Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
Products of dystopia : Philip K. Dick’s reflections on uncomfortable social realities in three novels
Dissertation (MA (English))--University of Pretoria, 2022.
Saved in:
| Other Authors: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Pretoria
2023
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1867613617697849344 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Goedhals, Antony |
| author_browse | Goedhals, Antony |
| author_facet | Goedhals, Antony |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2022 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
| description | Dissertation (MA (English))--University of Pretoria, 2022. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/89360 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:39:00.149Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/89360 Products of dystopia : Philip K. Dick’s reflections on uncomfortable social realities in three novels Goedhals, Antony u16148208@tuks.co.za Visagie, Jeandre UCTD Philip Dick Dystopia Capitalism Science-Fiction Product Dissertation (MA (English))--University of Pretoria, 2022. This dissertation explores ways in which a selection of Philip K. Dick’s novels express the idea of products produced in a dystopian setting and how these products reflect uncomfortable social realities. The first novel to be discussed is We Can Build You, in which constructed humanoids referred to as ‘simulacra’ are uniquely situated to reflect societal decay under a system of late-stage capitalism and governmental overreach through mental health institutionalisation. The second is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which also features constructed humanoids, although the androids of this text are far more advanced and agentive. These androids and their role in the society of the text, are explored considering their positioning in the dynamic of empathy established in the novel’s post-apocalyptic setting. The final text discussed is The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, which is analysed with special attention to the use of drugs and escapism, as characters seek to escape the climate apocalypse ravaging the Earth. The use of such drugs and the solipsistic nightmare world in which the characters are entrapped, forms the basis of this discussion. The works of Umberto Rossi in The Twisted Worlds of Philip K. Dick and Evan Lampe in Philip K. Dick and The World We Live In are drawn from extensively throughout the dissertation, as they are instrumental in establishing the nature of the dystopian societies described and the perspectives through which we view them. This dissertation explores an under-represented aspect of Dick’s works, in that it discusses the use of products as reflectors of social reality. Dick’s writing often engages with capitalist characters, societies or ideas and the products of such a society are important to discuss as they reflect the priorities and values of such a society. This is a field of Dick’s work that would benefit from more discussion English MA (English) Unrestricted 2023-02-09T09:15:27Z 2023-02-09T09:15:27Z 2023-04 2022 Dissertation * A2023 https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/89360 en © 2022 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | UCTD Philip Dick Dystopia Capitalism Science-Fiction Product Products of dystopia : Philip K. Dick’s reflections on uncomfortable social realities in three novels |
| title | Products of dystopia : Philip K. Dick’s reflections on uncomfortable social realities in three novels |
| title_full | Products of dystopia : Philip K. Dick’s reflections on uncomfortable social realities in three novels |
| title_fullStr | Products of dystopia : Philip K. Dick’s reflections on uncomfortable social realities in three novels |
| title_full_unstemmed | Products of dystopia : Philip K. Dick’s reflections on uncomfortable social realities in three novels |
| title_short | Products of dystopia : Philip K. Dick’s reflections on uncomfortable social realities in three novels |
| title_sort | products of dystopia philip k dick s reflections on uncomfortable social realities in three novels |
| topic | UCTD Philip Dick Dystopia Capitalism Science-Fiction Product |
| url | https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/89360 |