Abstract

Chapter 5 begins by discussing philosophical treatments of time travel paradoxes and the tendency of both philosophers and fiction writers, in some cases surprisingly, to opt for the conservation or restoration of narrative and logical order rather than for its subversion. In cinematic time travel stories, however, logical consistency is a far less dominating factor than the immediately palpable viewpoints implied by narrative szujhets, which may or may not respect the ultimate coherency of the fabulas they reference. In the episodes of the Star Trek franchise analyzed in the chapter, various protagonists evolve a meta-universal perspective-termed a "viewpoint-over-histories"-upon both factual and counterfactual events. Such a perspective is both a proxy for the reader/viewer's own "hyperspacetime" position, and tends increasingly to merge with that reader/viewer's position as narratives progress toward closure. The chapter argues that the restoration of narrative order and consistency in time travel paradox stories, especially within visual media, results at least as much from generic, industrial, and even political pressures as from commitments to either logical or physical consistency.

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