Robots in american popular culture / Steve Carper.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Carper, Steve, 1950- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Robots in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (302 pages)

Place of Publication:

Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, [2019]

Summary:

They are invincible warriors of steel, silky-skinned enticers, stealers of jobs and lovable goofball sidekicks. Legions of robots and androids star in the dream factories of Hollywood and leer on pulp magazine covers, instantly recognizable icons of American popular culture. For two centuries, we have been told tales of encounters with creatures stronger, faster and smarter than ourselves, making us wonder who would win in a battle between machine and human. This book examines society's introduction to robots and androids such as Robby and Rosie, Elecktro and Sparko, Data, WALL-E, C-3PO and the Terminator, particularly before and after World War II when the power of technology exploded. Learn how robots evolved with the times and then eventually caught up with and surpassed them. -- Back cover.

Contents:

Part One: The Robot Pre-Computer. The Robot and the Android : The Origin of the Species ; The Heimlich Maneuver: Robots in Early Fiction ; Is It Mechanism or Soul? Robots on the Stage ; The Wonderful Walking Mechanical Men ; "Quiet, Please-I'm Talking" : The Westinghouse Family of Robots ; Iron Monster Turns Traitor : Amateur Robots ; Buck, Flash, Tillie and Mickey : Robots in Comic Strips ; A Tribe of Living Mechanical Men! Robots in Comic Books ; Utterly Alien and Nonhuman : The Robot in Golden Age Science Fiction ; The Automaton! Robots in Movies

Part Two: The Robot Post-Computer. Robots as Camp ; Robots and Kids ; Robots and Androids ; Robots as Sexbots ; Robots as Enemies ; Robots, Robots, Everywhere.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-4766-3505-6