for this choosing method is such
ceremony in Klingon,” but Bernardette refuses. When that a rival scientist has him explain the method three
he tries “Daq tu’ taH Daq yIn tlhej ghajtaH” Bernadette times in rapid succession (Cendrowski, “he Rothman
furiously stops him: “Sheldon! I told you no Klingon.” Disintegration”). He also challenges this rival to “a trivia
He laconically replies “ine, I’ll do it in English, but it contest, and you may choose the ield of battle. Star Trek
loses something. […] he Klingon would have made trivia, Star Trek: Next Generation trivia, Star Trek: Deep
you cry.” However, toward the end, ater the custom- Space Nine trivia, Star Trek: Voyager trivia” (Cendrows-
ary “by the power vested in us, by the state of Califor- ki, “he Rothman Disintegration”).
nia,” Sheldon interjects “and the Klingon High Council” Sheldon compares one of Leonard’s dates, Dr. Stepha-
(Cendrowski, “he Countdown Relection”). nie Barnett, with Dr. Leonard McCoy in Star Trek: he
Original Series:
Introduction of ST Elements into Real Life Look, if you fail at this relationship, and history sug-
gests you will, then we risk losing the medical oicer
WHEN ELEMENTS OF ST intrude directly into BBT, that our landing party has always needed. […] You’re
this provides an interesting variation of metalepsis, of- Kirk, I’m Spock, Wolowitz is Scotty, Koothrappali is
ten for humorous efect. For example, Sheldon plays the the guy who always gets killed, and now we’ve got
theremin (not very well) by way of attempting to annoy McCoy.
the rest, saying “I’ve loved the theremin from the irst
moment I heard the original Star Trek theme” (Cend- Sheldon also gives a Vulcan salute when he notices her
rowski, “he Bus Pants Utilization”). observing the conversation (Cendrowski, “he White
He also carries a bat’leth, a prop of a Klingon hand Asparagus Triangulation”), and his personal diary is an-
weapon, with him to the house of the person who notated à la ST: “Sheldon’s log, stardate 63345.3” (Cend-
hacked his online World of Warcrat account, claiming rowski, “he Adhesive Duck Deiciency”).
“no weapon strikes more fear into a man’s heart than a Dreams are also laced with ST. In one dream, Sheldon
Klingon bat’leth” (Chakos, “he Zarnecki Incursion”). inds an alien “Gorn sitting on the couch” (Cendrowski,
Sheldon introduces a ST version of rock-paper-scis- “he Apology Insuiciency”).In another dream, Shel-
sors, a hand game that is used as a choosing method don is guilty of stealing a ST toy from Leonard. He inds
similar to coin lipping or throwing dice. He claims that himself on an alien planet: “oh dear. Two suns and no
this is because sunscreen.” A Spock action igure speaks to him with
Spock’s voice as a surrogate conscience:
anecdotal evidence suggests that in the game of rock-
16 SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014
Hello again, Sheldon. […] I am very disappointed the shields? Where the hell did that come from?
in you. You broke your toy and switched it with Anyways, um, you know how guys like this are, so,
Leonard’s. You should be ashamed of yourself. […] please don’t take advantage of them. (Cendrowski,
If I told you to jump of the bridge of the Enterprise, “he Dead Hooker Juxtaposition”)
would you do it? […] You must right your wrong,
Sheldon. […] I am unhappy. […] Now do the right Later in the series, Penny attempts to explain to Sheldon
thing. (Cendrowski, “he Transporter Malfunc- why the other boys had faked his discovery of magnetic
tion”) monopoles in order to help him “to deal with a dii-
cult situation. […] Remember that scene in the new Star
Sheldon attempts to present a television program Trek movie when Kirk has to take over the ship, so he
tells Spock all that stuf he knew wasn’t true, like saying
Welcome to Sheldon Cooper Presents Fun with Spock didn’t care his mom died?” (Cendrowski, “he
Flags. […] Now this week we have a very special Electric Can Opener Fluctuation”; Abrams “Star Trek”).
episode where we explore the lags of the popular When his friends attempt to set up a date, Sheldon
entertainment franchise, Star Trek. And to help me, questions the necessity, and they explain to him that
I’m pleased to introduce Internet personality, for- “even Spock had a date once every seven years.” Shel-
mer star of Star Trek: he Next Generation, and the don corrects them “he didn’t date. It was pon farr. His
only guy I know lucky enough to be immortalized in blood boiled with mating lust.” Howard retorts “okay,
one sixteenth scale. Set phasers to fun for my friend, well, why don’t you start with a cup of cofee, and you
Wil Wheaton. (Cendrowski, “he Habitation Con- can pon farr Amy Farrah Fowler later” (Chakos, “he
iguration”) Lunar Excitation”).
Spock’s dying words are quoted in order to induce
he boys are so hopeless with matters that directly relate Sheldon to accede to the majority’s request to partici-
to life that when Penny asks several questions pertain- pate in a physics bowl. he Benthamite quotation is
ing to the real world, the boys are only able to provide “he needs of the many […] outweigh the needs of the
ST-like answers, such as the sexiest man alive being Pat- few. […] Or the one.” (Cendrowski, “he Bat Jar Conjec-
rick Stewart, who reprises Captain Picard in Star Trek: ture”). And Sheldon accedes.
he Next Generation (Cendrowski, “he Bat Jar Conjec- Sheldon himself acknowledges, invites and creates
ture”).his works both ways, and when Penny is asked such comparisons in order to understand life. When
who Stan Lee was, her irst guess is that “he was on Star faced with the inevitable, when “sometimes you can’t
Trek” (Chakos, “he Excelsior Acquisition”). win,” he compares this to “facing Starleet Academy’s
Sheldon also tries to get his way with Leonard by quot- unwinnable command scenario, the Kobayashi Maru.
ing ST: “pursuant to Starleet General Order 104 Section […] Captain Kirk won.” Penny retorts “Kirk cheated,”
A, you are deemed unit and I hereby relieve you of your leading the bemused Sheldon to remark “impressive
command.” Leonard retorts that this “does not apply in that you know that. It’s hard to believe I’m actually hav-
this situation. […] because this is not Star Trek” (Cend- ing this conversation with you. […] Kirk beat the Ko-
rowski, “he White Asparagus Triangulation”). bayashi Maru by reprogramming the simulator.” (Cend-
rowski, “he Apology Insuiciency”).
When a girl attempts to seduce him, she observes
ST as Metaphor for Real Life “Let’s look at this logically. I have a stomach, I get
hungry. I have genitals, I have the potential for sexual
CONSTANT REFERENCES TO ST inluence even non- arousal.” Sheldon is unimpressed and replies, referring
Trekkies. For example, by the end of the second season to the ictional Vulcan ritual of Kolinahr which purges
of BBT, Penny has become so accustomed to ST allu- all emotions:
sions that she defends the boys’ naivety by referencing
ST: A cross we all must bear. You know, in diicult mo-
ments like this, I oten turn to a force greater than
Oh, let’s see, how can I explain this, um, they don’t myself […] Star Trek: he Motion Picture […] in it,
know how to use their shields. […] Yeah, you know, we learn that when Spock inds himself drawn of
like in Star Trek, when you’re in battle and you raise the path of logic by feelings bubbling up from his
SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014 17
human half, he suppresses them using the Vulcan mulan Empire. […] Of course, sometimes the Federa-
mental discipline of Kolinar. (Cendrowski, “he tion and the Romulans would enter the Neutral Zone
Alien Parasite Hypothesis”) to negotiate a temporary truce.” To which Penny replies
“sweetie, let me put this in a way you’ll understand.
Sheldon also comments that he is tired of being re- From the waist down, my shields are up” (Rich, “he
minded that whenever he complains about change, the Love Car Displacement”).
fortuitious replacement of Leonard Nimoy by Zachary
Quinto as a Spock replacement is brought up. Leonard
sums this up: “relax, sometimes change is good. Uh, Mental Identiication with Spock
you were worried about Zachary Quinto being the new
Spock, but you wound up liking him.” Leonard protests ALL OF THE BOYS are scientists and mentally identify
with Spock, the scientist in he Original Series. However,
Every time the topic of change comes up, you throw the person who identiies with Spock most is Sheldon,
Zachary Quinto in my face. I’m upset the mailman as has already been noted in this essay. his is because
has a new haircut, Zachary Quinto. I’m upset that
daylight saving time started, Zachary Quinto. I’m Newtonian science ofered men power because it
upset daylight saving time ended, Zachary Quinto. brought order, rationality, and hence optimism to a
I’m saying this for the last time, Zachary Quinto was universe that had seemed arbitrary and chaotic. Mr.
a weird, wonderful, unrepeatable event. So stop us- Spock in the Star Trek series epitomizes this: he is
ing him against me. (Rich, “he Love Spell Poten- rationality, and he brings order that oten saves the
tial”) Enterprise. (Haynes 247)
Sheldon also explains his coping strategies for being Indeed, Sheldon’s obsession with Spock led to the is-
around people. “I used to be uncomfortable around suance of a “restraining order from Leonard Nimoy”
people, but then I learned a trick. I pretend everyone I (Chakos, “he Excelsior Acquisition”). Some more spe-
meet is a beloved character from Star Trek” (Cendrows- ciic examples will be given here.
ki, “he Bon Voyage Reaction”). In a version of twenty questions wherein others have
He also indulges in blackmail and reminds Leonard to decide which ST character Sheldon is, Raj immediate-
and his new Indian girlfriend ly guesses with his irst question “Are you Spock?” Later
in the same episode, when playing the game once more,
what happened to the alien, played by talented char- Penny fruitlessly uses up her twenty questions, Sheldon
acter actor Frank Gorshin, in the Star Trek episode informs her “Fine. I was Spock” (Cendrowski, “he Ve-
“Let hat Be Your Last Battleield?” […] Captain gas Renormalization”).
Kirk activated the self-destruct sequence and threat- When trying to get Sheldon to drive faster, Penny in-
ened to blow up the Enterprise and kill them both structs him, “warp speed ahead, Mr. Spock,” to which
unless he gave in. […] Computer, this is Dr. Shel- Sheldon replies “Mr. Spock did not pilot the Enterprise.
don Cooper. Activate self-destruct sequence. Code He was the science oicer” (Cendrowski, “he Adhesive
1-1-A-2-B. […] when it counts down […] unless Duck Deiciency”).
Leonard signs the new agreement in the next 41 A recurring joke is Sheldon’s “Vulcan hearing,” a ref-
seconds, this computer will send an e-mail to your erence to the superior hearing of the Vulcan species
parents in India saying that you’re in a secret rela- (Cendrowski, “he Electric Can Opener Fluctuation”).
tionship with the whiter-than-marshmallow-luf Sheldon moves to Bozeman, Montana, where the
Leonard Hofstadter. (Cendrowski, “he Agreement ictional human starship Phoenix had been built and
Dissection;” Taylor, “Let hat Be Your Last Battle- launched, reaching warp speeds for the irst time
ield”) (Frakes, Star Trek: First Contact). He gives the Vulcan
salute in a farewell video and states “live long and pros-
Other individuals also refer to ST as a metaphor for life. per” (Cendrowski, “he Bozeman Reaction”).
When Leonard shares a bed with Penny, he calls “the At Christmas, Penny gives Sheldon an autographed
middle here the Neutral Zone. […] Star Trek. You know, napkin: “to Sheldon, live long and prosper. Leonard Ni-
the Neutral Zone between the Federation and the Ro- moy. […] he came into the restaurant. Sorry the napkin’s
18 SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014
dirty. He wiped his mouth with it.” Sheldon exclaims, in tion;” Lucas, “he Enterprise Incident”).
all seriousness “I possess the DNA of Leonard Nimoy? Sheldon and Penny act out a fan iction story that he
[…] Do you realize what this means? All I need is a had written as a child wherein he is taken to the 23rd
healthy ovum and I can grow my own Leonard Nimoy! century, with Penny playing Spock. Sheldon explains
(Cendrowski, “he Bath Item Git Hypothesis”). that it “took the liberty of adapting a Star Trek fan ic-
Sheldon’s admiration for Spock leads him to order a tion novella I wrote when I was ten into a one-act play
“life-size cardboard Mr. Spock […] I know he wouldn’t […] “Where No Sheldon Has Gone Before.” It’s the story
care for an outburst of human emotion, but, oh goodie, of a young boy who is transported from the ignorant
oh goodie, oh goodie. Commander Spock requesting backwoods of East Texas to the 23rd Century, where his
permission to be unfolded. […] Oh, no! hey sent the genius is not only appreciated, but celebrated. […] in
wrong Spock! Live long and suck it, Zachary Quinto.” this pivotal scene, Sheldon’s mother, played by you, ar-
His disappointment is due to the fact that to him, “this gues with an emissary of the United Federation of Plan-
is a disaster. I distinctly ordered the Leonard Nimoy Mr. ets, Mr. Spock, the role I will bring to life” (Cendrowski,
Spock cardboard standee. Why would I feel safer with “he hespian Catalyst”).
Zachary Quinto at the foot of my bed? […] No, can’t do Sheldon dresses up as Spock, complete with ears and
it. Sorry, Quinto, you’re going back” (Cendrowski, “he make up, uniform and a tricorder prop at a medieval
Recombination Hypothesis”). fair, and quotes Spock: “Captain, I’m getting an unusual
reading” (Cendrowski, “he Codpiece Topology”). We
also learn that Sheldon has a long history of wearing “a
Acting out Parts Star Trek ensign’s uniform,” even as a child, unwisely,
during a “Texas State Fair” where he was “trotted out
Star Trek uniforms oten feature in the series. he earli- and shown of like a prize hog” (Cendrowski, “he
est example in the series is when for the purposes of a Benefactor Factor”).
physics bowl, Sheldon has his team wear uniforms based Sheldon and Amy are witnessed “playing doctor. Star
on Star Trek: he Original Series uniforms (Cendrowski, Trek style” with Amy dressed in a Sciences division blue
“he Bat Jar Conjecture”). Original Series women’s uniform, and a medical tricord-
Leonard says to his Indian girlfriend that he owns er prop (Cendrowski, “he Launch Acceleration”).
“just two. Everyday and dress” ST uniforms from he And inally, all of the boys dress up for a photoshoot
Original Series. He then asks her “hypothetically, if I had while driving to the Bakersield, California Comic-Con,
access to a Lieutenant Uhura uniform, would you wear and stop at “Vasquez Rocks […] they shot a lot of Star
it?” (Cendrowski, “he Prestidigitation Approxima- Trek episodes out there.” Sheldon dressed as Data, Raj as
tion”). She later accommodates him, donning a Uhura Worf, Howard as a Borg and Leonard as Captain Picard.
uniform that belongs to her brother, somehow enacting “We’re Starleet oicers and a member of the Borg Col-
one of Leonard’s sexual fantasies as he gleefully remarks lective.” hey “begin with a classic Star Trek ight scene
(of camera) “You look beautiful, Lieutenant Uhura. […] some sexy glamour shots.” In the excitement, their
Now prepare for inspection […]. Open the landing bay car is stolen from under their noses (Cendrowski, “he
doors, shuttle crat approaching” (Cendrowski, “he Bakersield Expedition”).
Roommate Transmogriication”).
When the boys return from an expedition to the North
Pole, Sheldon sports a goatee, a reference to Spock in Discussion
an alternate universe (Cendrowski, “he Electric Can
Opener Fluctuation”; Daniels, “Mirror, mirror”). ROMAN NOTES THAT “[t]elevision programs and
he willing suspension of disbelief is taken even fur- characters have a unique ability to become an intimate
ther when the boys purchase a time machine prop from part of a household and family” (130). his is more so
the movie he Time Machine (Pal), and they decide that with series such as BBT, which “can capture an audi-
it would be fantastic to pretend to travel to “the future ence’s involvement in a way equalled by few contempo-
and obtain a cloaking device. […] Captain Kirk will rary media” (Creeber 4). Bednarek notes that in TV se-
steal a cloaking device from the Romulans on Stardate ries, over the years “viewers build up a particularly close
5027.3, which will be January 10th 2328 by pre-Federa- and intimate relationship with characters […] perhaps
tion reckoning” (Cendrowski, “he Nerdvana Annihila- knowing more about them than they do about many
SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014 19
people in the ‘real’ world” (Bednarek 201). his also (Bednarek 221)
holds true for our BBT scientists and ST since Sheldon et
al. know far more about the characters in ST and other And, since BBT is a sitcom, these awkward moments
realms of iction and fantasy than they do about real life. are vital to the show, given that “quirky, inadvertent de-
BBT portrays the boys as scientists who identify partures from cultural protocol have a way of breaking
closely with ST, and ST is used to highlight the extreme down our familiar frames of reference and providing
level of nerdism that they have attained. All four boys the sort of unexpected dislocations that make for good
are “constructed both through explicit and implicit cues jokes” (58), creating an exception to the observation
in [their] own and others’ dialogue, drawing on shared that “our society does not ind much to laugh about in
stereotypes of ‘nerdiness’” (Bednarek 199). More spe- science” (Weingart et al., 286). Bednarek has also ob-
ciically, “Sheldon’s repertoire provides insight into how served that
and when linguistic deviance constructs nerdiness in
contrast to other social identities” (Bednarek 199), and Western audiences (and media) stereotypically as-
this is highlighted by constant references to ST. sociate geeks and nerds with the following traits: in-
Bednarek has pointed out that “[…] nerds are also telligent, studious; an interest in, obsession with, or
frequently shown as young […] and they can be linked knowledge of, all things technological or scientiic,
to obsessive-compulsive or Asperger-like behaviour” especially as relating to computers; an interest in sci-
(204), traits amply displayed by Sheldon. hese include i and fantasy and related activities; socially inept/
diiculty with empathising and interacting with other awkward, loners/outsiders, reclusive, unsociable,
individuals, struggling to understanding humour and having only online friends, oten socially isolated
sarcasm, a dislike for any form of change from estab- or ridiculed, no conversational skills; unattractive,
lished routine and an obsession with ritual, including e.g. in terms of weight (either very skinny or over-
an extreme reluctance to do anything that might mod- weight), with glasses, weird clothing; frequently
ify the status quo of “the Sheldonian calendar” (Cend- white males […]; physically awkward or unit, un-
rowski, “he Cruciferous Vegetable Ampliication”). For interested in sports; sexually inactive/virgins (203).
example, at one point, Sheldon observes “I’m still not
comfortable. Of course. here’s too many people here” his paper has shown that our scientists clearly accede
(Cendrowski, “he Staircase Implementation”). to all facets of this stereotype. Moreover, Haynes notes
To a greater or lesser extent, all four identify with that
Spock, a role model for intelligence, knowledge and log-
ical thinking, all prized traits within the scientiic com- [t]hroughout Western culture, the master narrative
munity. However, as already intimated, Sheldon most of the scientist is of an evil and dangerous man. his
closely identiies with Spock as he himself perceives his […] mythology […] arises from fear of the power
mental characteristics as overlapping with those of the and change that science entails, leaving many people
unemotional and logical Vulcan character. feeling confused and disempowered. […] the num-
Indeed, when dressing up in a he Next Generation ber of recurring stereotypes is small. (243)
uniform, in the absence of Spock in this part of the
series, he chooses to appear as Data, the emotionless While all four scientists are gauche, nerdy and quirky,
android, an individual who, like Sheldon, is “unevenly Sheldon constitutes the classical embodiment of the
enculturated, grasping some points of expected social mad scientist prototype, a particular category deined
behavior or cultural understandings suitable to a given by Haynes.
framework while missing others completely” (Lundeen
and Wagner 58). Such behaviour European romanticism, provoked in part by reac-
tion against the scientiic materialism of the En-
brings him closer to characters such as Seven of lightenment, generated perhaps the most enduring
Nine in Star Trek: Voyager (Mandala 2011) or Data scientist stereotype: that of the inhuman researcher
and Spock in other Star Trek series, characters who who has sacriiced his or her emotions and human
appear to damage others’ face unintentionally be- relationships in an obsessive pursuit of scientiic
cause of their partial ‘alienness’ and seem willing materialism. (Haynes 248-9)
to learn more about ‘normal’ human conventions.”
20 SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014
his and other “archetypes are the continuing folklore potential advances and beneits that future scientiic and
of our time. Like all myths, they appear simple but in technological innovations will bestow upon humanity.
fact represent complex ideas and suppressed fears that he ST future is thus so loved by our characters since
transcend time, place, and race” (Haynes 253). it accedes to this vision. “his optimism ofers solace
Indeed, it is Sheldon who feels most out of place and in the promise of a brighter and better future” (Grech,
time, and most embodies the yen for the ST future, iden- “Picard” 22).
tifying with this ictional universe from an early age, Penny constitutes the non-scientist representative in
fantasising as a child that he would be swept of to a hap- BBT, an overt observer, the audience’s gauge and sur-
pier tomorrow by Federation agents from the future. In rogate judge of the antics that our eccentric scientists
fact, he once vehemently states “if I got on the bridge of indulge in. In extremis, there are occasions when even
the Enterprise, I would never, ever leave” (Cendrowski, the easy-going Penny loses her patience with her nerdy
“he Transporter Malfunction”). Sheldon also wistfully friends: “my God, you are grown men, how could you
confesses “what I want is to be departing starship Enter- waste your lives with these stupid toys and costumes and
prise in a one-man shuttlecrat headed to the planetoid comic books and… and now that… that… […] time
I rule known as Sheldon Alpha “(Cendrowski, “he Ma- machine” (Cendrowski, “he Nerdvana Annihilation”).
ternal Congruence”). He grieves for this future, noting his occasionally leads the boys to begin to come to
their senses. Leonard once almost eschews all of his col-
at best I have 60 years let. […] I need to get to here lectibles.
[…] the earliest estimate of the singularity, when
man will be able to transfer his consciousness into I’m packing up all my collectibles and taking them
machines and achieve immortality. […] I’m going down to the comic book store to sell. […] no more
to miss so much, the uniied ield theory, cold fu- toys or action igures or props or replicas or cos-
sion. […] In order to live long enough to fuse my tumes or robots or Darth Vader voice changers, I’m
consciousness with cybernetics, I need to change my getting rid of all of it. […] I think it’s time for me to
diet. get rid of this stuf and… you know… move on with
my life. (Cendrowski, “he Nerdvana Annihilation”)
When he is accused of wanting to become “some sort
of robot? […] Didn’t you already do that?” he sighs Sheldon also simulates such intentions. “I think I’ve
“lattering, but sadly, no” (Cendrowski, “he Crucifer- kind of outgrown Star Trek. You know, stock characters,
ous Vegetable Ampliication”). his yen for the future ludicrous plots, beam me up. What a load of hooey.”
is echoed by his friends, to the extent that when Leon- And when someone gives him a Vulcan salute, Sheldon
ard irst signs the roommate agreement with Sheldon, retorts “yeah, even that. You look like a dork” (Cend-
he seriously acknowledges a clause which states “section rowski, “he Russian Rocket Reaction”). But all this is
nine, miscellany. […] if either of us ever invents time just pretence and the collectibles are retained and added
travel, we agree our irst stop will be this meeting today to.
in precisely ive seconds.” Both look around and when his is not to say that there is no insight in the show
no one materialises in the room, Sheldon remarks “well by the scientists with regard to the sometimes over-
that’s disappointing” (Cendrowski, “he Staircase Im- whelming nerdiness that they display. With great in-
plementation”). sight, Howard the engineer once notes “okay, make your
Any suggestions contrary to the philosophies and us- little jokes, but of the four of us, I’m the only one making
ages depicted within ST is anathema. When Sheldon is any real-world contribution to science and technology”
confronted with the question “are you suggesting we live (Cendrowski, “he Classiied Materials Turbulence”).
our lives guided by the philosophies found in cheap sci- On another occasion, he points “let me explain the dif-
ence iction?” he exclaims “cheap science iction?” and ference between you and me. You watch Star Trek. I live
resorts to the ictional calming Vulcan ritual of “Kolinar it” (Cendrowski, “he Launch Acceleration”).
to suppress my anger at that last comment” (Cendrows- However, the ultimate statement with regard to their
ki, “he Alien Parasite Hypothesis”). outlook toward life is made by Sheldon:
his is probably because scientists are fully cognizant
of the enhancements that science and technology have Leonard, all our lives we have dreamed of inding
made to everyday quality of life, and are aware of the ourselves inside one of the fantasy worlds we love.
SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014 21
And look at us. At this moment, we are, in fact, a ence educated not only about SF and ST but also about
Star Trek landing party stranded in an alien and un- science.
forgiving environment, relying only on our wits, our
fortitude and our moxie. As long as we have those
things, nothing can stop [us]. (Cendrowski, “he Big Bang heory Episodes Cited
Bakersield Expedition”)
“he 21-Second Excitation.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big
It must also be noted that Penny, the non-scientiic Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. November
public’s champion, also gains knowledge through her 2010.
engagement with scientists, an osmotic process that “he Adhesive Duck Deiciency.” Dir. Mark Cendrows-
promises the public the chance of also acquiring scien- ki. Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. No-
tiic knowledge. Indeed, the scientists are occasionally vember 2009.
completely overwhelmed to the point of incredulity by “he Agreement Dissection.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big
her lack of even the most rudimentary and fundamental Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. April 2011.
scientiic knowledge, with an occasional overreaction “he Alien Parasite Hypothesis.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski.
that constitutes harsh berating. Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. December
his is a typical example of Lorenzo-Dus’s “double ar- 2010.
ticulation,” an interaction not only between the actors, “he Apology Insuiciency.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big
but also between the actors and viewers (161). Penny is Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. November
so changed that she inds herself unable to meaningfully 2010.
engage with boyfriends of her previous ilk, mindless “he Bad Fish Paradigm.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big
and uneducated hulks, a metamorphosis that she does Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. September
not totally appreciate. 2008.
“he Bakersield Expedition.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski.
Damn you, you rat bastard. […] Zack was a perfect- Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. January
ly nice guy, and then you ruined him! […] in the 2013.
olden days, I never would’ve known he was so stu- “he Bat Jar Conjecture.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big
pid. […] You have destroyed my ability to tolerate Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. April 2008.
idiots. (Chakos, “he Lunar Excitation”) “he Bath Item Git Hypothesis.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski.
Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. December
Indeed, she even returns to college. She confesses to her 2008.
educational inferiority with a degree of reticence and “he Benefactor Factor.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big
clear embarrassment that she had Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. February
2011.
been thinking about going back to school for a while “he Bon Voyage Reaction.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big
now. So a couple months ago, I started taking a his- Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. May 2013.
tory class at the community college. […] I don’t “he Boyfriend Complexity.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski.
want […] to make a big deal out of it. […]. Look, Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. Novem-
I didn’t inish college, so I thought I would give it ber 2010.
a try. […] I’m not embarrassed. (Cendrowski, “he “he Bozeman Reaction.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big
Extract Obliteration”) Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. January 2010.
“he Bus Pants Utilization.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big
In conclusion, this paper has clearly shown that ST is Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. January 2011.
heavily utilised by four scientists in BBT in everyday life “he Classiied Materials Turbulence.” Dir. Mark Cend-
to provide textual and visual cues about character and rowski. Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television.
stereotype. It also shows that nerdy scientists can engage May 2009.
with the general public as represented not only by the “he Codpiece Topology.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big
viewers, but also by characters within BBT. Moreover, Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. September
information lows bidirectionally, from scientists to 2008.
non-scientists and vice-versa, with Penny and the audi- “he Countdown Relection.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski.
22 SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014
Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. May 2012. “he Pancake Batter Anomaly.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski.
“he Countdown Relection.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. March
Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. May 2012. 2008.
“he Creepy Candy Coating Corollary.” Dir. Mark “he Pants Alternative.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big
Cendrowski. Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Televi- Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. March 2010.
sion. October 2009. “he Panty Piñata Polarization.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski.
“he Cruciferous Vegetable Ampliication.” Dir. Mark Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. November
Cendrowski. Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Televi- 2008.
sion. September 2010. “he Plimpton Stimulation.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big
“he Dead Hooker Juxtaposition.” Dir. Mark Cend- Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. May 2010.
rowski. Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. “he Precious Fragmentation.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski.
March 2009. Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. March
“he Electric Can Opener Fluctuation.” Dir. Mark 2010.
Cendrowski. Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Televi- “he Prestidigitation Approximation.” Dir. Mark Cend-
sion. September 2009. rowski. Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television.
“he Excelsior Acquisition.” Dir. Peter Chakos. Big Bang March 2011.
heory. Warner Bros. Television. March 2010. “he Recombination Hypothesis.” Dir. Mark Cendrows-
“he Extract Obliteration.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big ki. Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. January
Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. November 2012.
2012. “he Rhinitis Revelation.” Dir. Howard Murray. Big
“he Fish Guts Displacement.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. October 2011.
Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. December “he Robotic Manipulation.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski.
2012. Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. Septem-
“he Habitation Coniguration.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. ber 2010.
Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. November “he Roommate Transmogriication.” Dir. Mark Cend-
2012. rowski. Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television.
“he Hawking Excitation.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big May 2011.
Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. April 2012. “he Rothman Disintegration.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski.
“he Hofstadter Insuiciency.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. February
Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. September 2012.
2013. “he Russian Rocket Reaction.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski.
“he Hot Troll Deviation.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. October
Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. October 2010. 2011.
“he Launch Acceleration.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big “he Stag Convergence.” Dir. Peter Chakos. Big Bang
Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. May 2012. heory. Warner Bros. Television. April 2012.
“he Lizard–Spock Expansion.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. “he Staircase Implementation.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski.
Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. November Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. May 2010.
2008. “he hespian Catalyst.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big
“he Lizard–Spock Expansion.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. February
Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. November 2011.
2008. “he Toast Derivation.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big Bang
“he Love Spell Potential.” Dir. Anthony Rich. Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. February 2011.
heory. Warner Bros. Television. May 2013. “he Transporter Malfunction.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski.
“he Lunar Excitation.” Dir. Peter Chakos. Big Bang Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. March
heory. Warner Bros. Television. May 2010. 2012.
“he Maternal Congruence.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. “he Vacation Solution.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big
Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. December Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. February
2009. 2012.
“he Nerdvana Annihilation.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. “he Vegas Renormalization.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski.
Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. April 2008. Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. April 2009.
SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014 23
“he Weekend Vortex.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big Bang 3 (2012): 199-229.
heory. Warner Bros. Television. March 2012. Creeber, Glen. Serial Television: Big Drama on the Small
“he Wheaton Recurrence.” Dir. Mark Cendrowski. Big Screen. London: BFI Publishing, 2004.
Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. April 2010. Culpeper, Jonathan. Language and Characterisation:
“he White Asparagus Triangulation.” Dir. Mark Cend- People in Plays and Other Texts. London: Longman,
rowski. Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. 2001.
November 2008. Engelhart, Jasmin. “he Nerd as the Other.” Combi-
“he Wildebeest Implementation.” Dir. Mark Cend- natori.at. 18 Feb. 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2013. <http://
rowski. Big Bang heory. Warner Bros. Television. iles.combinatori.at/univie/ps_paper_freak_shows/
May 2011. the_nerd_as_the_other_by_jasmin_engelhart.pdf>.
“he Zarnecki Incursion.” Dir. Peter Chakos. Big Bang Grech Victor. “Star Trek’s Picard: Humanity’s Con-
heory. Warner Bros. Television. March 2011. science.” New York Review of Science Fiction 25.6
(2013): 20-23.
Haynes, Roslynn. “From Alchemy to Artiicial Intel-
Star Trek Films and Episodes Cited ligence: Stereotypes of the Scientist in Western Lit-
erature.” Public Understanding of Science 12.3 (2003):
“Let hat Be Your Last Battleield.” Dir. Jud Taylor. Star 243-253.
Trek: he Original Series. Paramount. January 1969. Inness, Sherrie A. “Who Remembers Sabrina? Intelli-
“Mirror, Mirror.” Dir. Marc Daniels. Star Trek: he Orig- gence, Gender, and the Media.” In: Geek Chic: Smart
inal Series. Paramount. October 1967. Women in Popular Culture. Palgrave Macmillan,
“he Enterprise Incident.” Dir. John Meredyth Lucas. 2007 pp 1-9.
Star Trek: he Original Series. Paramount. September Lorenzo-Dus, Nuria. Television Discourse: Analysing
1968. Language in the Media. Basingstoke & New York:
“Trials and Tribble-ations.” Dir. Jonathan West. Star Palgrave Macmillan 2009.
Trek: he Original Series. Paramount. November Lundeen Jan and Jon Wagner. Deep Space and Sacred
1996. Time: Star Trek in the American Mythos. Westport:
Raiders of the Lost Ark. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Para- Praegher, 1998
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Star Trek II: he Wrath of Khan. Dir. Nicholas Meyer. Case Study of Language and Character in a Televi-
Paramount 1982. sual Text.” In Piazza, Roberta, Monika Bednarek, and
Star Trek Into Darkness. Dir. Jefrey J. Abrams. Para- Fabio Rossi, eds. Telecinematic Discourse: Approaches
mount. 2013. to the Language of Films and Television Series. Vol.
Star Trek IV: he Voyage Home. Dir. Leonard Nimoy. 211. New York; John Benjamins: 2011. pp 205-223.
Paramount. 1986. Roman, James. From Daytime to Primetime: he History
Star Trek V: he Final Frontier. Dir. William Shatner. of American Television Programs. Westport, Con-
Paramount. 1989. necticut & London: Greenwood Press, 2005
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Star Trek: First Contact. Dir. Jonathan Frakes. Para- ani Ghosh. “Gender Stereotypes of Scientist Charac-
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terisation in he Big Bang heory.” Multilingua 31.2-
24 SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014
Italian Science Fiction 1011 specialization, and on the other, to the wish to set a rea-
sonable limit to this essay in terms of space and range of
Giulia Iannuzzi topics. he bibliography contains a selection of further
readings regarding the many aspects which it was im-
A HISTORY OF ITALIAN SCIENCE FICTION cannot possible to deal with in the text.
be written without taking into account the problem of
its critical visibility. In fact - even nowadays - the very
existence of Italian sf is routinely called into question: A Few References to the Roots of SF in Early Italian
English readers and scholars have at their disposal a Literature
very limited number of translated texts, and since sf is
regularly excluded from university courses in Italian lit- A TRUE HISTORY OF SF IN ITALY should go right
erature, Italians themselves are oten poorly acquainted back to the beginnings of the literature written in Ital-
with Italian sf, meaning that in Italy the genre is usually ian, and mention the theological allegory and the ultra-
associated with Anglo-American authors. he high pro- terrestrial journey of Dante’s La divina commedia (he
portion of translations from English in the specialized Divine Comedy, 1304-1320 in manuscript), or the fan-
market is both a reason for, and consequence of, this tasy-related features of Marco Polo’s description of his
widespread misconception.2 journeys in the Far East contained in Il Milione (One
Why this situation transpired is, of course, due to a Million Stories, 1298). It might include Astolfo’s voyage
complex set of circumstances, more far-reaching than to the moon on a hippogrif in Ariosto’s Orlando Fu-
the problem of sf and its fortunes per se, which involve rioso (he Frenzy of Orlando, 1506), and the utopian
the wider cultural, social and economic spheres, from constructions in Tommaso Campanella’s philosophical
the diicult relationship between the humanities and work La città del sole (City of the Sun, originally written
sciences which have characterized Italian culture in the in Italian in 1602, but irst published in Latin in 1623).
contemporary age, to the inluence of American popu- In the fantastic or allegoric journeys and landscapes
lar culture ater WWII. of these works, there are certainly some of the elements
he aim of this 101 is to reconnoitre the history of that we would include in a complete history of the genre,
science iction (sf henceforth) in Italy, focusing on lit- and in fact they usually are mentioned in the more ex-
erature and the publishing market and devoting special haustive histories of sf (e.g. he Routledge Companion
attention to sf written by Italian authors. he decision 2009, Roberts 2006).
to focus on literature and the publishing market is con- he eighteenth century, as Pagetti put it, was “the Age
nected, on the one hand, to my own ield of study and of Reason, but also of a keen interest in exotic worlds [in
which] Italian culture enthusiastically hailed the satiri-
1 his essay, originally written in English, has been cal-fantastical mood of Jonathan Swit’s Gulliver’s Trav-
most competently revised by Judith Moss, to whom I els and Voltaire’s Candide” (Pagetti 1993). he century
would like to address my heartfelt thanks. saw the publication of Zaccaria Seriman’s Viaggi di En-
2 he dominant position of English as the original lan- rico Wanton alle terre incognite australi ed ai regni delle
guage for Italian translations is not something limited scimmie e dei cinocefali (Enrico Wanton’s Travels to the
to sf. English is by far the most common original lan- Unknown Lands of the Southern Hemisphere and to the
guage of Italian translations overall: see the Unesco In- Kingdoms of the Monkeys and of the Dog-Headed People,
dex Translatiorum Statistics. For a general idea, we can 1764), which appeared just before another interesting
take a look at a few sample-years in the programming example of the Italian fantastic voyage, this time more
of Urania (currently, as we shall see, the most popular taken with science and alien technology: Giacomo Ca-
sf publication in Italy): in 1980, all 52 issues of Urania sanova’s novel Icosameron (1788, drated in Italian but
featured translations from English, and the same is true irst published in French). Casanova’s two young pro-
of all the 22 novels and anthologies published in 1990. tagonists discover an underground world inhabited by
In 2000, 1 issue out of 31 featured a French author and the Megamicri; this gigantic work (the irst edition was
4 featured Italians, while the remaining 26 were trans- published in 5 volumes) is full of descriptions and ex-
lations from English. In 2010, 9 out of 12 issues were planations of physical principles, of the rules of the Me-
translations of English works, 2 were Italian novels, and gamicri’s government and social organization, of their
1 an anthology of Chinese sf. biology and customs, and of their fantastic inventions;
SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014 25
including locomotion without the use of draught ani- novels in La Domenica del Corriere, the Sunday supple-
mals.3 ment of one of the main Italian national dailies, Il Cor-
riere della Sera.
Paolo Mantegazza, a neurologist, physiologist, and an-
Forerunners and Pioneers: he Nineteenth and Early thropologist, and the author of numerous texts designed
Twentieth Centuries to popularize science, wrote L’Anno 3000: Sogno (1897,
cf. Clute 2014). L’Anno 3000 is a futuristic, utopian nov-
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY did not play that cen- el, set in a world harmoniously governed by the United
tral role in Italian nineteenth century life that made pos- Planetary States, full of extraordinary inventions. Emilio
sible the creation of works such as Mary Shelley’s Fran- Salgari, too, the renowned author of the adventures of
kenstein in England. However, one of the great names of Sandokan the pirate, published several futuristic tales,
Italian literature, namely Giacomo Leopardi, introduced such as La meraviglie del duemila (he Marvels of the
some scientiic and futuristic elements into his Operette Year 2000, 1907), Duemila leghe sotto l’America (2,000
morali (literally Small Moral Works, 1827): the Proposta Leagues Under America, 1888), Alla conquista della Luna
di premi fatta dall’accademia dei sillograi (Proposal for (he Conquest of the Moon, 1893), and Il re dell’aria (he
Prizes Put Forward by the Sillos Writers’ Academy), for King of the Air, 1907).
example, comes up with the bitingly satirical idea of re- Futuristic and adventurous elements were also a staple
placing defective human beings with automata, both for feature of Enrico Novelli’s iction. Novelli, (who pub-
work and in sentimental and intellectual pursuits (cf. lished under the pseudonym Yambo), was a journalist
Cremaschi 1978). and illustrator, and author of a succession of novels for
he second half of the century was dominated by young people which enjoyed great success in his day (as
the question of Italian uniication (which came about shown by the number of editions and reprints over the
in 1861) and the process of building the nation-state, years). His main characters explored underwater worlds
and focus remained on an accepted and taught literary (such as Atlantide - Atlantis, 1901), travelled to remote,
canon with a preference for patriotic narratives, rather imaginary countries (Capitan Fanfara. Il giro del mondo
remote from sf. Nevertheless, there was one original in automobile - Captain Trumpet: Around the World by
philosophical and technical projection into the future Car, 1904), and even ventured to the rest of the Solar
attempted by Ippolito Nievo, with his Storia ilosoica dei System (Gli esploratori dell’ininito - Explorers of the In-
secoli futuri in all’anno E. V. 2222 ovvero ino alla vigilia inite, 1906; Il Re dei Mondi - King of the Worlds, 1910),
incirca della ine del mondo (Philosophical History of Fu- some to colonize the Moon (La colonia lunare - he
ture Centuries until the year 2222, or, until about the End Lunar Colony, 1908). More prosaically, his heroes were
of the World, 1860). In this work of iction – a “fantastic also quite happy to re-conquer for Italy the territories
essay”, not a novel – Nievo, who will become famous for on Dalmatia’s Adriatic coast which had been lost to the
the patriotic novel Le confessioni di un italiano (Confes- Austrian Empire in 1815 (La rivincita di Lissa – he Re-
sions of an Italian, 1867), describes the future social, po- taking of Lissa, 1909).
litical and technological future of humanity, from 1860 here was also quite a large popular production of
to 2222. Among other things, Nievo’s Storia ilosoica “proto-sf ” between the two centuries, which appeared
predicted two world wars, a farmers’ revolution, and the in weekly and monthly literary magazines (Aeronavi dei
invention and production of artiicial homunculi. Savoia 2001, Foni 2007). he Futurists’ love of machines,
he end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the technological progress, and new means of transport in
twentieth centuries saw many Italians travelling in their narratives might justify including them in a his-
imaginary countries as well as through outer space, both tory of the genre: something that, as Adam Roberts ar-
in popular iction and in publications for the young. In gued, “provides an uncomfortable context for the pulp,
1887 Dalla Terra alle stele was published. Viaggio meravi- populist idiom that also valorised the technological
glioso di due italiani ed un francese (From the Earth to – uncomfortable because Futurism was at heart a life-
the Stars. Wonderful Voyage of two Italians and a French- denying and fascistic movement” (Roberts 2006: 157).
man) by Ulisse Grifoni, who also published serialized sf Other examples of Italian fantastic narratives between
the 1920s and the 1940s – be they gothic, surrealistic or
3 For an ample survey of sf pioneers in early Italian metaphysical (e.g. the dark atmosphere of the Milanese
literature, see Dalla terra alle stelle 2005. “scapigliati” or the novels and short stories of Massimo
26 SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014
Bontempelli and Dino Buzzati) – were quite far removed he very fact that the Italian word fantascienza was
from sf as a genre. coined as a translation of the English term “science
iction” is emblematic. Giorgio Monicelli, the inven-
tor of the term, had been a self-taught translator from
he Birth and Development of SF as a Genre: he French and English since the 1930s. An avid reader of
1950s and 1960s the American pulp magazines that came from overseas,
he created in 1952 the irst Italian sf magazine, Urania,
DESPITE THE PRESCENCE of the above-mentioned for the Mondadori publishing house in Milan, taking as
precursors, sf in Italy ater WWII was perceived as es- his model Horace L. Gold’s Galaxy. he publisher came
sentially a foreign (Anglo-American) matter. up with the idea of launching a series of novels to be
In terms of industrial development, Italy was a late sold at news-stands alongside the magazine, to be called
starter compared to England and America, and it was I Romanzi di Urania (Urania’s Novels). One year ater
not until the “economic miracle” of the 1950s that the its irst appearance, publication of the magazine ceased,
majority of people were irst able to aford a comic book, probably because of the greater success of the book se-
a weekly magazine or a cinema ticket. Moreover, WWII ries that continued and which, in June 1957 let aside “I
took its toll on the publishing industry, with a hiatus in Romanzi di” from its title and became simply Urania.
the 1940s; later, during the 1950s, sf translations were hanks to the combination of inspired choices on the
just another symptom of a wider-ranging cultural domi- part of the editor and Mondadori’s inluence in terms
nation by the US (connected to America’s position as an of production and distribution, the international canon
economic super-power and the Cold War, which ensued of sf and its collective imagery arrived in Italy, and in
ater the conlict). In fact, American dominance in the the early 1950s the series I Romanzi di Urania, published
world of sf publication was common, to varying extents, weekly or fortnightly, sold around 25-30,000 copies per
in many other European countries during the same issue. he earliest issues featured works by Arthur C.
years. Clarke, Cliford Simak, Lester del Rey, John Wyndham,
In Italy, however, there were also speciic cultural Jack Williamson, and Robert Heinlein. While a few
circumstances which worked against the success of sf. works were translated from French, only 11 of the irst
Italian literary criticism in the early twentieth century 267 issues included complete novels by Italian authors.
was dominated by Benedetto Croce’s philosophy of Ide- With very few exceptions, when the irst Italians started
alismo (“Idealism”), which tended to penalize narrative contributing to the series, their identity was carefully
in general, saw popular genres as inferior forms of litera- concealed behind foreign pseudonyms (Luigi Rapuzzi
ture and undervalued the hard sciences and technology wrote as Louis R. Johannis, Maria Teresa Maglione as
as second-class forms of knowledge. At the other end of Elisabeth Stern, Maria De Barba as Marren Bagels, Er-
the scale, Marxist criticism was openly suspicious of a nesto Gastaldi as Julian Berry, and Adriano Baracco as
narrative form perceived to be a consequence of Ameri- Audie Barr).
can cultural colonization, not produced from within In 1957, ater an argument with Mondadori, Monicelli
the working classes, but for them in a top-down process also created the concurrent publication I Romanzi del
ultimately aimed at entertainment: in other words, an Cosmo for the publisher Ponzoni in Milan, which ad-
opium of the people.4 opted the same formula as I Romanzi di Urania: one
complete novel in each issue, sold cheaply at news-
4 On the industrialization of Italian culture ater stands. Many Italian authors wrote adventurous sf un-
WWII, see Culture and Conlict 1990, and Forgacs der pseudonyms for the Romanzi di Cosmo series, and
1990; on the Americanization of cultural consumption some of them were to become household names in the
in Italy cf., for example, De Grazia 2005, and Cavazza Italian sf market of the Sixties and later (such as Roberta
and Scarpellini 2010, ItalAmerica 2008; on American sf Rambelli and Ugo Malaguti).
in Europe, see James 1994; on the problem of sf recep- Nevertheless, in the late 1950s, magazines such as Ol-
tion in Italian criticism see Antonello 2011, Antonello tre il Cielo (founded in Rome, in 1957, by Armando Sil-
2012, and Pagetti 1979; cf. Forgacs 1990 on the rela- vestri, with Cesare Falessi and later Gianfranco de Tur-
tionship between Marxist intellectuals and American ris as editors for the iction section) started to feature
popular culture. On sf in Italy 1950s-1970s, see Ian- a few Italian authors with their real names and Italian
nuzzi 2013. sf began to take of, irst with adventurous short sto-
SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014 27
ries of space colonization (written by authors such as 1963). Along with other collections published during
Falessi himself, Renato Pestriniero, Vincenzo Croce, the 1960s and the 1970s, this represented the debut of sf
Ivo Prandin, Giovanna Cecchini and others), and later in bookshops and the development of a national school,
with more varied experimentation by authors from the or at least an attempt to foster the visibility of Italian
generation debuting in the early 1960s (such as Sandro authors, e.g. I labirinti del terzo pianeta (he Mazes of
Sandrelli). he magazine – with its Gernsbackian for- the hird Planet) edited by Cremaschi and Musa in
mula combining technical articles on spacelight tech- 1964, Universo e dintorni (Universe and About) edited
nologies, sf and columns on futurology, rocket model by Cremaschi in 1978, and Interplanet, the series of col-
building and UFOs – would remain in print until 1970, lections edited by Sandro Sandrelli during the 1960s.
but with increasing diiculties and irregularities in pub- Despite the fact that the specialized market was
lication from the early 1960s onwards. In these years, shrinking in the late 1960s (probably due to the plethora
events such as the launch of the irst Sputnik (October of new publications in the late 1950s and early 1960s),
1957) and the irst manned space light (April 1961) 1967 saw the founding by Malaguti of a small special-
stimulated interest in the new genre and led to the birth ized publisher, Libra, which produced a mail-order only
of many (oten short-lived) publications. One excep- magazine called Nova SF*, notable for the space it de-
tion worth mentioning is the birth of Galassia, in 1961, voted to articles and essays and its predilection for short
published by the small irm La Tribuna, in Piacenza. stories, as well as its editorial quality and relatively high
Galassia brought to Italy the irst translations of Anglo- price.
American social sf, especially during Rambelli’s time as
editor (1962-1965), and then, during the editorships of
Vittorio Curtoni and Gianni Montanari (1970-1978), In the Bookshops at Last: he 1970s
it would feature translations of New Wave authors (of-
ten too sophisticated for the more popular readership DURING THE 1970s, the specialized market lost many
of Urania during those years – from John Brunner to of the publications which had been sold at news-stands
Samuel Delany, from Roger Zelazny to Harlan Ellison) (such as the above-mentioned Oltre il Cielo, Galassia,
and many talented Italian authors and their various ex- and others) but saw the appearance of new collections,
perimentations, such as Pierfrancesco Prosperi, Mauro now distributed in bookshops. Interest in the sf genre
Antonio Miglieruolo, Vittorio Catani, Livio Horrakh, was much stimulated at the close of the Seventies by the
and Curtoni and Montanari themselves. success of American blockbusters in the cinema, such as
From the early 1960s, a group of authors began to ad- Star Wars and Close Encounters of the hird Kind. he
vocate an Italian approach to the genre, characterized by TV serial Star Trek arrived in Italy in 1979, but gained
“the need for psychological insight, a ‘human’ percep- popularity only ater the irst ilm appeared in Italian
tion of the alien and a (somewhat skeptical) moral prob- cinemas in 1980. he big names in the publishing mar-
ing into the triumphs of technology” (Pagetti 1993). ket at this time were Nord, set up in 1970 in Milan by
he most important of these authors were Lino Aldani, Gianfranco Viviani, and Fanucci, founded in 1971 in
Inìsero Cremaschi and Gilda Musa, who, together with Rome by Renato Fanucci.
others, took part in editing and writing for the maga- Nord mainly published translations from English, and
zine Futuro (1963-1964). Futuro featured short stories immediately set itself apart with the attention it paid to
and novelettes mainly written by Italian authors (us- its presentation: there were introductions and biograph-
ing their real names), reviews and a series of interviews ical and bibliographical notes on the authors, and so on
with well-known Italian mainstream authors interested (also thanks to the editorial presence of Renato Valla).
in fantastic genres or science - such as Libero Bigiaretti, During the 1970s, two of Nord’s biggest successes were
Giovanni Comisso, Ennio Flaiano, Mario Soldati, and Heinlein’s Citizen of the Galaxy (1957, translated in 1971
Elio Vittorini. he aim was to propose a more high-brow as “Cittadino della galassia”), and Frank Herbert’s Dune
version of sf, attempting to propound it as worthy of the (1965, translated, with the same title in 1975). here
attention of Italy’s cultural elites. Sadly, due mainly to would always be only a limited presence of Italian au-
distribution problems, the magazine ceased publication thors in Nord’s catalogue; the most important ones were
ater only 8 issues. Luigi Meneghini, with novels from 1977 into the 1980s
Also connected to the magazine was the anthology Es- and 1990s, Daniela Piegai, Virginio Marafante, Gilda
perimenti con l’ingnoto (Experiments with the Unknown, Musa; and Paolo Aresi – one of the few Italian authors of
28 SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014
hard sf. In 2005 Nord became part of the Mauri Spagnol ries connected to it). heir editing was characterized by
publishing group. he presence of sf in its collections is the absence of French and Italian authors: the Italians
only marginal, and it is now more concerned with other were relegated to an amateur inal column called Il mar-
genres of the fantastic aimed speciically at young read- ziano in cattedra (he Martian Professor). While Urania
ers. published many important authors – such as J. G. Bal-
Fanucci’s collections were distinguished by the criti- lard and Philip K. Dick – New Wave experimentation
cal approach adopted by the two main consultants: was essentially excluded (and remained the domain of
Gianfranco de Turris and Sebastiano Fusco. Along with Galassia). As under Monicelli, translations were oten
the quality of the biographies and bibliographies of the cut, either to meet the page-limit of an issue or for the
featured authors, de Turris and Fusco had a special in- purposes of censorship (removing sexual and erotic
terest in the fantastic (sf, but also fantasy and heroic content).
fantasy), not only as worthy of serious critical attention
but also to be read as modern myths and interpreted as
symbols, drawing on the work of Mircea Eliade and Ju- Cyberpunk and Fantasy: he 1980s and the 1990s
lius Evola, and on a value system close to the political
right of the Italian Social Movement. In the decades to THE 1980s SAW a declining interest in sf in favor of
come, Fanucci’s editorial programs would change sig- fantasy, heroic fantasy, and sword and sorcery. Emblem-
niicantly: nowadays, the publishing house, under the atic of this was the success of the publisher Solfanelli’s
leadership of Sergio Fanucci, son of the founder, mainly fantasy series, created in 1981, and the Italian Tolkien
publishes other genres aimed especially at young adults. Award for fantastic narrative (1979-1992, animated by
However, in the year 2000, it started a major initiative de Turris). What is most revealing about this new trend
in sf with the irst volume of Philip K. Dick’s complete is the eager participation in the award (as hopeful prize-
works in Italian, edited by Carlo Pagetti. winners) of many sf authors, such as Antonio Bellomi,
During the 1970s, there was an important presence Gustavo Gasparini, Lino Aldani, Renato Pestriniero,
of Italian authors in the collection Andromeda (1972- and Anna Rinonapoli.
1975), published by Dall’Oglio and edited by the writer In the meantime, the main sf series published by Fa-
Inìsero Cremaschi. Andromeda inherited the reined nucci, Mondadori and Nord continued to appear, with
approach irst established by Futuro, and ofered such one signiicant diference: at Urania, Gianni Montanari
fare as the personal anthology of the poet and writer (the previous editor of Galassia) took over from Fruttero
Gilda Musa Festa sull’asteroide (Celebration on the As- and Lucentini in 1985 and radically changed the edito-
teroid, 1972) and her novel Giungla domestica (Domestic rial line. In what were diicult times for sf publications,
Jungle, 1975); the novel Sida al pianeta (Confrontation Montanari’s Urania aimed to win the trust of the most
with the Planet) by Anna Rinonapoli (1973), an author passionate sf readers, with better-quality translations,
of dystopian and satirical stories that had appeared in the inclusion of non-English authors and more sophis-
Futuro; and La donna immortale (he Immortal Wom- ticated and experimental works – from Serge Brussolo,
an) by Gustavo Gasparini (1974). to Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, from Octavia Butler to
Among the periodical publications, in its brief exis- Somtow Sucharitkul. In 1989, Montanari established the
tence Robot (1976-1979), edited by Curtoni and pub- Urania Award for Italian authors, the winner of which
lished monthly in Milan, proposed quite an innovative would be published in the series from 1990 onwards
formula for the Italian market: the idea was that of a (the irst winner was the remarkable Gli universi di Mo-
“real” magazine with a selection of high-quality short ras - Moras’ Universes by Vittorio Catani, 1990).
stories mainly translated from English, but featuring an In 1989, Giuseppe Lippi took over from Montanari and
Italian author in each issue, along with articles and col- has been editing Urania since then with his own, eclec-
umns on the most varied expressions of sf across difer- tic approach. Ater many changes over the years, the se-
ent media, inlamed debates about sf and politics, sf and ries became a regular monthly publication, and during
the mainstream, sex in sf and so on. the 1990s and 2000s Italian authors had a regular show-
For Urania, the years between 1961 and 1985 belonged case in the shape of the annual Urania Award. Among
to Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini. Popular writers the winners are Nicoletta Vallorani, Massimo Mongai,
of crime stories themselves, they succeeded Monicelli as and Luca Masali, presenting various hybrid versions of
editors of this series (and of the other Mondadori se-
SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014 29
sf and crime stories, alternate histories, and uchronias.5 ple of Carmilla: founded as a fanzine by Evangelisti in
Another writer, Valerio Evangelisti, made his debut by 1995, it then became a professional magazine devoted
winning the Urania Award, with a irst novel about the to non-realistic genres and ceased publication in 2004
igure of Eymerich - Nicolas Eymerich, Inquisitore (Nico- because of distribution problems; its on-line version, on
las Eymerich, Inquisitor, 1994), the protagonist of a re- the other hand (http://www.carmillaonline.com/), con-
markably successful cycle (see Rossi 2013). tinued and enjoyed remarkable success (220,000 readers
Malaguti followed up on the activities of his publishing per month in 2006!).
house Libra with a new edition of Futuro (1989-2008) Among other important initiatives, the magazine De-
and a book collection especially dedicated to European los was distributed on BBS from 1995 onwards and later
authors. Also worth mentioning of the early 1980s is the migrated onto the web. Edited by Silvio Sosio, it still has
magazine La Collina (1980-1983), in which Cremaschi a paper edition, sold only by mail-order, and an on-line
tried to promote the idea of Italian neo-fantastic litera- version hosted by Fantascienza.com. Fantascienza.com
ture. La Collina published short stories by Italian au- has become a signiicant portal for sf readers, featuring
thors such as Claudio Ferrari, Virginio Marafante, Re- the magazines published by Delos Books editions as well
nato Besana, Giuseppe Bonura, Gianni Menarini, and as writers’ personal blogs, a secondhand book exchange,
Gilda Musa, accompanied by critical essays and proiles. and so on. Another publication, Hypnos, founded by
Not until the late 1980s and then during the 1990s did Andrea Giusto, began life as a fanzine before becoming
an Italian version of cyberpunk emerge, with new pub- a professional magazine and, in 2010, a small publishing
lications, authors and critics oten connected to the un- house. One publisher’s catalogue that specialized in sf is
derground cultures of let-leaning movements. Among Edizioni Della Vigna, directed by Luigi Petruzzelli since
those authors who managed to successfully incorporate 2007, which has recently begun to publish a few books
cyberpunk elements into their writing were Giovanni in English; the activities of Kipple are devoted to en-
De Matteo, Dario Tonani, and Vallorani. Among the hancing the Italian Connettivismo movement (inspired
publishers particularly involved in cyberpunk, also with by van Vogt’s nexialism and post-cyberpunk aesthetics;
translations from English and through the publication on Connettivismo see Saiber 2011, pp. 29-30).
of the magazine Decoder (1987-1996), was the small In the meantime, the annual Urania Award has con-
company Shake in Milan. he collective that animated tinued to bring interesting new authors to the attention
Shake publications also promoted the difusion of the of Italian readers, adopting an eclectic approach to its
irst Bulletin Board Systems in Italy. Some of the most choices over the years, with the prize going to a wide
interesting critical essays during this period came from range of sf authors: from the sf-crime story writer Ni-
the cyberpunk milieu, from critics such as Daniele Brol- coletta Vallorani to Luca Masali’s alternative histories,
li, Antonio Caronia and others. and from Massimo Mongai’s entertaining adventures to
connettivisti such as Giovanni de Matteo and Francesco
Verso.
Virtual Cafes, New Publishers, and Dissemination: Under the editorship of Giuseppe Lippi, Urania has
he 2000s, Towards Today continued to specialize in publishing translations from
English, and is as eclectic as ever in its approach, so as
FIRST THE BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEMS operating to keep its appeal with its faithful readership. Its sales,
since the 1990s, then the ever-growing use of the Inter- however, are now much smaller than in its heyday (the
net and new digital printing technologies in the 2000s 50,000 plus copies sold in the 1950s-1970s period have
have fostered the creation of a number of new initiatives shrunk to 5-7,000 copies per issue today); since 2012, an
– from small publishing houses ofering magazines and electronic edition has also been available.
book series to a small but passionate readership, to new While the ield of sf published as such seems to have
virtual cafes, forums, and single-authored blogs. Digital sufered a marked decline in publication numbers, non-
media gave writers and publishers a way around what genre sf and sf imagery have become ubiquitous in main-
has traditionally been the main obstacle for specialized stream narrative in the 2000s, in authors central to mod-
publications: the system of distribution. Take the exam- ern Italian literature (from Tommaso Landoli to Primo
Levi, and from Guido Morselli to Italo Calvino). here
5 On the history of Italian uchronia and its connections is more than one telling example of critically acclaimed
to political movements and debates see Marra 2014. and/or best-selling authors who have written works of sf
30 SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014
published without any speciic label, or works incorpo- most notable was the paper by Darko Suvin (leading up
rating sf elements (such as Stefano Benni – since Terra!, to the 1985 translation of Metamorphoses of Science Fic-
published in 1983- and more recently Tullio Avoledo, tion) and the ones by Marc Angenot, Jean Baudrillard,
Antonio Pennacchi, and Antonio Scurati). Fredric Jameson, and Brian Aldiss.
he fresh wave of interest in sf between 1978 and the
early 1980s, which emerged with the popularity of cer-
Some Remarks on SF Criticism tain blockbuster movies, saw the publication of numer-
ous guides, companions and studies, either translated
THE WRITER LINO ALDANI was also the author of from English or written by Italian editors, but these
the irst monograph on sf to be written in Italian: La usually devoted little space to Italian authors, while aca-
fantascienza (Science Fiction, 1962), in which he deined demics still made few attempts to relect seriously on the
sf as a genre able to “place the reader in a diferent re- genre.
lationship with reality” thanks to an estranged point As examples of two opposing attitudes towards the
of view preiguring, to some extent, Darko Suvin’s idea genre still alive in this period, it is worth mentioning two
of cognitive estrangement. he same year also saw the very diferent critical contributions: Oreste Del Buono’s
translation into Italian of Kingsley Amis’ New Maps of introduction to the translation of Suvin’s Metamorpho-
Hell. Among Italian academic critics, the genre was still ses and Antonio Fabozzi and Adolfo Fattori’s essay for
largely ignored, with very few exceptions. he reined the history of Italian literature edited by Alberto Asor
critic and poet Sergio Solmi wrote an important essay Rosa. In his 1985 introduction to Suvin’s Metamorpho-
in 1953, analyzing English sf as the “mythology of the ses, Del Buono, already the editor of popular publica-
atomic era”, and pointing to the conventional nature of tions like the comic magazine Linus, radically subverted
many sf themes and tropes adopted, shared and devel- Suvin’s approach, claiming that however many in-depth
oped by many authors. Worth mentioning during the studies might be produced, sf remained a sub-genre
1960s is the presence of sf in the work of the philoso- with an origin in the mass-market, a rough and ready
pher Gillo Dorles, who approached the genre from the product. Fabozzi and Fattori’s 1989 essay, on the other
perspective of the sociology of aesthetics, which focused hand, was the irst important writing on Italian sf ever
on sf cinema more than literature. Umberto Eco dealt to be included in a history of Italian literature (a mul-
with sf in his famous essay collection Apocalittici e in- tivolume reference work widely adopted on university
tegrati (1964) (partly translated into English as Apoca- courses), which took as its starting point the sociology
lypse Postponed, 1994), categorically deining the genre of literature, and would later be updated and appear in
as “para-literature”, to be studied as a signiicant produc- a new revised version (Fabozzi Fattori and Fucile 2012).
tion of our age, but not with the same critical instru- By the end of the 1980s, the position of sf in the Eng-
ments to be used for “high literature”. lish and American departments of Italian universities
he 1970s saw the publication of the irst serious and was inally well-established, with ongoing studies ap-
extensive studies by Italian critics: Il senso del futuro: la pearing by scholars such as Pagetti and Oriana Palusci
fantascienza nella letteratura Americana (he Meaning (cf. Pagetti 1981). he journal of sf studies La Città e
of the Future: Sf in American Literature, 1970) by Carlo le Stelle (1982-1987), edited by Pagetti, was in fact the
Pagetti and Che cos’è la fantascienza (What SF Is, 1970) irst such journal Italy had ever had, and its main con-
by Franco Ferrini. At the same time, other scholars of tributors were Italian scholars of English and American
American literature, such as Ruggero Bianchi, explored literature.
the genre with a particular interest in utopias and dys- In fact, over the following decades, while the rediscov-
topias, and one of the irst important conferences on the ery by the critics of an Italian fantastic tradition would
topic was held in Turin, Italy: Utopia e fantascienza (Uto- lead to the publication of numerous anthologies edited
pia and SF), the proceedings of which were published in by scholars of Italian literature,6 sf would essentially re-
1975. hree years later, an even more important confer- main the domain of foreign language departments. In-
ence was held in Palermo which marked the real arrival
on the scene for the genre in Italian academic circles: 6 Along with the critical essay on the fantastic by
La fantascienza e la critica (SF and Criticism) organized the expert on comparative literature, Remo Ceserani
by the scholar Luigi Russo. Among the many interest- (Ceserani 1986), anthologies of Italian gothic and the
fantastic have regularly appeared, from Racconti neri
ing contributions published in the proceedings in 1980, della scapigliatura (1980), to Fantastico italiano (2009).
SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014 31
deed, the most important writing about Italian sf dur- in Palermo, and Alternativa (Alternative) (1974-1978),
ing the 2000s came from scholars working outside Italy edited near Milan by Giuseppe Caimmi and Piergiorgio
(such as Pierpaolo Antonello, Roberto Bertoni, Florian Nicolazzini, who would later be on the editorial board
Mussgnug, Arielle Saiber), or from scholars of Ameri- of the above mentioned Robot.
can literature (Umberto Rossi; Salvatore Proietti with Fanzine production in the late 1970s was more diver-
the editing of the journal Anarres founded in 2012), or siied. To mention just two examples: he Time Machine,
from sociologists (Carlo Bordoni, and Adolfo Fattori, irst appearing in Padova in 1975, of which 50 issues
who are also editor of, and contributor to, the journal were published mainly before 1985, and which present-
If. Insolito e fantastico - IF. Uncanny and Fantastic), phi- ed a good number of Italian authors (such as Musa, Al-
losophers (Giuseppe Panella), or independent scholars dani, Pestriniero, Massimo Pandoli, and Gianluigi Zud-
(Domenico Gallo and Riccardo Gramantieri). das), and Il Re in Giallo (he King in Yellow), appearing
he “well-established split in Italy between scientiic in 1976, the mouthpiece of the Trieste group (including
language and ‘literary culture’” remarked upon by Paget- Giuseppe Lippi, the future editor of Urania), seven is-
ti in his “Italy” entry for the Encyclopedia of Science Fic- sues of which were published in four years. In the second
tion (Pagetti 1993) is even more evident when it comes issue, a section devoted to H. P. Lovecrat presaged the
to Italian authors whom scholars accept as belonging to re-discovery of that author on the part of the publishing
the canon, such as Italo Calvino or Dino Buzzati: schol- world, which would take place just a few years later. he
ars outside Italy oten describe their work as partially sf attention devoted to the fantastic and the gothic in Il Re
or at least make the connection (Antonello 2005), but in in Giallo preigures the success these genres would go on
Italian universities the very word fantascienza (the Ital- to enjoy in the specialized market in the 1980s. In 1979,
ian for science iction) is to be avoided (Baldi 2014). the fanzine Intercom appeared in Palermo; ater a series
of changes in format, editorial board, and place of pub-
lication, Intercom would migrate to the web and become
he Chronicles of Fandom one of sf ’s most lively “virtual cafes”.
he 1980s and the 1990s saw the birth and develop-
ITALIAN SF FANDOM began to develop at the begin- ment of specialized fandom communities, each with
ning of the 1960s, when a whole range of non-profes- their own conventions and awards (for Star Trek, Quan-
sional publications was irst printed and changed hands tum Leap, and Babylon 5), along with the creation of new
during conventions and festivals. We should at least publications, such as La Spada spezzata (1981-1993),
mention Futuria Fantasia (Future Fantasy), published edited by Paolo Pavesi and Silvio Sosio (the latter a fu-
in 1963 by Luigi Cozzi (who would go on to direct sf ture editor with the previously mentioned publishing
ilms), Aspidistra by Riccardo Leveghi (1964-1967), house Delos), and THX 1188, edited by Scacco, Ragone
Nuovi Orizzonti (New Horizons) by Luigi Naviglio, and and Catani. he Star Trek Italian Club, deserves a special
Micromega by Franco Fossati and Pierfrancesco Pros- mention: it was established in 1982 by Alberto Lisiero:
peri (1965). he irst European SF Convention (Euro- ater the particularly poor Italian dubbing of he Origi-
Con) was organized in the city of Trieste in 1972, shortly nal Series, the Club complained and was entrusted with
ater the irst International SF Film Festival was held in supervising the dubbing of all subsequent series.
the same city (1965). A series of small informal con- Following on from the Bulletin Board System, it is now
ventions took place in Milan, Turin and Carrara, and the Internet which ofers Italian fandom new spaces for
in 1967 a Fanzine Award was created, later renamed discussion, critical appropriation, and creative writing.
Premio Numeri Unici (Unique Issues Award). At the here are a whole host of initiatives, from the personal
Trieste EuroCon, a Premio Italia (Italy Award) was also weblogs of readers interested in the genre, and those of sf
established, which became annual from 1975 onwards. fans and writers (such as Riccardo Barbieri’s blog, Carlo
Annual SF Italian Roundabouts (SFIRs) took place in Bordoni with Micromegas, Gian Filippo Pizzo with Fan-
Ferrara until 1978, and it was an SFIR which hosted the tascritture), to very high-quality e-zines (such as Ro-
main Italian sf convention – ItalCon – which took place berto Forlani’s Continuum, 2000-2011, and Sandro Per-
independently from 1981. From 1969 to the early 1970s, gameno’s Cronache di un sole lontano, 2013-running).
the number of fanzines decreased, but a few new ones Let us not forget the websites dedicated to collections,
were founded which are worth mentioning, such as As- archives, and to libraries (SF Quadrant, Mondourania,
tralia, edited by Gianilippo Pizzo and Pippo Marcianò Uraniamania, and Urania & Co.). In conclusion, to my
32 SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014
knowledge, the only equivalent in the whole world to one dei consumi. Società di massa e benessere in Eu-
the on-line catalogue of sf, the fantastic and horror in ropa. 1945-2000. Bologna: Il Mulino, 2010.
Italy, edited by Ernesto Vegetti (and unfortunately, since Ceserani, Remo. Il fantastico. Bologna: Il Mulino, 1986.
his passing, not updated since 2012) is the English-lan- Cozzi, Luigi. La storia di ‘Urania’ e della fantascienza in
guage Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Italia, 4 vols. Rome: Profondo Rosso, 2006-2010.
---. Space men. Il cinema italiano di fantascienza. Rome:
Note: With non-Italian readers in mind, the bibliogra- Profondo Rosso, 2007.
phy is organized into two parts: essential references (a Cremaschi, Inìsero. “Cronistoria della fantascienza
selection of the Italian works cited and selected second- italiana”, Universo e dintorni, ed. id. Milan: Garzanti,
ary sources, where I have tried to include a substantial 1978. pp. 5-39.
number of contributions in English language); and a --- “Science Fiction Abroad: Italy”, Science Fiction Dia-
selection of primary sources translated into English. logues, ed. by Gary Wolfe. Chicago: Academy Chi-
For a complete bibliography of sf published in Italy I cago, 1982. pp. 207-208.
would suggest: Catalogo SF, Fantasy e Horror, edited Culture and Conlict in Postwar Italy. Essays on Mass
by Ernesto Vegetti, Pino Cottogni, and Ermes Bertoni, and Popular Culture, ed. by Zigmunt G. Baranski
<http://www.catalogovegetti.com/catalogo> (covering: and Robert Lumley. Basingstoke-London: Macmil-
1602-January 2010) and the OPAC SBN, On-line Pub- lan-Graduate school of European and International
lic Access Catalogue, Servizio Bibliotecario Nazionale studies, University of Reading, 1990.
(Italian Public Libraries) <http://www.sbn.it>. Curtoni, Vittorio. Le frontiere dell’ignoto. Vent’anni di
fantascienza italiana. Milan: Nord, 1977.
Dalla terra alle stelle: tre secoli di fantascienza e utopie
Essential References italiane, ed. by Giuseppe Lippi. Milan: Biblioteca di
via Senato, 2005.
Le aeronavi dei Savoia. Protofantascienza italiana 1891- De Grazia, Victoria. Irresistible Empire. America’s Ad-
1952, ed. by Gianfranco de Turris. Milan: Nord, 2001. vance through Twentieth-century Europe. Cambridge,
Antonello, Pierpaolo. Il ménage a quattro. Scienza, i- MS-London: he Belknap press of Harvard UP, 2005.
losoia, tecnica nella letteratura italiana del Novecento Del Buono, Oreste. “Introduzione”, in Suvin, Darko, Le
Florence: Le Monnier, 2005. metamorfosi della fantascienza. Poetica e storia di un
---. Letteratura e scienza, Storia d’Italia, annali 26, Sci- genere letterario (Italian translation of Metamorpho-
enze e cultura dell’Italia unita, ed. Francesco Cassata ses of Science Fiction: On the Poetics and History of a
and Claudio Pogliano. Turin: Einaudi, 2011, pp. 923- Literary Genre, 1979; Bologna: Il Mulino, 1985). pp.
948. vii-xv.
---. Il ménage a quattro. Scienza, ilosoia, tecnica nelle Fabozzi, Antonio, Fattori, Adolfo. “Fantascienza”, Let-
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nier, 2005. Turin: Einaudi, 1989; new edition: Milan: l’Espresso-
Baldi, Elio, “Science Fiction and the Canon: the Case Einaudi, 2007, pp. 344-371.
of Italo Calvino”, ReadingItaly, 3 June 2014, <https:// Fabozzi, Antonio, Fattori, Adolfo and Fucile Gennaro.
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tion-voices/>. <http://www.quadernidaltritempi.eu/rivista/nume-
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146. zoli, 2009.
---. “Casi di ibridazione tra romanzo d’autore e fantasci- Foni, Fabrizio. Alla iera dei mostri. Racconti pulp, orrori
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--- “Aspetti del fantastico in alcuni romanzi degli anni Latina: Tunué, 2007.
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(1952-2002), ed. by Gianfranco de Turris. Verona: lic. Manchester: Manchester UP, 1990.
Biblioteca Civica, 2002. --- and Gundle Stephen. Mass Culture and Italian Soci-
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Indiana UP, 2007. Vint. London-New York: Routledge, 2009.
Gallo, Domenico and Evangelisti, Valerio. “La fantasci- Saiber, Arielle. “Flying Saucers Would Never Land in
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lan-Udine: Mimesis, 2014.
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James, Edward. Science Fiction in the 20th Century. Ox- Aldani, Lino. “Buona notte, Soia” (1962): “Good Night,
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Marra, Emiliano. “Il caso della letteratura ucronica itali- David G. Hartwell. New York: Tor, 1997. pp. 352-368.
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Contemporanea, 1 (2003), pp. 19-32. Divine Comedy, trans. by Robin Kirkpatrick (Lon-
Pagetti. Carlo. “Twenty-Five Years of Science Fiction don: Penguin, 2012); free edition, trans. by Henry
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he Encyclopedia of Italian Literary Studies, ed. by ---. A Random Walk in Science Fiction. Arese, MI: Della
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SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014 35
Science Fiction Drama in the Age universally considered a respectable literary, and soon
cinematic,2 genre in that period,3 being cultivated by
of Scientiic Romance 101 some of the most acclaimed representatives of literary
Modernism, such as Ferdinand Bordewijk, Karin Boye,
Mariano Martín Rodríguez
Mikhail Bulgakov, Karel Čapek, Alfred Döblin, Aldous
AS IT IS (OR SHOULD BE) widely known, at least
among scholars, the period between the 1870s and the i Jornet’s La nau [he Ship] (1970), Horia Lovinescu’s
1940s is arguably the Golden Age of European science Paradisul [Paradise] (1974) and David Rudkin’s he
iction, or of scientiic romance, as it was oten desig- Sons of Light (1976), as well as radio dramas such as
nated back then in English (Stableford). In this period, Dürrenmatt’s Das Unternehmen der Wega [he Vega
scientiic romances were widely published and read all Enterprise] (1955). Titles in italics between square
over Europe and the world.1 Science iction was almost brackets have been translated into English; the oth-
ers still await translation into this language, as far as I
1 Scientiic romances of the European kind also ex- know.
isted on other continents, and even in Anglophone 2 Some of the irst science iction ilm classics from
America, as the speculative novels of Frederick Grove, Europe were, indeed, based on earlier scientiic ro-
Ward Moore, George R. Stewart or Philip Wylie show. mances, such as Holger-Madsen’s Himmelskibet [A
Among the science iction plays written in non-West- Trip to Mars; literal translation: “he Air Ship”] (1918),
ern countries, Egyptian Tawiq Al-Hakim’s Rihla ila al- based on a novel by Sophus Michaelis with the same
ghad [Voyage to Tomorrow] (1957) can be mentioned. title eventually published in 1921; Yakov Protazanov’s
In Europe, there are well-written scientiic romances Aelita (1924), based on the classic scientiic romance by
in almost every literary language, such as Serbian, in Aleksey Tolstoy published one year earlier; Fritz Lang’s
which Dragutin Ilić’s Posle milijon goinda [A Million Metropolis (1927), the screenplay of which was written
Years Ater] (1889) is one of the earliest fully modern by hea von Harbou, who turned it into a novel in the
science iction plays (Đergović-Joksimović, 2000: 6-7),. same year, and William Cameron Menzies’ hings to
In addition, although the arrival of American genre Come (1936), adapted by H. G. Wells from his future
science iction as from the 1950s virtually replaced its history he Shape of hings to Come (1933). here were
European counterpart as a living cultural phenomenon also some science iction screenplays by famous writers
ater World War II in the Western part of the continent, which were not ilmed, but published. A telling exam-
while at the same time dogmatic socialist realism all ple of this particular kind of cinematic play in scientiic
but killed serious speculative literature on the other romance (oten being quite reluctant to embrace tech-
side of the Iron Curtain, some scientiic romances were nological change) is Romain Rolland’s La Révolte des
still published in the second half of the 20th century. machines [he Revolt of the Machines] (1921). A further
Among them, some plays in this mode could also be signiicant screenplay of this kind is Marcel Pagnol’s Le
mentioned, such as Elias Canetti’s Die Befristeten [he Premier Amour [he First Love] (1946), which is a rare
Numbered] (1956), William Golding’s retro-futurist he work of prehistoric iction in dramatic form.
Brass Butterly (1958), and Marcel Aymé’s La Conven- 3 he following statement by Bozzeto relates to France,
tion Belzébir [Belzebir’s Convention] (1966). Further- but it can be extended to most European literatures:
more, it could be argued that the European New Wave “Literature of imagination, which was written by recog-
in science iction had inherited both its intellectual nized writers, was accepted as part of the literary ield.
concerns and its taste for formal experimentation from [...] he opposition between legitimate and non-legiti-
scientiic romance rather than from genre science ic- mate literature had nothing to do to its belonging to a
tion. his fact can be ascertained by looking at some particular genre. [...] What will later be called science
science iction plays written in the mode of the New iction enjoyed, therefore, no special status” (Écrite
Wave mainly by non-genre authors, such as Augusto par des écrivains reconnus, la littérature de fantaisie est
Abelaira’s O Nariz de Cleópatra [Cleopatra’s Nose] admise comme composante du domaine littéraire. [...]
(1961), Augusto Frassineti and Giorgio Manganelli’s L’opposition entre littérature légitimée et non-légitimée ne
Teo o l’acceleratore della storia [Teo, or the History Ac- passe pas par l’appartenance de l’œuvre à un genre. [...]
celerator] (1966), Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s Porträt eines Ce qui sera dénommé plus tard science-iction ne bénéi-
Planeten [Portrait of a Planet] (1967), Josep M. Benet cie donc d’aucun statut particulier; 186).
36 SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014
Huxley, Frigyes Karinthy, André Maurois, George Or- speciication and physicality on the stage; the world
well, Pedro Salinas, Antoni Słonimski, Franz Werfel, of the future is to be revealed as a functioning world
and Yevgeny Zamyatin, to name but a few. hey wrote in the performance. As abstract as the rendering on
signiicant scientiic romances in narrative form using stage might be in the text of any play of the postreal-
the science iction tropes that had been clearly estab- ist dramaturgy, it still possesses a higher degree of
lished at least since H. G. Wells, including the centrality concreteness, an inherent mimetic quality (even if
in the work of a novum of a technical and/or scientiic a very fantastic and elusive one), compared to the
nature, the consequences of which were rationally and convenient ambiguity afordable in narrative iction.
consistently developed in the course of the action in his pressure to give speciic explanations and de-
order to present a speculative view of society and hu- scriptions might well inluence the authors to avoid
mankind through the perspective of an estranged time the future as the time frame in drama. (46)
and/or place. Narrative prose was not, however, the only
vehicle for this kind of rational ictional speculation, Indeed, “there are a very few plays, both older and con-
since poems4 and plays were also written in this mode. temporary, that do have their entire action, or at least
Among the above-mentioned authors, Bulgakov and most of it, explicitly placed in the future.” (45) his con-
Čapek did indeed write some science iction plays. he tention is, perhaps, exaggerated. Among the science
most famous of them is perhaps Karel Čapek’s R.U.R. iction plays listed by Willingham (Science Fiction 149-
(1920), whose merits go well-beyond the fact of having 192), many are actually set in the far future, including
introduced the word “robot” into English and into many the series of George Bernard Shaw’s short Farfetched
more languages. his play is also a successful example Fables (1950).5 Nevertheless, the diiculty of making
of science iction that has found its way onto the inter- plausible far future action that has “concreteness” on
national stage, a fate all too rarely met by other science the stage remains. A solution to this alleged limitation
iction playwrights, past or present, perhaps due to “a was writing science iction dramas for the reading cabi-
widely held assumption that the theatre, with its physi- net. George Bernard Shaw’s Back to Methuselah (1921)
cal limitations, cannot plausibly present the fantastic is a good example of this, even if the reputation of this
vistas which sf writers envision” (Willingham heatre playwright prompted an early staging, in 1922, of this
1216). huge play by the New York heatre Guild. Other plays
Contrary to ilm, it might have seemed quite dii- of similar scope and length, such as Ricardo Baroja’s El
cult, indeed, to resort then to visual efects on the stage pedigree [he Pedigree] (1924/1926), have never had the
which could enhance the plausibility of the estranged same luck, although none other than Luis Pirandello
possible world for an audience mostly used to realistic had intended to stage that Spanish science iction satire
means of representation, especially if the action was set on eugenics in Italy.
in the future. According to Klaić, “setting the dramatic
action in the future requires such an extensive reliance 5 In Spain only (my country of origin and the literature
on imagination that the intelligibility and plausibility ofof which I know less imperfectly), out of some eight
the vision could be undermined.” (45) he reason for published science iction plays in the scientiic romance
this could be that mode (Ramón Pérez de Ayala’s Sentimental Club /
La revolución sentimental [he Sentimental Revolu-
the fantasy of the future acquires a certain degree of tion] [1909/1929], Jacinto Grau’s El señor de Pigmalión
[Mister Pygmalion] (1921), Ricardo Baroja’s El pedigree
4 Some of them were written by prestigious poets, such [he Pedigree] [1924/1926], Honorio Maura’s 1945
as the early speculative xenoiction La Révolte des leurs (1924), Felipe Ximénez de Sandoval and Pedro Sánchez
[he Revolt of Flowers] (1874), by the irst Nobel Prize de Neyra’s Orestes I [1930], Enrique Jardiel Poncela’s
laureate in literature Sully Prudhomme; Gli emigranti Cuatro corazones con freno y marcha atrás [Four Hearts
nella luna [Emigrants on the Moon] (1905/1909), by with Brakes and Reverse Gears] [1936], Jorge and José
the classic Italian poet Giovanni Pascoli, or the prehis- de la Cueva’s Como era en un principio [As It Was in
toric-themed epic he Great Feud (1926), by leading the Beginning] (1951), and Agustín de Foxá’s Otoño
Canadian modernist poet E. J. Pratt. here were also del 3006 [Fall 3006] [1954]), at least three (the ones by
speculative epic dramatic poems set in the future, such Pérez de Ayala, Baroja and Foxá) are set in a far future
as Paul Claudel’s La Ville [City] (1893/1901). time frame.
SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014 37
Another way to overcome contemporary theatrical Our Time in becoming a popular hit when it was staged
constraints was to apply a commercially proven dramat- in 1947. Was its treatment of the dangerous topic of a
ic technique to a science iction plot novum. As Klaić Nazi-invaded England perhaps too serious? On the oth-
has argued, er hand, did the science iction components of the plays
have to be watered down for them to be appreciated on
[t]he boulevard theater, which in France always op- the stage? his was one of the conundrums for a science
erates with sexual allusions, innuendo, and risqué iction playwright back then, and perhaps also today.
situations, easily accommodates the predictive per- Between the Scylla of having to write plays for the
spective, but subjects its action to its own popular reading cabinet and the Charybdis of the supericial-
devices and stylistic marks. A triumph of sexuality ity of a conventional commercial theatre, it comes as a
revived and rehabilitated conirms the status quo, small wonder to see that there still were quite a few play-
proving once again that some things are eternal, as wrights who tried to steer a middle course by trying to
the conventional wisdom of this realm of theater re- adapt their plays as much as possible to contemporary
quires. (140) theatrical practice without renouncing a deep explora-
tion of the societal and philosophical impact of their
He gives as an example Carlos Larronde’s Le Sixième chosen science-ictional novum. hus, they sometimes
Continent [he Sixth Continent] (1932), which “lirts proposed works that were both intellectually signiicant
with the tricks of the boulevard theatre in sketching out and viable on the stage. his exploit was almost com-
his futuristic vision” (139). his contention would more plete in Karel Čapek’s main science iction plays R.U.R.
aptly be applied to a lighter comedy such as Pierre de and Bílá nemoc [he White Disease] (1937), and other
La Batut’s La Ville sans amour [he City without Love] playwrights also succeeded in presenting demanding
(1929), in which a chemist invents a vaccine against love, speculative dramas on the stage. A further signiicant
which is administered to a city’s population with nega- example is Robert Nichols and Maurice Browne’s Wings
tive consequences for a number of industries, until an over Europe (1928). his is a highly political drama in
artist who has fallen in love with the chemist’s daughter which a young scientist used his mastering of the atom-
discovers an antidote. Larronde’s play tends, however, to ic forces to convince a reluctant British government to
combine a traditional love interest with a certain dys- broker universal peace or else sufer his explosive retali-
topian bend, since love is a revolutionary force against ation. It was relatively well received both by critics and
a highly regulated and repressive society. hese French by audiences in New York City and London (Kabatch-
plays had little success on the stage, and they are all but nik 233). However, it is too little remembered today, al-
forgotten. heir theatrical skills were not perhaps up to though its value as a leading science iction play in the
the task of successfully blending science iction chrono- framework of high modernist English-speaking drama
topes with other ingredients of supposedly easier con- for the stage has occasionally been recognized. Accord-
sumption. Burlesque humour was one such ingredient, ing to Carpenter,
as in Enrique Jardiel Poncela’s classic play on temporal
paradoxes caused by a scientiic invention able to stop as a dramatized hypothesis (however extravagant) of
and reverse human ageing, entitled Cuatro corazones political and ethical problems that might arise at the
con freno y marcha atrás [Four Hearts with Brakes and onset of the nuclear age, the play not only adopts
Reverse Gears] (1936). Romance was, above all, another, Shaw’s use of drama […]; it also incorporates a no-
whether social romance, as in the popular London hit A table degree of his thoughtfulness and earnest con-
Message from Mars (performed in 1899 and published in cern. At the same time, it remains a dazzling and
a revised version in 1923) by Richard Ganthony, or love diverting theatrical exhibition, as charming as it is
romance, as in Maxwell Anderson’s time travel drama fascinating for its semi-absurd fantasy. (560)
he Star-Wagon, which ran in Broadway for more than
two hundred performances since its premiere in 1937. Unfortunately, its success in that framework remains ex-
In these cases, the playwrights’ skills could have helped ceptional. Furthermore, it has not endured, and has not
to make science iction acceptable on the commercial even been republished in the last few decades, in spite
stage, but this was not always enough: not even a consis- of perhaps having inluenced later writers. For instance,
tently successful playwright such as Noel Coward could Vladimir Nabokov’s play Izobretenie Val’sa [he Waltz
prevent the failure of his alternate history play Peace in Invention] (1938) also presents the conlict between a
38 SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014
morally faulty scientist and the government with a plot makers] (1931-1934). Soviet science iction theatre was,
quite similar to the one developed in Wings over Europe, indeed, more open to experiments, including specula-
albeit with a more sarcastic tone than in Nichols and tive ones, if we consider the above-mentioned works by
Browne’s work. Mayakovsky and other important science iction plays
In the long term, science iction drama for the com- such as Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy’s Bunt maschin
mercial stage has not fared well. If their oblivion among [he Revolt of the Machines] (1924; it is a free adapta-
publishers can be explained by the absence of most of tion of Čapek’s R.U.R.) and Mikhail Bulgakov’s comedy
these plays from current theatres, their being neglect- Bagrovy ostrov [he Purple Island] (1928), as well as the
ed by scholars might be due to a traditional academic staging in 1922 of an earlier symbolist drama set in a
bias against any form of art intended for a larger public. far future frame, Valery Bryusov’s Zemlya [he Earth]
In contrast, much attention has been paid to minority (1905). Stalinism soon put an end to this artistic experi-
Avant-Garde literature. his has been somewhat posi- mentation, though: another masterful science iction
tive for the critical reception of science iction drama play by Bulgakov, Adam i Eva [Adam and Eve], was writ-
in this mode, at least for the plays written by renowned ten in 1931, but it was neither published nor staged until
representatives of artistically revolutionary Modernist a few decades later, and the same happened to his time
literature. In fact, quite a few science iction plays by travel comedy Blazhenstvo [Bliss], which he had inished
these authors have even been translated into English. in 1934.
his kind of drama was, however, still marginal in its In a diferent context, a signiicant dystopian play of
historical context. If for science iction playwrights, the the interwar period, Elias Canetti’s Komödie der Eitelkeit
Avant-Garde world-view could seem to be potentially [Comedy of Vanity], had been written in 1933-1934, but
more tolerant of the kind of alternative prospects on so- its author did not publish it until 1964, probably due to
ciety and history that speculative drama oten explored, the fact that he was well aware that right-wing totali-
their choice of this mode could have serious setbacks as tarianism in Germany was little more open to science
well. Given the limited potential for Avant-Garde the- iction drama than Stalinism was proving to be. Benito
atre to gain a contemporary mainstream recognition Mussolini’s dictatorship seemed, however, to be rather
among wider audiences, those minority experiments indiferent to the dangers entailed by satiric science ic-
in bringing to the stage the topics, content, and literary tion drama if we were to judge ater the successful pro-
techniques of scientiic romance could undermine the duction in 1932 of Gino Rocca’s Il mondo senza gamberi
possibility of their taking part in the intellectual debates [he World without Shrimp], where a scientist creates a
of the age, as opposed to the purely artistic ones which chemical that allows for the easy killing from a distance
were the staple of the Avant-Garde circles – at least in and without trace of any person or group who holds a
the context of capitalist Europe and America. here are grudge against someone, including whole armies he so-
some exceptions to Western European Avant-Garde cietal consequences of such a novum are inely described
science iction plays failing to become relatively popu- using a dramatic technique that takes due account of
lar, such as George Kaiser’s expressionist drama in two both the constraints of contemporary commercial the-
parts, Gas (1918 and 1920). It seems, however, that only atre and the Modernist wish to innovate. Rocca’s play is
the special circumstances of the Soviet Union some- now largely ignored, as it has happened with Wings over
times allowed for the normal staging of dramatic exper- Europe and other technically and thematically innova-
iments, such as the science iction plays set in the future tive science iction dramas produced at the time, such
by Russian Futurist Vladimir Mayakovsky, entitled Klop as Felipe Ximénez de Sandoval and Pedro Sánchez de
[he Bedbug] (1929) and Banya [he Bathhouse] (1930). Neyra’s tragicomic Orestes I (1930), which portrays the
On the other hand, the science iction plays by another invention and dire consequences for the economy of a
Futurist, the Italian Ruggero Vasari, such as L’angoscia potion which inhibits the urge to steal until a would-
delle macchine [he Anguish of the Machines] (1923) be dictator saves the day. Even if their number might
and Raun (1927; untranslated into English), were only be small when compared to the staggering number of
produced, if at all, by companies interested in experi- plays produced, as well as narrative scientiic romances
mental theatre for limited audiences. A similar fate fell published during the golden age of this genre, they ex-
to the prospective dystopian plays by another important periment with dramatic form according to their com-
Avant-Garde playwright, Polish Stanisław Ignacy Wit- mitment to High Modernism in the framework of actual
kiewicz, including his longest one, Szewcy [he Shoe-
SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014 39
theatrical practice.6 he virtual oblivion of this kind of Provence, 1992. Print.
play has thus deprived both science iction and the his- Carpenter, Charles A. “A ‘Dramatic Extravaganza’ of the
tory of theatre a series of works that might also deserve Projected Atomic Age: Wings over Europe (1929).”
closer attention as examples of a serious stance regard- Modern Drama 35.4 (1992): 552-561. Print.
ing the issues of their time, or perhaps of any time. Đergović-Joksimović, Zorica. “Serbia between Utopia
and Dystopia.” Utopian Studies 11/1 (2000), pp. 1-21.
Print.
Works Cited Kabatchnik, Amnon. “Wings over Europe (1928).” Blood
on the Stage, 1925-1950: Milestone Plays of Crime,
Bozzetto, Roger. L’Obscur Objet d’un savoir. Fantastique Mystery, and Detection: An Annotated Repertoire.
et science-iction: deux littératures de l’imaginaire. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2010. 232-234. Print.
Aix-en-Provence: Publications de l’Université de Klaić, Dragan. he Plot of the Future. Utopia and Dysto-
pia in Modern Drama. Ann Arbor, MI: he Univer-
6 his paper was written for Stage the Future: he First sity of Michigan Press, 1991. Print.
International Conference on Sci-Fi heatre, which took Stableford, Brian. Scientiic Romance in Britain 1890-
place at the Royal Holloway, University of London, on 1950. London: Fourth Estate, 1985. Print.
April the 26th and 27th 2014. My grateful thanks to the Willingham, Ralph. Science Fiction and the heatre.
organisers of this conference, Christos Callow, Jr. and Westport, CT – London: Greenwood Press, 1994.
Susan Gray, for their helpful suggestions, as well as to Print.
Ádám Gerencsér and to Chris Pak for having corrected ---. “heatre.” Eds. John Clute and Peter Nicholls. he
the drat of my paper. [Editor’s note: for an account of Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. 2nd ed. New York,
the conference, see Susan Gray’s “Stage the Future” in NY: St. Martin’s Griin. Print.
SFRA Review 309 (2014), pp. 8-9].
I really appreciate Marleen Barr’s and Paweł Frelik’s in- Works Cited
sightful, provocative essays. Marleen’s approach to liv-
ing with sentient others and to the historical alignment Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin, 1977.
of exploitation of women and the non-human world Žižek, Slavoj. Looking Awry: An Introduction to Jacques
complement my own focus on the non-human elements Lacan through Popular Culture. Cambridge, MA:
of the novel and narrative—the seas, stars, trees, and the MIT P, 1992.
rain—towards a comprehensive ecocritical interpretation
of Under the Skin. I am pleased that the collective round-
table includes both the interspecies ethics element of the
ilm and my attempt at show how SF is adept at reframing
ecological interconnectedness as interplanetary. Ater all,
Wolfenstein: The New Order
haven’t we learned much about global warming on Earth [game]
by studying the atmospheres of our solar systemic neigh-
bors? Lars Schmeink
Additionally, Marleen’s attention to alien appropriation
of human corpses started me comparing Under the Skin Wolfenstein: The New Order. Dev. MachineGames. Pub.
with Alex Proyas’ Dark City (1998). Dark City overtly Bethesda Softworks. Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox
paints the Strangers, spider-like aliens who inhabit and 360, PlayStation 4, Xbox One.
ly around in pale, rigid, male human corpses like the un-
canny progeny of Pinhead and Mary Poppins, as a dehu- Order option(s): Windows | Playstation 3 | Playsta-
manizing species. In that case, though, they dehumanize tion 4 | Xbox 360 | Xbox One
largely because they think collectively and subscribe to
psycho-analysis as opposed to hunting and utilizing hu-
man beings. I suspect there’s a comparison here, and one “It is hard to say what ranks lower on the artistic food
that could be extended to other ilms deploying the hu- chain than video games. Comic books? TV sit-coms?
man corpse-appropriation trope, that could make for a X-rated ilms? hese ratlike vermin at the bottom scurry
nice sustained project. to avoid the thunderous footfalls of the towering behe-
As a ilm professor who teaches a unit on SF and music moths of the art world.” (Robinett viii)
featuring he Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), 2001: A
Space Odyssey (1968), and Michael Radford’s short ilm THIS IS ONE OF MY favorite quotes from the value dis-
Addicted to the Stars (2002), I was excited to read the im- cussion of video games as it clearly marks the diference
mediately persuasive link Paweł draws between Under in high and low cultural value given to artworks and
the Skin and the brilliant Southland Tales (2006). Further- poignantly comments on the elitism of literary or ine art
more, Paweł’s piece drove me to re-read and re-think a scholarship. But aside from the question of value given
passage in Slavoj Žižek’s Looking Awry, when he writes, to any one art form, the quote also hints at something
“he soundtrack gives us the basic perspective, the ‘map’ that is especially intriguing when viewed against an in-
of the situation, and guarantees its continuity, while the ternational background. In the US, from where Robinett
images are reduced to isolated fragments that loat freely is writing, at least one thing seems to be clear and not
in the universal medium of the sound aquarium” (40). part of the negotiation of video games: they are art—low
Žižek was arguing that cinema had shited from a visual life, bottom feeding, but art nonetheless. In Germany,
medium to an audio one, yet his description of the sym- where I am sitting at my desk and writing this review,
bolic/visual being reduced to lotsam in a “sea of yolky this is not the case. Here, video games are considered
enjoyment” takes on new signiicance through Paweł’s toys. Yes, like Lego or Barbie, they are a plaything and
exploration of Under the Skin. While the audio provides not considered art. his has many repercussions for
SFRA Review 310 Fall 2014 57
anyone involved in games, as artistic grants cannot be manage to dominate the earth. he alternate history
given to game designers, as academic study of games setting of New Order presents the hird Reich in 1960
concentrates on technology rather than aesthetics, as the as a global empire that even conquered the moon, cre-
industry talks about design prices, not awards for best ated laser weapons, and is politically and economically
artistry and as legislators are able to ban speciic content unchallenged. he player takes on the role of former
from German audiences. US Captain William Blazkowicz who recuperates from
Because video games are toys, they do not fall under being in a vegetative state for fourteen years and sets out
the lenient legislature for artwork and thus do not ac- to rebuild the resistance and destroy the Nazi state once
commodate for artistic citation or the use of satire and and for all. he game is hardly an innovation in terms of
irony. Toys may be cultural product, but their purpose its standard gameplay (simple irst-person-shooter), its
is to entertain, not to educate or transport meaning. In ludicrous storyline (one man brings down an empire),
Germany, this means that they do not deal with Nazis or its science ictional novum (of cyborg experimenta-
and the Holocaust (as the most prominent example of tion). Nonetheless, the game refers to the Nazis as “he
censorship). Since there is a law prohibiting the use of Regime” and all Nazi imagery has been removed and
the Swastika or any other Nazi symbolism apart from replaced with the stylized “W” of Castle Wolfenstein, the
education or art, video games dealing with Nazis are eponymous castle.
simply not possible. his seems ironic, as most games Unfortunately, the most promising point of analysis of
actually take a very anti-Nazi stance in their game me- New Order is exactly the one that the German govern-
chanics and use them as foils for evil incarnate. ment does not see and through its censorship eliminates.
Wolfenstein: he New Order seems a case in point, as he use of Nazi imagery, the veneer of historical accu-
the last in a series of action games dealing with a science racy, and all the cultural associations that come with it,
ictional setting in which the Nazis wield the technology these are exactly the things that make this game artwork
of creating cyborgs and automated weaponry and inally and not a toy. I would argue that New Order needs to
Switching Nazi symbols (right) for less conspicuous symbols (left) in the German version of Wolfenstein: The
New Order.
he combination of historically accurate Nazi imagery and the over-the-top sublime of the machine soldiers
deliver a powerful grotesque message of subversion.