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Debating ‘the Nuclear Evil’ in U.S. Nuclear Fiction

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Performativity of Villainy and Evil in Anglophone Literature and Media
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Abstract

The paper studies the literary dimensions of ‘the nuclear evil’ imaginaries in U.S. nuclear fiction, which helps to defining the cultural/social parameters of considering nuclear energy as a concept of nuclear narrative discourse against the background of rising interest in sustainable energy’s agenda. The literary implications of materialized ‘invisible nuclear evil’ in U.S. nuclear writing practices are regarded on the example of narrating the Chernobyl disaster as the fictional embodiment of ineffective nuclear energy policy in the context of studying duality of technologies and scientific knowledge. Clarifying the narrative tools of implementing ‘the nuclear evil’ in U.S. nuclear fiction can contribute to shaping the unbiased perception of ‘nuclear energy’ as a social-cultural concept and setting nuclear awareness in its multidisciplinary implication.

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Sukhenko, I. (2021). Debating ‘the Nuclear Evil’ in U.S. Nuclear Fiction. In: Zouidi, N. (eds) Performativity of Villainy and Evil in Anglophone Literature and Media. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76055-7_20

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