Academic Scientific JournalsThe Alien as the Other: Various Images of the Alien in Science Fiction Literature
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26881/ae.2015.12.02Keywords:
alien, Other, Self, relationshipAbstract
The Other simultaneously terrifies and fascinates; the Other crosses boundaries which the Self would never dare to cross or, in some cases, would not even be able to recognize. Finally, the Other resides also within the Self. Drawing inspiration from this unique relationship between the Other and the Self, science fiction literature ascribes the qualities of the Other to alien characters. In this article, I will attempt to demonstrate how alien characters are employed in science fiction in order to discuss ontological questions of defining what humanity is, ethical questions regarding the reception of the Other, and epistemological ones regarding the human capability of comprehending the Other. I will support my line of argument with examples of the depiction of alien characters from Robot (1973) by Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg, Speaker for the Dead (1986) by Orson Scott Card, and Solaris (1961) by Stanisław Lem as well as their functions.
English translation: Anna Moroz-Darska
Modernisation of the journal's operations and translation into the English language of articles published in Ars Educandi in 2012-2017 were financed with funds from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education as a part of the task Science Promotion Activity (pl. DUN).
The task ‘The implementation of the editorial module on the platform of Uniwersyteckie Czasopisma Naukowe – a system facilitating the editing and management of the academic journal Ars Educandi‘ was financed as a part of contract 661/P-DUN/2018 of 12.06.2018 from funds of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education designated for the promotion of science.
The task ‘The creation of a modern online version of the academic journal Ars Educandi through the implementation of the publication module on the platform of Uniwersyteckie Czasopisma Naukowe and the handling of international indexing databases’ was financed as a part of contract 661/P-DUN/2018 of 12.06.2018 from funds of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education designated for the promotion of science.
The task ‘Preparation of the English language version of the last 6 annual issues (2012-2017) of the academic journal Ars Educandi and their publication online’ was financed as a part of contract 661/P-DUN/2018 of 12.06.2018 from funds of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education designated for the promotion of science.
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