Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
16th INTERNATIONAL IDEA CONFERENCE STUDIES IN ENGLISH , Nevşehir, Türkiye, 24 - 26 Nisan 2024, ss.36
In Jack Williamson’s 1947 science fiction novelette “With Folded Hands...”, the issues of probability of an ideal society, dangers of utopianism, and the darker undertones of saviour figures are presented via an imagination of a future where humans are served by the android figures called Humanoids. In the novelette, by depending upon the Humanoids for their most menial works, humanity dooms itself to an irreversible stagnation, as these androids prevent humanity from doing anything that may pose harm to humans. The novel’s ending depicts a nightmarish world where resistance becomes futile against the utopian vision of the Humanoids. The aim of this discussion is to reveal how this dystopian future is linked with the mid- twentieth century American paranoia against communism and a fear of technological development that appeared at the beginning of the 20th century. In the novelette, Humanoids are represented as figures who do menial work for the middle-class citizens, which associates Humanoids with the working-class citizens, enforcing the idea that the prominent theme of the novelette seems to be a concealed fear of a labourers’ revolution. The main concern of this presentation will be the inspection of the novelette in the framework of emerging anti-communism in the USA in the 20th century and a rejection of Utopian idealism in favour of free enterprise.