Messages from the Stars: 2001: A Space Odyssey and His Master's Voice

In many respects, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and His Master's Voice (1968) could not be more different. Kubrick/Clarke's mystical and affirmational visions of space exploration and humankind's technological evolution are decisively countered by Lem's downbeat tale about failed communication with the aliens. Rather than conventional first-contact stories, these texts are more specifically about the impact of messages received from outer space, which sf fans either reading or going to the movie theatres were surely encouraged to evaluate within the context of "space-age" technology and lifestyle. What did it mean to be space-faring humans, leaving the Earth behind? What were the political and social consequences of technocracy and the space race? How was" big science" changing politics and society, both in the East and West? How was it changing the ways that humans might take the measure of themselves? These are big questions, and I have chosen the Kubrick/Clarke and Lem works, created on either side of the Iron Curtain, because I believe that their juxtaposition helps us to appreciate the central role of the Cold War struggle in shaping the sf genre's responsiveness to the times.