The Cowboy Politics of an Enlightened Future : History, Expansionism, and Guardianship in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction

摘要

Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) was one of the central writers in the formative period of American science fiction, and among the first to emphasize the societal and political importance of the genre. This dissertation examines the themes of history, frontier expansionism, and guardianship in Asimov's key works, the Robot and Foundation series, in order to view his influence on the development of science fiction when it started to distance itself from pulp fiction and refine its key tropes and themes. 
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\nA significant part of Asimov's Robot and Foundation stories were first published as serials in the 1940s and 1950s Astounding Science-Fiction magazine, and the pulp publishing context is crucial in order to understand Asimov's impact on the genre. Thus, this dissertation combines the contextual examination of Asimov's main themes with a discussion of the views of the Astounding magazine editor, John W. Campbell, Jr., a key influence on Asimov's work. Moreover, the present study extends to Asimov's 1980s novels that combine much of his fiction into a unified grand narrative of future history. 
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\nMy claim is that in Asimov's series the need to understand history in order to construct a sustainable future becomes the pivotal theme, both on the level of narration and on the level of characters that turn their knowledge of history into action. This awareness of history, I contend, leads to the recurrent realization that human culture will decline if stagnation is not reversed by frontier expansion. The pervasive frontier theme and the role of individual heroes in Asimov s work also reflect the Western backdrop of American pulp fiction. In this way, it demonstrates the science fiction genre's shift from cowboy heroes of Western fiction to problem-solving engineers on the intellectual frontier of the future. Finally, the historical and frontier aspects in Asimov's series point toward the notion of guardianship and the aspiration to apply the understanding of both history and science to engineer a more peaceful, yet non-stagnant future. Throughout his career, then, Asimov displays a tension between a utopian desire and the pragmatic and techno-meritocratic solutions typical to Campbell s stable of writers. 
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\nThus, although Asimov's series is usually taken as straightforward prose fiction that focuses on solutions and explanations, this dissertation demonstrates its central tensions, which also serve to highlight the development of the science fiction genre. The readings presented make visible the ambiguous strains between Asimov's cyclical models of history and his admiration of the Enlightenment ideal of progression, between individual freedom and the notion of guardianship, as well as between pragmatism and utopia. Informed by American history, Asimov's series portrays how individuals make bold maneuvers in order to steer humankind toward a more sustainable future, thus engaging in what could be termed the cowboy politics of an enlightened future.