Evolving into God? : man, his creations, and science fiction throughout the ages

Abstract

This dissertation deals with science fiction’s depiction of man as the creator. Rather than looking at any and every type of technological invention or scientific breakthrough, this dissertation is instead specifically concerned with the creation of machines that try to emulate humanity. Taking Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus as the seminal text, man’s scientific and technological progress and prowess as traced by literature is looked at through the inclusion of two more recent works. The first is Eando Binder’s Adam Link: Robot, the 1960s robot novel that inspired Isaac Asimov and many other writers after him. The second is an even more recent work representing the new age of storytelling; S. D. Perry’s Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy, based on the zombie survival-horror franchise that now boasts an impressive canon of video games, films and novels. The three chapters of this dissertation—named Phases to reflect the main stages of the novels it explores—seek to identify common patterns in works that stretch over nearly two centuries. The main question that is addressed throughout is whether, through these scientific endeavours, man is transcending his human limitations and evolving into something closer to a deity. The challenge is also raised, however, on whether this process is indeed giving rise to the direct opposite effect.