INTERSECTIONS OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND POETRY IN THE WORKS OF PETER PAYACK, ANDREW JORON, AND GENE WOLFE

Abstract

Science fiction poetry is a relatively new genre having emerged with the scientific and technological developments brought about by the Industrial Revolution. It is distinguished basically from the traditional poetry in that it alters traditional poetic forms and has a speculative content enriched by scientific and technological terms. Peter Payack’s “The Migration of Darkness,” Andrew Joron’s “The Sonic Flowerfall of Primes,” and Gene Wolfe’s “The Computer Iterates the Greater Trumps” are the examples of science fiction poetry that combine the elements of science fiction and traditional poetry. While Payack’s and Joron’s poems are discerned with their proselike lines having a science fictional content, Wolfe’s poem resembles more a scientific paper having numbers and formulas. Since the poems discuss mainly the relationship between science, human beings and machines, they are dominated by a speculative tone, scientific notions and images. Hence, they deviate from the norms of conventional poems that deal with the thoughts, emotions and experiences of individuals in a lyrical way. Nonetheless, the poems have an interaction with the traditional poetry as they use the conventional verse form and treat usual human emotions in a quasi-lyrical way. The aim of the present study is to show that the mentioned poems experiment with classical poetic and narrative forms and imageries to debate over the impacts of scientific and technological developments on human life.

Keywords

• Peter Payack
• Andrew Joron
• Gene Wolfe
• The Migration of Darkness
• The Sonic Flowerfall of Primes
• The Computer Iterates the Greater Trumps
• The Sonic Flowerfall of Primes
• The Computer Iterates the Greater Trumps

PETER PAYACK, ANDREW JORON VE GENE WOLFE’UN ESERLERİNDE BİLİM, TEKNOLOJİ VE ŞİİRİN KESİŞİMLERİ

Abstract

Bilim kurgu şiiri, Endüstri Devrimi’nin getirdiği bilimsel ve teknolojik gelişmelerle ortaya çıkan nispeten yeni bir türdür. Geleneksel şiir formlarına farklı boyut kazandırdığından ve bilimsel ve teknolojik terimlerle zenginleştirilmiş düşünsel bir içeriğe sahip olduğundan temel olarak geleneksel şiirden ayırt edilir. Peter Payack’in “The Migration of Darkness”, Andrew Joron’un “The Sonic Flowerfall of Primes” ve Gene Wolfe’un “The Computer Iterates the Greater Trumps” adlı eserleri bilim kurgu ve geleneksel şiir unsurlarını birleştiren bilim kurgu şiirinin örnekleridir. Payack’ın ve Joron’un şiirleri, bilim kurgusal içeriğe sahip düzyazıya benzeyen dizeleriyle ayırt edilirken Wolfe’un şiiri sayıları ve formülleri olan bilimsel bir makaleye daha çok benzer. Çoğunlukla bilim, insan ve makineler arasındaki ilişkiyi tartıştıklarından şiirlerde düşünsel bir üslup, bilimsel kavramlar ve imgeler hâkimdir. Bu nedenle, bireylerin düşüncelerini, duygularını ve deneyimlerini lirik bir şekilde ele alan geleneksel şiirlerin kurallarının dışına çıkarlar. Bununla birlikte, şiirler geleneksel nazım biçimini kullandıklarından ve bilindik insani duyguları yarı lirik bir şekilde ele aldıklarından geleneksel şiir ile etkileşime girerler. Bu çalışmanın amacı, bahsi geçen şiirlerin bilimsel ve teknolojik gelişmelerin insan yaşamına etkilerini tartışmak için klasik şiirsel ve anlatı biçimleri ve imgeleri üzerinde denemeler yaptıklarını göstermektir.

Keywords

• Peter Payack
• Andrew Joron
• Gene Wolfe
• The Migration of Darkness
• The Sonic Flowerfall of Primes
• The Computer Iterates the Greater Trumps

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