Description
Science fiction has long been focused on human advancement and progress into the future from the present day. The genre is tied closely to literature of a philosophical nature, exploring humanist concepts such as mortality and infinity through the lens of wondrous technology and spacefaring futures. Rarely, however, do these stories explore these notions not through new technology, but the refuse and decay of old technology. Specifically, space junk.The aim of my project is to investigate the concepts of mortality and infinity with particular regard to their relationship with space junk, both in the present day and the speculative future. I wish to explore how space junk currently affects human development – what philosophical principles can be pulled by reference to the artificial objects orbiting our planet – and how it will potentially affect us in the future – the impacts long term space pollution could have on, not only Earth, but the greater solar system/galaxy.
Further, as I intend to research these ideas with the perspective of human development, I also plan to experiment with literary form by presenting my creative work as a bildungsroman. The bildungsroman most succinctly describes a ‘coming-of-age’ story, the process of maturity through enlightenment. In a sense, I wish to explore the ‘coming-of-age’ of humanity.
I intend to structure my creative work as a ‘mosaic novel’ – a novel comprising of multiple short stories with a consistent and overarching through line. This way, I can tell various different stories and focus on my chosen topics with numerous lenses and perspectives, ideally painting a holistic image of my research. My exegesis will be written as chapters, each focusing particularly on my chosen areas, namely: space junk, mortality and infinity, the bildungsroman and creative structure.
I intend to research the past and contemporary examples of literature that focuses on space junk, mortality and infinity and assess how these works encapsulate these concepts and the conclusions – or lack thereof – which are typically drawn. I will also research into how the bildungsroman can be used as a tool to not only explore maturation, but also finality and, ultimately, death. Overall, I aim to create a work of fiction that combines these concepts to explore a field of science fiction, that while previously written about, hasn’t been thoroughly documented with these considerations.
Period | 7 Nov 2022 |
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Event title | Flinders CHASS & CBGL Spring Conference |
Event type | Conference |
Location | Bedford Park, Australia, South AustraliaShow on map |
Degree of Recognition | Local |
Keywords
- Space junk
- creative writing
- fiction
- environmental studies