Your Self Again: Clones, Originals, and True Selves of Science Fiction

This is a practice-led research project, exploring ideas of personal identity in the light of human cloning in science fiction (SF). Its main aim is to understand how SF writers can benefit from theories of identity and characterisation to develop fictional characters in clone narratives. The thesis will engage with the history of cloning, explore the scientific, narratological and philosophical influences on the portrayal of the clone and their original’s identities, and connect theory to practice through an SF novel that experiments with the theoretical findings. The greater outcome of my critical commentary will be to show how SF, and specifically clone narratives, lend themselves particularly well to reflect and facilitate philosophical discussions on the subject of character and ultimately self. Jonathan Culpeper and Carolina Fernandez-Quintanilla’s work on fictional characterisation, Carl D. Malmgren’s SF typology, and Darko Suvin’s cognitive estrangement form the basis for my clone and original character development framework which determines the SF author’s decisions on characterisation and character transformation. It can be used for critical analysis and as a practical device for character development in the first draft and subsequent edits. The study of the selected SF novels demonstrates how this framework can be applied for literary and narratological examination. In my SF novel, I work with the framework creatively and use different philosophical debates on selfhood to experiment with the idea of ‘rebirth’ and ‘true self’. To explore the effects of cloning technology on the selfhood of the fictional characters, I also experiment with the diegetic prototypes of cloning. The commentary on my SF novel engages with the aims and objectives of the critical part of this project and, at the same time, serves as a diagnostic reflection on clone characterisation.

Grantor dc:publisher

Oxford Brookes University

Author dc:creator

• Bakenova, Maira

Contributors dc:contributor

• Pohl, Nicole
• Joss, Morag

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.24384/203c-s390

OAI identifier oai:identifier

tle:27868f3c-8008-4d45-87e9-fde951198153:d6bd9758-527a-46cd-bfe2-c433766e8fca:1