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Chapter 7 - In Search of Revolution

Territory and History

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2023

David Sergeant
Affiliation:
University of Plymouth
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Summary

The fictions in this chapter break from early twenty-first-century novels of revolution, in which the historical rupture was relativized or treated ironically: given imminent planetary disaster, they cannot afford to desert the prospect of a radical transformation of society. However, while all four novels are preoccupied with territory, they cannot imagine a history that might sustain a new kind of politics upon it. Walkaway by Corey Doctorow (2017) demonstrates how the difficulty of imagining revolution today is linked to genre and space, as a failure to locate the first causes the collapse of the second. Infomocracy by Malka Older (2016) portrays a world that has already achieved a radical transition, but the lack of economic change leaves this as global capitalism in territorial fancy dress. Zone One by Colson Whitehead (2011) occurs in the wake of a zombie apocalypse that only confirms the undead continuation of both neoliberal capitalism and the contemporary genre matrix. Finally, The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (2009) sees a revolution split between territory and history, as it is unable to reconcile two elements of a potential revolutionary collective: the subjected citizen and the subjected refugee.

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Chapter
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The Near Future in Twenty-First-Century Fiction
Climate, Retreat and Revolution
, pp. 139 - 158
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • In Search of Revolution
  • David Sergeant, University of Plymouth
  • Book: The Near Future in Twenty-First-Century Fiction
  • Online publication: 07 August 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009279901.008
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  • In Search of Revolution
  • David Sergeant, University of Plymouth
  • Book: The Near Future in Twenty-First-Century Fiction
  • Online publication: 07 August 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009279901.008
Available formats
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • In Search of Revolution
  • David Sergeant, University of Plymouth
  • Book: The Near Future in Twenty-First-Century Fiction
  • Online publication: 07 August 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009279901.008
Available formats
×