Read more
Clear all moorings, one-half impulse power and set course for a mare incognitum...
A popular culture artifact of the New Frontier/Space Race era, Star Trek is often mistakenly viewed as a Space Western. However, the Western format is not what governs the worldbuilding of Star Trek, which was, after all, also pitched as "Hornblower in space." Star Trek is modeled on the world of the "British Golden Age of Sail" as it is commonly found in the genre of sea fiction. This book re-historicizes and remaps the origins of the franchise and subsequently the entirety of its fictional world--the Star Trek continuum--on an as yet uncharted transatlantic bearing.
List of contents
Table of ContentsAbbreviations Used viii
Preface
Introduction: These Are the Voyages...
Part I: Elementary, Dear Trekker (A Primer)
1.¿Logical, or at Least Plausible: Genre and Science Fiction
2.¿Space. The Final Frontier
3.¿Maritime Histories
Part II: Rule, Britannia! Britannia Rules Outer Space in Star Trek! (A Voyage)
4.¿"Off the starboard bow": Star Trek's Naval Corpus
5.¿"All I ask is a tall ship": Sailing the Ocean of Space
6.¿"Captain's prerogative": Star Trek's Hornblowers in Space
7.¿"Take her out": Nautical Traditions and Re-imagined Nautical Life in Space
8.¿"The benevolent empire of good intentions": Star Trek's Neo-Enlightenment
Conclusion: What You Leave Behind
Chapter Notes
Works Cited
Index
About the author
Stefan Rabitsch is an assistant professor in American Studies at the University of Graz and teaches courses in American cultural history at the University of Klagenfurt. His research and teaching are dominated by American cultural studies, especially cultural history, together with a pronounced focus on science fiction studies across media. He lives in Graz, Austria.
Summary
The future of Star Trek is modelled on the world of the British Golden Age of Sail as it is commonly found in the genre of sea fiction. Star Trek and the British Age of Sail re-historicizes and remaps the origins of Star Trek and subsequently the entirety of its fictional world - the Star Trek continuum - on an as yet uncharted transatlantic bearing.
