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“It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem. For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much, the wheel, New York, wars and so on - whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man for precisely the same reasons…”
Douglas Adams’ masterpiece The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has enjoyed immense popularity ever since it was first published as a radio series in the late 1970s. From this original version it spawned numerous adaptations in other media, such as novels, a TV series, a computer game, and a film.
Its impact on popular culture can hardly be overestimated, as many quotations from this text, such as “So long, and thanks for all the fish”, “mostly harmless” and the ever ubiquitous “42” are still very much in common use.
Apart from its significance for cultural studies, its achievements as a literary text are second to none. Without a doubt one can say that with this text Douglas Adams has written one of the funniest pieces of literature of all time, captivating its audience with a mindboggling science fiction story that draws heavily from various contexts, while permanently rewarding it with its great potential for laughter.
In the course of this seminar we will consider questions such as how does humour work in general and in this text and particular; we will try and make sense of the various contexts that Adams’ major work belabours, including theology, cognitive sciences, sociology, 20th century culture, politics, physics and metaphysics, to mention a few; and we will compare its various adaptations across the media.
Requirements:
All participants are required to acquire the following copy of the text and read the first of five parts before the seminar begins:
Adams, Douglas. The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Del Rey, 2002.
ISBN: 978-0345453747 |
