The emergence of "atomodoxy" in Cold War rhetoric and science fiction narratives
fear, threats, and the duties of citizenship in an atomic age
pp. 265-279
in: International handbook of semiotics, Berlin, Springer, 2015Abstract
The 1950s science fiction attempted to provide a moral framework for adults, but especially children and teenagers concerning the duel intimidation of communism and nuclear threats. Though no causality is implied, tracing these moral lessons allows us to find out how a particular subjectivity emerges. This chapter attempts to identify and illuminate the imagined companion narratives of a world in the nuclear age. These narratives were created out of a fear of what could be rather than a fear of what was, a fear of philosophy rather than historical fact, and became the companion to facts that ultimately became conspiratorial truisms. This chapter refers to these instantly recognizable Cold War metaphors, opinions, and narrative constructs as atomodoxies. Examples include the consistent use of ticking clocks, mushroom clouds, and desert wasteland inhabitance in both science fiction narratives and political speech.