Reading Douglas Adams through a post colonial lens
What is it about?
This article acknowledges and identifies links between popular/science fiction and Australian colonialism. It begins with a textual analysis of Douglas Adams' Life the Universe and Everything to demonstrate how it can be read as a post colonial text, then the work of cultural and critical theorists is drawn upon to demonstrate why it should be read as such. It finally considers why it is important that this text, often labelled as comedic science fiction, is in fact making a political comment on
Why is it important?
This article takes a text which is very much in the public eye, and explores a side of it which is usually overlooked. With the popularity of popular fiction/science fiction continually on the rise, it is important that we recognise the ability these texts have to encourage recognition and discussion of key political and cultural issues across a diverse audience.