The artificial paradise
Subtitle: science fiction and American reality
By: Sharona Ben-Tov.
Series: Studies in literature and science
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Ann Arbor
Language: eng
Number of pages: 201
Subjects: Science fiction, American -- History and criticism.; Literature and technology -- United States -- History -- 20th century.; Literature and history -- United States -- History -- 20th century.; National characteristics, American, in literature.; Paradise in literature.; United States -- In literature.
Description: The Artificial Paradise shows how American science fiction is a powerful purveyor of cultural myths that reveals our attitudes toward nature, technology, and the pursuit of happiness. Sharona Ben-Tov sees science fiction as a national mode of thinking that seeks to replace nature with technological worlds - paradoxically in the hope of regaining a mythic, magical American Eden.

Ben-Tov discusses sci-fi classics like Dune, The Dispossessed, Neuromancer, Vonnegut's fiction, and the Aliens movie in relation to ancient and modern myths of nature; to scientific projects like the atom bomb, Strategic Defense Initiative, robotics, and virtual reality; and to cultural psychology.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [183]-195) and index.