Delany’s Fugue: Troubling the Power of Surveillance over Dyeth's mind and Dyethshome in Stars in my Pocket Like Grains of Sand

Document Type : Original Article

Author

English Department, Faculty of Arts, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Samuel Delany's Stars in my Pocket Like Grains of Sand (1984) challenges questionable conceptions of knowledge and their limits/limitations.  Theoretical study of this text has focused on considering issues of race and identity in relation to the science-fiction genre. This paper explores Delany’s text from a surveillance studies perspective to analyze how surveillance, as a technological tool of power, functions in it.  According to Foucault the disciplinary bent of society limits freedom. This is why tracing surveillance techniques in relation to knowledge as well as subjects/objects on Velm (an SF world in the novel) uncovers the limitations of seemingly liberal societies, who are disciplinary societies that put their power into practice through surveillance.

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References

 
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