R.U.R.

"RUR" redirects here. For the currency that formerly used the ISO-4217 code RUR, see Russian ruble.
For other uses, see Rur (disambiguation).

R.U.R.
Cover of the first edition of the play designed by Josef Čapek, Aventinum, Prague, 1920
Written byKarel Čapek
Date premiered2 January 1921
Original languageCzech
GenreScience fiction

R.U.R. is a 1920 science fiction play by the Czech writer Karel Čapek. "R.U.R." stands for Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti (Rossum's Universal Robots,[1] a phrase that has been used as a subtitle in English versions).[2] The play had its world premiere on 2 January 1921 in Hradec Králové;[3] it introduced the word "robot" to the English language and to science fiction as a whole.[4] R.U.R. became influential soon after its publication.[5][6][7] By 1923, it had been translated into thirty languages.[5][8] R.U.R. was successful in its time in Europe and North America.[9] Čapek later took a different approach to the same theme in his 1936 novel War with the Newts, in which non-humans become a servant-class in human society.[10]

  1. ^ Roberts, Adam (2006). The History of Science Fiction. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-333-97022-5.
  2. ^ Kussi, Peter. Toward the Radical Center: A Čapek Reader. (33).
  3. ^ Kubařová, Petra (3 February 2021) "Světová premiéra R.U.R. byla před 100 lety v Hradci Králové" ("The world premiere of RUR was 100 years ago in Hradec Králové") University of Hradci Králové
  4. ^ Asimov, Isaac (September 1979). "The Vocabulary of Science Fiction". Asimov's Science Fiction.
  5. ^ a b Voyen Koreis. "Capek's RUR". Archived from the original on 23 December 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  6. ^ Madigan, Tim (July–August 2012). "RUR or RU Ain't A Person?". Philosophy Now. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  7. ^ Rubin, Charles T. (2011). "Machine Morality and Human Responsibility". The New Atlantis. Archived from the original on 26 October 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  8. ^ "Ottoman Turkish Translation of R.U.R. – Library Details" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  9. ^ Burien, Jarka M. (2007) "Čapek, Karel" in Gabrielle H. Cody, Evert Sprinchorn (eds.) The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama, Volume One. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 224–225. ISBN 0231144229
  10. ^ Roberts, Adam "Introduction", to RUR & War with the Newts. London, Gollancz, 2011, ISBN 0575099453 (pp. vi–ix).