Date of Award
Spring 2025
Embargo Period
4-30-2025
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
College/School/Department
Department of English
Program
English
First Advisor
Elliot Tetreault
Committee Members
Mike Hill
Keywords
Red Dwarf, Queer Theory, Disability Theory, Neuroqueer, Temporality, Science Fiction, Situational Comedy, Neoliberalism, Absurdism
Subject Categories
Disability Studies | Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies | Queer Studies | Television
Abstract
The science fiction series Red Dwarf, beginning in 1988 and broadcasting sporadically over the past nearly four decades, takes place more than three million years in the future where human beings have gone extinct. All, that is, except one; the show’s central character, Dave Lister, is the last known living human being in the universe, outliving humanity by remaining in stasis during a radiation leak that killed the rest of the crew of the titular mining ship. Besides Lister, the narrative also focuses on the nonhuman beings that keep him company. Besides residing in the genre of science fiction, Red Dwarf is also a sitcom. A frequently very silly one, at that.
In a move inspired by Jack Halberstam’s concept of the “silly object,” in which can be discovered queer, anticapitalist logics, I examine Red Dwarf for similar potential, and do so through the lens of different modes of temporality. These modes, each discussed over the three chapters, are the line, the loop, and the break. While the modes act primarily as the way time is viewed/experienced in the show, I expand them by connecting these structures to other themes and concepts found in queer and disability theory.
License
This work is licensed under the University at Albany Standard Author Agreement.
Recommended Citation
Graf, Gretchen B., "“A ‘Normal’ Life”: Red Dwarf, Temporality, and the Neuroqueer Absurd" (2025). Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present). 176.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/etd/176
Included in
Disability Studies Commons, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons, Queer Studies Commons, Television Commons