The Steam Politics of Nanotech: Energy Entanglements in The Diamond Age
Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
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 language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 53 - 73 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Journal | Extrapolation : a science-fiction newsletter / University of Texas, Department of English, College of Wooster ; Kent State University |
Volume | 64 |
Issue number | 1 |
Publication status | Published - Apr 2023 |
Peer-reviewed | Yes |
External IDs
unpaywall | 10.3828/extr.2023.5 |
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Scopus | 85161289570 |
WOS | 000980978400001 |
ORCID | /0000-0002-2612-5456/work/142250942 |