R.U.R.

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).