The Steam Politics of Nanotech: Energy Entanglements in The Diamond Age

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Abstract

This article traces the linkage of Victorian energy regimes to nanotechnology in Neal Stephenson's postcyberpunk novel The Diamond Age (1995) to critically examine the unacknowledged cultural entanglements in techno-optimistic visions of post-carbon futures. By invoking the social relations of the steam age as a foil, the novel problematizes the fantasies of control and stability that undergird the history of modern energy imaginaries. Drawing on the novel's incorporation of thermodynamic metaphors, I illustrate how Stephenson's juxtaposition between conservative and entropic systems invites a critique of (petro)modernity that amplifies imaginations of disruption and energy justice.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)53 - 73
Number of pages21
Journal Extrapolation : a science-fiction newsletter / University of Texas, Department of English, College of Wooster ; Kent State University
Volume64
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

unpaywall 10.3828/extr.2023.5
Scopus 85161289570
WOS 000980978400001
ORCID /0000-0002-2612-5456/work/142250942