Publication Date
2025
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
First Advisor
Gorman, David
Degree Name
Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)
Legacy Department
Department of English
Abstract
This dissertation explores the ways that science fiction texts convey to the reader the worlds in which they are set. It identifies four main strategies through which a science fiction text conveys its world: Neologisms, Secondary Texts, Actual-World Analogs, and Exposition. Neologisms include any words that are coined by the author to describe an entity that only exists in the text world, which creates a fuller world by creating a referent for them. Secondary Texts are any other documents alluded to by the primary text, whether created for the text world or imported from the actual world; these secondary texts imply a larger world through implied reference to yet more entities in the text world. Actual-World Analogs are the historical models on which science fictional entities are based, from animals to governments, which makes the world projecting process more efficient by borrowing from the actual world. Expositions are the variety of ways the narrative explains information directly, in various levels of verisimilitude, which makes the world simply by explaining it. The dissertation explains how these strategies saturate the text world–that is, they provide facts about the text’s reality–and authenticate its narration–that is, they confirm that the saturation is accurate. These two aspects of text-world projection happen through the Principle of Minimal Departure, the assumption that the text world is identical to the actual world until indicated otherwise, and through Schema Theory, the psychological theory that explains how we organize information about the actual world. Ultimately, the dissertation adds to the understanding of the structure of fiction and the psychology of reading by exploring the more extreme example of science fiction.
Recommended Citation
Burlingame, Jacob, "The Fiction of Possibility: How Possible Worlds Theory Explains the Impossible Worlds of Science Fiction" (2025). Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations. 8106.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/allgraduate-thesesdissertations/8106
Extent
203 pages
Language
en
Publisher
Northern Illinois University
Rights Statement
In Copyright
Rights Statement 2
NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.
Media Type
Text
