the others.

Beginning with a Post-Colonial Reading of Blade Runner

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In Sci-fi the future of human existence on Earth is often depicted as apocalyptic with few resources and the only option for a good life being to go somewhere else. In “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” the book that the film Blade Runner is based on, the planet is thick with radiation. The main advertising slogan enticing people out to the colonies is ‘Emigrate or Degenerate’. From this we start to develop an idea of what drives the urge for communities to colonise.

There are however important questions that come out of this action, what happens to us when we situate ourselves somewhere else, are we changed? What happens to the new context we place ourselves within, is our presence merely absorbed or do the places we go to also change? And finally, what is brought back and what comes back from the colony?

There is a relationship between colonial debate and science fiction, that centres on the concern about other places, what are these places and how can we know them? Colonial thought is not new, but the terrain always is. Post-colonial theory considers the results of adventures into the exotic.

Reading Reference:

Carter, Paul (1987) Naming Place in Ashcroft et al (ed.) (1995) The Post-colonial Studies Reader London: Routledge



The ‘Others’

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To prepare for your lecture and seminar about The ‘Others’:

* Read the texts that are provided on Moodle – they differ greatly but we will discuss how they are connected during the lecture and seminars. (Do the readings before the lecture.)
* Watch Blade Runner! For this session and, mainly, because the film is an absolute classic.



Questions for your seminar

1. How do the texts relate to each other? Do you think there is a relationship between the experiences of the first explorers sent to Australia and the characters from Blade Runner or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Is there more of a relationship between the explorers sent to Australia and the earth-bound humans or the replicants?



2. How do ideas of the exotic relate to your area of practice? What cultural hybrids are you aware of in the practice you work in? Are there examples of practitioners drawing influence from various cultural contexts?



Bring to the seminar:

* Your notes about the readings and from the lecture.
* Your visual example(s) of a practitioner working with ideas of the exotic.