Reading Like A Replicant: Blade Runner 2049, Pale Fire, and the Archival Embodiment of Literature
If androids dream of electric sheep, do replicants read analog novels? In the dystopian sci-fi world of Blade Runner 2049 (2017), literature plays a complex role. In particular, the film engages in a multi-leveled way with Vladimir Nabokov's novel Pale Fire (1962). A hardcover copy of the book...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Alberta
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Imaginations: Journal of Cross-Cultural Media Studies |
| Online Access: | https://imaginationsjournal.ca/index.php/imaginations/article/view/29695 |
| _version_ | 1797382688019054592 |
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| author | Lee Campbell |
| author_facet | Lee Campbell |
| author_sort | Lee Campbell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
If androids dream of electric sheep, do replicants read analog novels? In the dystopian sci-fi world of Blade Runner 2049 (2017), literature plays a complex role. In particular, the film engages in a multi-leveled way with Vladimir Nabokov's novel Pale Fire (1962). A hardcover copy of the book appears in one scene, and it is quoted and covertly referenced in others. These appearances are like metafictive keys to a pattern of possible meanings, through which the film both embodies and reflects upon its method of archival replication. Translating between codex, screen, and holographic media, the film reanimates its source materials, dramatises the affinity between literary texts and embodied life, and suggests that literature may be a vector of resistance to techno-capitalist archival control.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:10:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1475ae194a76401fb1762be1b5f1d476 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1918-8439 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:10:06Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | University of Alberta |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Imaginations: Journal of Cross-Cultural Media Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-1475ae194a76401fb1762be1b5f1d4762023-12-22T06:52:08ZengUniversity of AlbertaImaginations: Journal of Cross-Cultural Media Studies1918-84392023-12-0114210.17742/IMAGE29695Reading Like A Replicant: Blade Runner 2049, Pale Fire, and the Archival Embodiment of LiteratureLee Campbell If androids dream of electric sheep, do replicants read analog novels? In the dystopian sci-fi world of Blade Runner 2049 (2017), literature plays a complex role. In particular, the film engages in a multi-leveled way with Vladimir Nabokov's novel Pale Fire (1962). A hardcover copy of the book appears in one scene, and it is quoted and covertly referenced in others. These appearances are like metafictive keys to a pattern of possible meanings, through which the film both embodies and reflects upon its method of archival replication. Translating between codex, screen, and holographic media, the film reanimates its source materials, dramatises the affinity between literary texts and embodied life, and suggests that literature may be a vector of resistance to techno-capitalist archival control. https://imaginationsjournal.ca/index.php/imaginations/article/view/29695 |
| spellingShingle | Lee Campbell Reading Like A Replicant: Blade Runner 2049, Pale Fire, and the Archival Embodiment of Literature Imaginations: Journal of Cross-Cultural Media Studies |
| title | Reading Like A Replicant: Blade Runner 2049, Pale Fire, and the Archival Embodiment of Literature |
| title_full | Reading Like A Replicant: Blade Runner 2049, Pale Fire, and the Archival Embodiment of Literature |
| title_fullStr | Reading Like A Replicant: Blade Runner 2049, Pale Fire, and the Archival Embodiment of Literature |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reading Like A Replicant: Blade Runner 2049, Pale Fire, and the Archival Embodiment of Literature |
| title_short | Reading Like A Replicant: Blade Runner 2049, Pale Fire, and the Archival Embodiment of Literature |
| title_sort | reading like a replicant blade runner 2049 pale fire and the archival embodiment of literature |
| url | https://imaginationsjournal.ca/index.php/imaginations/article/view/29695 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT leecampbell readinglikeareplicantbladerunner2049palefireandthearchivalembodimentofliterature |