http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/science-fiction Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Tue, 19 May 2026 14:38:37 -0400 Tue, 19 May 2026 14:38:37 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1716/globalization-of-chinese-online-literature-understanding-transnational-reading-of-chinese-xuanhuan-novels-among-english-readers By Yuxi Wang - Since its emergence in the 19th century, fantasy fiction has proliferated throughout the world, from the global craze of Lord of the Rings (1954) to Harry Potter (1997). As a sub-genre of fantasy based on Chinese traditional mythology and martial arts literature, Xuanhuan novels have achieved immense popularity among both critics and readers (Gai, 2006). The appearance of the first Xuanhuan novel written by Huang Yi, A Step into the Past (1994), which combined science fiction, time travel, historical military and martial art elements, started a process which has caused this genre to sweep through... Thu, 21 Dec 2017 10:10 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1716/globalization-of-chinese-online-literature-understanding-transnational-reading-of-chinese-xuanhuan-novels-among-english-readers http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1495/post-colonial-duality-and-identity-in-ballards-the-crystal-world By Emma O. Volk - J. G. Ballard’s The Crystal World (1966) is a prismatic text, apparently translucent yet linguistically opaque, with moments of unexpected ontological intricacy. Like the crystals consuming the forest, Ballard’s descriptive language itself multiplies, encrusting the novel in adjectival embellishment and convoluted pseudo-science. Yet beneath the pop-apocalyptic overtones, The Crystal World is a text deeply informed by its post-colonial setting. In his seminal work Colonial Desire: Hybridity in theory, culture, and race, post-colonial theorist Robert J.C. Young identifies the &ldquo... Mon, 14 Nov 2016 09:45 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1495/post-colonial-duality-and-identity-in-ballards-the-crystal-world http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/985/the-arcane-and-the-rational-lovecrafts-development-of-a-unique-mythos By Dale A. Crowley - The early 20th century saw the rise of a unique subgenre of science fiction and horror literature known as weird fiction. H.P Lovecraft, one of its more prolific and lasting contributors, is rightly considered one of the fathers of the genre. Like the rapidly modernizing world around him, Lovecraft developed his own universe and mythos that was itself a unique mix of old and new. He created monsters that would have been at home in fairy tales or the ancient mists of folklore. At the same time, these ancient, mythic evils were at odds with Lovecraft’s 20th century protagonists – men... Thu, 15 Jan 2015 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/985/the-arcane-and-the-rational-lovecrafts-development-of-a-unique-mythos http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/606/literature-as-a-social-tool-education-and-cohesion-or-class-domination By Hannah A. Weber - English literature is all-encompassing: it ranges from societal utilitarianism of the didactic through to the celebration of individualism embodied in post-modern work. Literature, as part of a larger cultural body, is both instructive and entertaining, and has the power to facilitate personal understanding and encourage social cohesion. The society depicted in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is disillusioned with literature: the populace has forgotten its potential to educate and entertain, and has become sceptical of the intellectual elitism it is seen to represent. People are now captivated... Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:55 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/606/literature-as-a-social-tool-education-and-cohesion-or-class-domination http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/591/the-word-pocalypse-joss-whedons-dollhouse-and-dystopian-language By Elizabeth Padden - In my linguistic analysis of Dollhouse I will begin by examining four words: Attic, Echo, Active, and Doll, selected for their frequent usage in the series and for their exemplification of the way in which new meanings are associated with words that already have preexisting meanings. Using Hayakawa's definitions of the two categories of word meaning, denotative and connotative, I will deconstruct the preexisting meanings of the selected words and address their relationship to new denotations and connotations associated through context. Literal denotative meanings and associative connotative meanings... Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:05 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/591/the-word-pocalypse-joss-whedons-dollhouse-and-dystopian-language http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/340/cyborgs-and-robots-a-logically-ordered-existence By Jeremy S. Page - Ilene Serlin's statement does not simply establish an opposition between the 'logically ordered' state and the state of 'spirit and soul,’ but creates expectations of the latter. A society based on order and logic defends its citizens from the ‘darkness to be contained’ (145) which, for Serlin, seems to be an integral part of a natural (human) existence - the je ne sais quoi that separates humanity from hybridised 'Cyborg' creatures. This paper applies Serlin's analysis to the logic/spirit dichotomy portrayed in the Dr. Who episode Dalek and Beckett's young adult novel Genesis... Fri, 10 Dec 2010 10:56 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/340/cyborgs-and-robots-a-logically-ordered-existence http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/54/viewing-four-vonnegut-novels-through-the-lens-of-literary-criticism By Lindsay D. Clark - I like Kurt Vonnegut because he’s innovative and unique, his literary voice speaking out of a time period I love, when he “was actually helping to breathe life into a new genre—modern, pop fiction,”[1] according to critic Tom Verde. Even though he himself isn’t a radical, and in fact most of his beliefs (according to him) stem from a childhood spent during the Great Depression, the unrest of the sixties and seventies allowed him not only liberation in what he could write about—science in an age of dizzying technological advancement; religion, sex, and tradition... Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:55 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/54/viewing-four-vonnegut-novels-through-the-lens-of-literary-criticism http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/43/future-hell-nuclear-fiction-in-pursuit-of-history By Trevor J. Doherty - What is a cyclical history? Why does humanity seem doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again? Are we doomed to this machine called fate? What is a soul, and how do I express it? Predicting what futures may lay ahead for humanity if we continue on some popular cultural paths, a body of twentieth century authors has created literary experiments designed to test the limits of human imagination. Nuclear warfare, artificial intelligence, inter-galactic travel, and the nature of spirituality itself all come woven together in the texts, which are profoundly affected by enlightened science... Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:26 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/43/future-hell-nuclear-fiction-in-pursuit-of-history