An Apocalypse of Total Communication: Utopian and Dystopian Perspectives in 'Star Maker' (1937) and 'the Matrix' (1999)

Garcia Landa, Jose Angel

An Apocalypse of Total Communication: Utopian and Dystopian Perspectives in 'Star Maker' (1937) and 'the Matrix' (1999)

MEMORY, IMAGINATION AND DESIRE IN CONTEMPORARY ANGLO-AMERICAN LITERATURE AND FILM, pp. 253-268, Constanza del Río-Álvaro, Luis Miguel García-Mainar, eds., (Anglistische Forschungen, 337), Heidelberg: Winter, 2004

20 Pages Posted: 22 Jan 2020

See all articles by Jose Angel Garcia Landa

Jose Angel Garcia Landa

Universidad de Zaragoza

Date Written: 2002

Abstract

This paper deals with fantasies of universal connection and total communication which culminate in a hellish or utopian apotheosis. These are exemplified with Olaf Stapledon's novel STAR MAKER (1937) and the film THE MATRIX (1999), written and directed by the Wachowski brothers. The paper focuses on some reflexive aspects of these fictions and on their relationship with their cultural background.

Keywords: science fiction, Apocalypse, communication, utopia, dystopia, reflexivity, media, connectedness, information, literature, English literature, Olaf Stapledon, The Matrix, Wachowski

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Garcia Landa, Jose Angel, An Apocalypse of Total Communication: Utopian and Dystopian Perspectives in 'Star Maker' (1937) and 'the Matrix' (1999) (2002). MEMORY, IMAGINATION AND DESIRE IN CONTEMPORARY ANGLO-AMERICAN LITERATURE AND FILM, pp. 253-268, Constanza del Río-Álvaro, Luis Miguel García-Mainar, eds., (Anglistische Forschungen, 337), Heidelberg: Winter, 2004, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2104123