Markus Widmer

Worlds and selves falling apart - The science fiction of Philip K. Dick Markus Widmer

Swiss Diploma Thesis from the year 2000 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1.5 (A), University of Zurich (English Seminar), 77 entries in the bibliography, language: English, comment: , abstract: Philip K. Dick's science fiction can be seen as a discussion of the human condition in a world where nothing is what it seems. Human identity has become uncertain, as has the nature of reality itself. This Dickian ontology has a striking similarity to postmodernist theories by thinkers such as Jameson, Baudrillard and McHale, most of whom, by the way, have a weak spot for science fiction. The discussion of Philip K. Dick's novels and short stories against a backdrop of postmodernist theory leads to conclusions that are not only relevant for the author's particular poetics, but for the ontology of our lives in times that science fiction couldn't have imagined. This work focusses on Philip K. Dick's unstable worlds and subjects, investigating Dickian space, time and meaning as well as the author's subjects and the question of schizophrenia and paranoia. Works discussed include Ubik, Time Out of Joint, The Man in the High Castle, A Maze of Death, Eye in the Sky, A Scanner Darkly, Martian Time-Slip and Impostor.