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.

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