Rootlessness, nostalgia, and loneliness in science fiction: the confluence between music, film, and literatura in David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”
Abstract
This text proposes a reflection on the assimilation that the British musician David Bowie made of Science Fiction, specifically in his 1969 song, “Space Oddity”. Based on a comparative analysis between the song and the literary and cinematographic works that serve as his inspiration, this article proposes a reading of how a pop creation brought to light the theme of loneliness and uprootedness implied by nascent space travel. Bowie, in his musical proposal, explores the nostalgia and estrangement experienced by the space traveler. He also explores the psychic and emotional states that can arise in a world that is, for the first time, exposed to a new type of loneliness: cosmic loneliness. At this crossroads between science fiction and pop, reflection lines emerge on the limits between high culture and popular culture, as well as the legitimization of artistic discourses and the massification of art.Keywords:
science fiction, exile, uprooting, pop culture, space travelReferences
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