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- Title
Enlightened Sense of Wonder? Sublimity and Rationality in Asimov's Foundation Series.
- Authors
Käkelä, Jari
- Abstract
The sublime is a contradictory notion in Asimov's Foundation series. Several of Asimov's characters seem to go through experiences that resemble the sublime, but those experiences are always explained away by other characters that see the same elements as rationally accountable. The series seems to generate a sense of wonder not by evoking an experience of the sublime but by undercutting it and showing how enlightened rationality can comprehend and control the course of humanity. This article traces Asimov's characters' responses to the sublime experience and discusses how its frequent debunking can be seen as a sign of overt rationalism in his work.
- Subjects
FOUNDATION book series; SCIENCE fiction; FANTASY fiction; LITERATURE &; science; ASIMOV, Isaac, 1920-1992
- Publication
Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 2011, Vol 22, Issue 2, p171
- ISSN
0897-0521
- Publication type
Article