مشخصات پژوهش

This research explores cognitive estrangement as a transformative device in science fiction, grounding the research on three epoch-making works: H.G. Wells' The Time Machine, George Orwell's 1984, and Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey. The paper draws from Darko Suvin's theory in explaining how these selected texts illustrate some aspects of societal truths, interrogate utopian hopes, and further inspire dystopian fears. It places science fiction as that "alchemical crucible" wherein speculative imagination and critical discourse combine to contest and reimagine the real. The Time Machine allegorizes Victorian class division between the Eloi and Morlocks, 1984 gives form to the manipulation of truth and surveillance as arms of authoritarian control, and 2001: A Space Odyssey contemplates human potential and technological ethics through its enigmatic monolith. This thesis foregrounds cognitive estrangement in its performance of the work to enable human evolution, societal constructs, and ethical dilemmas, thereby pointing to this genre's role in crossing reality with imagination. The contribution to the critical discourses on science fiction, especially in regard to its potentials for engaging criticism and dreaming futures of transformation, justifies the ongoing relevance of this genre in both cultural and intellectual studies.