Beschreibung:
The BBC television series Doctor Who has been a cherished cornerstone of science fiction for five decades. This edited collection provides critical analyses of the series, connecting popular culture and academia through its exploration of the rich intersection of language, literature, and text in Doctor Who. Essays delve into a wide range of topics, from semantics to fandom and the power of the written word.
In a richly developed fictional universe, Doctor Who, a wandering survivor of a once-powerful alien civilization, possesses powers beyond human comprehension. He can bend the fabric of time and space with his TARDIS, alter the destiny of worlds, and drive entire species into extinction. The good doctor’s eleven “regenerations” and fifty years’ worth of adventures make him the longest-lived hero in science-fiction television.
In The Language of Doctor Who: From Shakespeare to Alien Tongues, Jason Barr and Camille D. G. Mustachio present several essays that use language as an entry point into the character and his universe. Ranging from the original to the rebooted television series—through the adventures of the first eleven Doctors—these essays explore how written and spoken language have been used to define the Doctor’s ever-changing identities, shape his relationships with his many companions, and give him power over his enemies—even the implacable Daleks. Individual essays focus on fairy tales, myths, medical-travel narratives, nursery rhymes, and, of course, Shakespeare. Contributors consider how the Doctor’s companions speak with him through graffiti, how the Doctor himself uses postmodern linguistics to communicate with alien species, and how language both unites and divides fans of classic Who and new Who as they try to converse with each other.
Broad in scope, innovative in approach, and informed by a deep affection for the program, TheLanguage of Doctor Who will appeal to scholars of science fiction, television, and language, as well as to fans looking for a new perspective on their favorite Time Lord.
AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: “It Looks Like You Need a Doctor”Part One: Classic WhoChapter 1: Doctor who? What's he talking about?: Performativity and the First Doctor, Dene OctoberChapter 2: A Contribution to Dialogue: Doctor Who and the (Un)Spoken Word, Andrew O’DayChapter 3: “The Moment Has Been Prepared For”: Regeneration and Language in “Logopolis” and “Castrovalva,” Rhonda KnightChapter 4: Sensation, Serialization, and Seven: Reading Doctor Who as a Mid-Victorian Text through “Ghost Light,” Sam MaggsChapter 5: The Sylvester McCoy Era of Target Books and the Literary Experience, Ramie TateishiChapter 6: The Doctor’s Wondrous Wandering Dialectic Approach to the Universe, Sheila SandapenPart Two: New WhoChapter 7: The Wolf, the Sparrow, and the River: Feminine Empowerment through Graffiti, Camille D. G. MustachioChapter 8: Translation Failure: The TARDIS, Cross-Temporal Language Contact, and Medieval Travel Narrative, Jonathan HsyChapter 9: Brave New Words: Theatre as Magic in "The Shakespeare Code," Buket AkgünChapter 10: A Utopia of Words: Doctor Who, Shakespeare, and the Gendering of Utopia, Delilah Bermudez BrataasChapter 11: Silence in the Archives: The Magic of Libraries, Valerie Estelle FrankelChapter 12: Destructive Texts and the Uncanny in “Human Nature”/”Family of Blood,” Dana ForeChapter 13: “All Your Little Tin Soldiers”: Doctor Who and the Language of the First World War, David BudgenChapter 14: Fairy Tales, Nursery Rhymes and Myths in Steven Moffat’s Doctor Who, Anne MalewskiChapter 15: The Language of Myth: Violence and the Sacred in Doctor Who, Lori A. Davis PerryChapter 16: The Doctor and Amy Pond: A Bedtime Story, Michael BillingsChapter 17: Language Games in the Whoniverse, Erica MooreChapter 18: The Discourse of Authenticity in the Doctor Who Fan Community, Katie Booth and Paul Booth