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Re-presenting the Universe: The Cosmic Perspective and its Expressions in Carl Sagan's Cosmos

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Author

  • Daniel Helsing

Summary, in English

In this thesis, Carl Sagan’s television series and book Cosmos is studied. Theories and concepts from literary studies (and related fields) are used to analyze the so-called “cosmic perspective”. The cosmic perspective is shown to be complex, composed of four different but related perspectives: space; time; humanity and cosmic evolution; and history of science and exploration. A number of ambiguities are found within the expressions of these perspectives. The concepts and theories used in the analyses are taken from intermediality studies, genre theory, Russian formalism, and narratology. The concepts and theories are used to analyze a work in a genre not usually recognized as literary, namely popular science. An additional aim of the thesis is to show that the language and narratives of Cosmos possess literary characteristics.

Department/s

Publishing year

2012

Language

English

Document type

Student publication for Master's degree (one year)

Topic

  • Languages and Literatures

Keywords

  • Carl Sagan
  • Cosmos
  • popular science
  • narratology
  • Russian formalism
  • genre theory
  • intermediality studies
  • nature
  • the universe
  • cosmic perspective
  • literature

Supervisor

  • Paul Tenngart (PhD)