Science Fiction Series Orville as Space for the Memorial Cultures and Memory Wars

The relevance of collective memory analysis comes from the increasing role of memorization in social processes, which are currently acquiring increasingly significant conflict potential. The author analyses visual material of the popular science fiction series The Orville, which represents a segment of American political culture, as one of the cultural mechanisms for the assimilation of ideology and politics in mass cultural discourse. It is presumed that The Orville parodies the classic epics Star Trek and Babylon 5 and thus is part of the processes of deconstructing the historical collective memory of modern American society. This study intends to establish how a formally parody series not only mocks and imitates, but also constructs its own versions of memorial culture. The article aims: 1) to describe the universal tactics of deconstruction as a form of revision of existing memorial cultures; 2) to clarify the possibilities and boundaries of describing memorial culture through the prism of visual mass culture, using the example of a science fiction series; 3) to analyze the modes of updating political and social contradictions in American society on the example of the TV series The Orville; 4) to consider the specificity of the transformation of mass consciousness by constructing a new version of identity in the light of a radical revision of the narratives of classic science fiction series; 5) to analyze the political and ideological dimensions of the memory wars presented in the clash of traditional and liberal values of the characters in the series. Methodology of the article bases on the principles of the memorial turn and the analysis of the politics of memory within the paradigm of cultural and intellectual history and includes the methods of discourse analysis and intent analysis. The novelty of the study lies in determining the directions and specificities of the assimilation of the political, limited by the problems of collective memory, cultural, religious and gender identity along with military and ideological confrontation in modern mass culture of historical memory within the visual space of the science fiction series The Orville. The series is analyzed as an attempt to deconstruct the cultural experience and legacy of Star Trek, which actualized science fiction series as one of the sources of cultural and social meanings for modern consumer society. The author also analyzes the contribution of the series to the development of the collective memory of US society; the transformation of the concepts of Self and Otherness through the prism of specifying cultural, religious and gender roles. Revision of the past in popular culture as an alternative space for the functioning of collective historical memory is investigated. As a result of the study, it is presumed that The Orville actualizes modern American laughter culture and inspires attempts to rethink collective memory, the collective historical experience of trauma and represents an attempt to abandon the strategies of historical amnesia and ignoring politically inconvenient experiences. 

1. Adorno, T. (2005) ‘The Meaning of Working Through the Past’, in Critical Models: Interventions and Catchwords. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 89–103.

2. Aguiar, D. and Rojas, G. (2020) ‘O movimento feminista e de mulheres na Argentina: perspectivas pós-colonial e socialista’, Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais, (121), pp. 169–190. https://doi.org/10.4000/ rccs.10436

3. Assmann, A. (2008) ‘Transformations between History and Memory’, Social Research: An International Quarterly, 75(1), pp. 49–72. https://doi.org/10.1353/sor.2008.0038

4. Berry, M. R. (2021) ‘Darulioian Assault: The Orville and Sexual Consent’, in Exploring The Orville: Essays on Seth MacFarlane’s Space Adventure. New York: McFarland, pp. 48–61.

5. Fairchild, L. (2021) ‘Toward a Queer Utopia: Alien Alterity and Sexuality in The Orville’, in Exploring The Orville: Essays on Seth MacFarlane’s Space Adventure. New York: McFarland, pp. 62–74.

6. Finney, P. (2014) ‘The Ubiquitous Presence of the Past? Collective Memory and International History’, The

7. International History Review, 36(3), pp. 443–472. https://doi.org/10.1080/07075332.2013.828646

8. Freire-Medeiros, B. and Corrêa, D. S. (2020) ‘As novas tendências na teoria social contemporânea. Uma introdução’, Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais, (123), pp. 71–76. https://doi.org/10.4000/rccs.11056 Fridolfsson, C. et al. (2016) ‘Ideologi i makt och motstånd’, Fronesis, (52–23), pp. 8–21.

9. Guarche Ribeiro, M. F. and Gugliano, A. A. (2021) ‘Resistir é viver. Notas sobre a luta política das mulheres curdas por uma sociedade antipatriarcal no século xxi’, Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais, (125), pp. 29–52. https://doi.org/10.4000/rccs.11960

10. Guillaume, M. and Baudrillard, J. (1994) Figures de l’alterite. Paris: Descartes.

11. Gundenäs, H., Hylmö, A. and Lindgren, J. (2011) ‘Samhällskritikens återkomst’, Fronesis, 36–37, pp. 8–19.

12. Kyrchanoff, M. V. (2023) ‘The “Classical” in modern popular culture: citation, imitation and assimilation of William Shakespeare’s legacy in the Star Trek universe’, PRAXEMA. Journal of Visual Semiotics, (3), pp. 73–89. (in Russian) https://doi.org/10.23951/2312-7899-2023-3-73-89

13. Kyrchanoff, M. W. (2022) ‘Science Fiction Series Star Trek and Babylon 5 as Forms of Political and

14. Memorial Cultures Construction’, Concept: philosophy, religion, culture, 6(4), pp. 115–137. (in Russian) https:// doi.org/10.24833/2541-8831-2022-4-24-115-137

15. Manchev, B. (2003) ‘Modernost i antimodernost. Bŭlgarskiyat natsionalekzotizŭm [Modernity and anti-modernity. Bulgarian national exoticism]’, in Kultura i kritika. T. 3. Krayat na modernostta? [Culture and criticism. T. 3. The end of modernity?]. Varna: LiterNet, pp. 376–416. (in Bulgarian).

16. Nolan, C. (2021) ‘Finding the Female: Gender in Moclan Society’, in Exploring The Orville: Essays on Seth MacFarlane’s Space Adventure. New York: McFarland, pp. 34–47.

17. Olkowski-Laetz, D. (1990) ‘Chapter 6. A Postmodern Language in Art’, in Postmodernism: Philosophy and the Arts. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315112299

18. Putignano, F. (2021) ‘The Orville: AMeta-Pop Culture Phenomenon for Feminism’, in Exploring The Orville: Essays on Seth MacFarlane’s Space Adventure. New York: McFarland, pp. 75–96.

19. Reinhardt, B. (2020) ‘Os estudos críticos da religião e do secularismo: virada ou paradigma?’, Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais, (123), pp. 97–120. doi: 10.4000/rccs.11148.

20. Rudow, L. B. (2021) ‘Resisting Dogma and Damnation with The Orville’, in Exploring The Orville: Essays on Seth MacFarlane’s Space Adventure. New York: McFarland, pp. 122–138.

21. Rueda Laffond, J. C. and Coronado Ruiz, C. (2016) ‘Historical science fiction: from television memory to transmedia memory in El Ministerio del Tiempo’, Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies, 17(1), pp. 87–101. doi: 10.1080/14636204.2015.1135601.

22. Sepúlveda dos Santos, M. (2020) ‘O retorno do pesadelo: um estudo sobre a luta da memória contra o esquecimento’, Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais, (121), pp. 103–122. https://doi.org/10.4000/rccs.10324

23. Slade, D. M. (2021) ‘Avis Vult! Krill and the Dangers of Religion’, in Exploring The Orville: Essays on Seth MacFarlane’s Space Adventure. New York: McFarland, pp. 98–121.

24. Soares, M., Rodrigues, L. and Nogueira, C. (2021) ‘“Homens de verdade” e a patologização das identidades trans’, Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais, (126), pp. 133–150. https://doi.org/10.4000/rccs.12468

25. Sutton, J. (2008) ‘Between Individual and Collective Memory: Coordination, Interaction, Distribution’, Social Research: An International Quarterly, 75(1), pp. 23–48. https://doi.org/10.1353/sor.2008.0063

26. Topolska, A. (2023) ‘Shaping Memory through Visuality’, Journal of Educational Media, Memory, and Society, 15(1), pp. 62–79. https://doi.org/10.3167/jemms.2023.150104

27. Tornhill, S. and Tolvhed, H. (2007) ‘Samhällsomdaningens subjekt och horisonter – om vänster och feminism som kritik och politik’, Fronesis, (25–26), pp. 8–20.

28. Trachtenberg, A. (2008) ‘Through a Glass, Darkly: Photography and Cultural Memory’, Social Research: An International Quarterly, 75(1), pp. 111–132. https://doi.org/10.1353/sor.2008.0046

29. Vargas Álvarez, S. (2013) ‘Políticas de la memoria y usos públicos de la historia’, Memoria y Sociedad, 17(35), pp. 7–9.

30. Welsh, P. (2021) ‘“Majority Rule” and a Critique of Pure Democracy’, in Exploring The Orville: Essays on Seth MacFarlane’s Space Adventure. New York: McFarland, pp. 165–178.

31. Wertsch, J. V. (2008) ‘Collective Memory and Narrative Templates’, Social Research: An International Quarterly, 75(1), pp. 133–156. https://doi.org/0.1353/sor.2008.0051