Abstract:
This dissertation studies cognitive dissonance in Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship
Troopers. The chosen novel is often labeled as a ‘Fascist Utopia’; an oxymoron that
sums up the essence of its tone. The aim is to detect and analyze the scope of
dissonance within Heinlein’s narrative and to extrapolate it to his readership. For
this purpose, I propose a multidisciplinary approach with two major orientations:
close reading (a context- dependent psychonarratological angle) and distant
reading (context-free sentiment analysis of his readership’s responses). The close
reading section comprises a review of the writer’s biography: his life, works, and
political commitment. This part is combined with a socio-historical study of the
writer’s anchorage. Thus, Heinlein is revealed as a complex writer with an
undeniable craft in sending mixed signals to his readership. On the other hand,
the distant reading section purports to place the readers at the center of the thesis’
concern. Hence, cognitive dissonance is envisaged as a transmissible condition –
from author to reader. At the level of the theoretical scaffolding, I set a wide
range of theory running the gamut from new historicism to cognitive
psychology- passing by reception theories, readers’ response theory, and
psychonarratology. The works of Darko Suvin, Frederic Jameson, Leon
Festinger, Dixon & Bertolussi and Franco Moretti are used to elaborate a ground
base theoretical and methodological proposition
