Parental Androids

An Analysis of Non-normative Care Discourse in Contemporary Televised Science Fiction

Authors

  • Valeria Franceschi
  • Valentina Romanzi

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13136/2281-4582/2023.i22.1351

Keywords:

care theory, discourse-historical approach, science fiction, posthumanism, discourse analysis

Abstract

About forty years ago, feminist scholars formulated several independent definitions of an ethics of care (Gilligan 1982; Ruddick 1989; Noddings 1984), suggesting the need to reframe human collective and personal interactions. However, care theory fails for the most part to consider the lived experiences and the needs of marginalized subjects (Gary 2022). This study observes care theory from a linguistic perspective in three audio-visual texts featuring examples of non-normative care. The sci-fi TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Battlestar Galactica, and Raised by Wolves will be considered, with a focus on androids acting as caregivers. The linguistic analysis, following a Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA), will focus on discursive strategies relating to the parties involved, their relational ties, care behaviors, and the androids’ adequacy as caretakers. The emerging perspectives may be mapped onto current discourse on minority groups’ access to fostering or adoption and their reproductive rights.

Author Biography

Valeria Franceschi

Valeria Franceschi is currently a junior researcher in English Language and Translation at the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures of the University of Verona, where she teaches at undergraduate and graduate level. She has recently published Exploring Plurilingualism in Fan Fiction: ELF Users as Creative Writers (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017). Lately, her research in ELF has focused on plurilingual practices and on the business context (BELF). In addition to ELF, her research areas of interest include digital communication and corpus linguistics. She has recently developed an interest in tourism communication and travel accounts.

 

Valeria Franceschi is currently a junior researcher in English Language and Translation at the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures of the University of Verona. Her main research areas are ELF and BELF, on which she has published a monograph and multiple articles. She has recently developed an interest in tourism communication and travel accounts.

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Published

2023-12-21

Issue

No. 22 (2023): re- and de-: Prefixes and Paradigms to Reconstruct and Deconstruct the United States Within and Without Borders

Section

Articles (general section) - English language and linguistics

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Copyright (c) 2023 Valeria Franceschi, Valentina Romanzi

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