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Catastrophe, Collapse, and Decline in American Science Fiction

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Catastrophe, Collapse, and Decline in American Science Fiction SHATTERED STATES CATASTROPHE, COLLAPSE, AND DECLINE IN AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION By Richard Charles Mulligan A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTORATE OF PHILOSOPHY American Studies Program 2012 ABSTRACT SHATTERED STATES CATASTROPHE, COLLAPSE, AND DECLINE IN AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION By Richard Charles Mulligan This dissertation investigates how science fiction portrays the collapse of American society and its failure to recover in the wake of large-scale cataclysmic events in elation to the discourse of post-Cold War American hegemony. Although apocalyptic themes are as old as the genre itself, the analysis of post-apocalyptic SF has largely been tied to the Cold War and nuclear fears, or more recently to a shaken post-9/11 American psyche. However, this subgenre has a greater continuity that links those produced during the Cold War to recent stories; this analysis is critical of the cultural assumptions of a post-national future predicated on American-style democracy and liberal humanist values—both typical of mainstream SF. In the aftermath of cataclysm, the United States does not always recover and core values of American civic culture are among the casualties, something that counters the myth of American exceptionalism and “New World Order” representations of global hegemony. The argument for SF as a reflection of political and social discourse is not new. In the context of postcataclysm, SF is a minority discourse that remains subversive in its ability to talk about the unthinkable, whether that means the end of the world or just the post- American world. A number of political scientists and cultural critics draw from SF when they talk about a coming American “dark age,” or “clash of civilizations,” and even the “end of history.” Others use it to illustrate the consequences of the peak oil crisis and resource scarcity; post-cataclysmic SF is the nexus in which these views meet in representations of a post-modern and post-industrial America. As dystopias these novels, television episodes, and films offer a view of the replacement of the American Dream with a new calculus of survival that includes slavery, colonization, disenfranchisement, and gender and racial inequities that are more than analogies for individual freedoms and rights, but that draw on the discourse of globalization to consider America’s loss of power and prestige on the global stage. Copyright by RICHARD CHARLES MULLIGAN 2012 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my dissertation chair, Dr. Gary Hoppenstand, whose generous support of my graduate career extends far beyond the pages of this dissertation in his many letters of recommendation, opportunities at The Journal of Popular Culture, comments on chapter drafts, and debriefings after presenting papers at the National Popular Culture Association conferences. Thanks to Dr. Ann Larabee, whose early comments on one of my first conference papers and gift of her own Decade of Disaster helped set the limits of my discussion. My thanks to Dr. Maria Bruno, especially for our discussion of Richard Matheson’s works, that continues to inform the way I teach my American Literature courses; and to Dr. Douglas Noverr, whose reading marathon and numerous comments and questions helped me to not only crystalize several points, but also to forge a better final document. I owe special thanks to my partner, Dr. Larissa (Kat) Tracy for her unremitting encouragement and support of my graduate studies and especially the drive for the doctorate. As one who is adverse to apocalyptic literature, she has read and commented on multiple chapter drafts, been trapped into watching multiple apocalyptic and post- cataclysmic movies and television episodes, and reminded me again and again that I did not have to talk about the world that ends. I also owe an extensive debt to my friend, Quinn Jones, who made a point of sending me care packages during the Michigan winters, and who has drawn from her diverse background to argue the issues of gender, ethnicity, and sexuality in several of these texts, especially BSG. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS THE GATHERING STORM [PROLOGUE] ..................................................................... 1 ON A PALE HORSE… [INTRODUCTION] .................................................................... 4 Cataclysmic Context ..................................................................................... 10 Scavenging Sources ...................................................................................... 18 Precursors: 1945-1974 .............................................................................. 19 The New Vulnerability: 1974-1983 .......................................................... 20 Doom Deferred: 1983-1990 ...................................................................... 21 The New World Order: 1991-2001 ........................................................... 22 The Age of Crisis: 2001-2009 ................................................................... 23 Apocalyptic Heuristics .................................................................................. 24 CHAPTER 1: SURVEYING THE RUINS: TRACING DECLINE IN AND BEYOND SCIENCE FICTION .................................................................................................................. 31 The Road to Post-Cataclysm ......................................................................... 32 Apocalyptic Scholarship ........................................................................... 32 Post-Apocalyptic Criticism ....................................................................... 33 SF Criticism .............................................................................................. 35 Nuclear Criticism ...................................................................................... 45 Post-Nuclear Criticism .............................................................................. 48 Lost in the Panic: Beyond the Scope ............................................................. 52 Horror and the Supernatural ...................................................................... 57 Magic and Urban Fantasy ......................................................................... 58 Zombie Apocalypse .................................................................................. 59 Graphic Novels and Comic Books ............................................................ 60 Role-Playing Games ................................................................................. 63 Computer and Video Games ..................................................................... 64 Sources Under Consideration ....................................................................... 65 Precursors: 1945-1974 .............................................................................. 66 The New Vulnerability: 1974-1983 .......................................................... 69 Doom Deferred: 1983-1990 ...................................................................... 72 The New World Order: 1991-2001 ........................................................... 77 The Age of Crisis: 2001-2009 ................................................................... 83 Conclusion: Applying the Heuristics ............................................................ 94 CHAPTER 2: THE DEAD DOLLAR: RESOURCES AND THE POST-CATACLYSM ECONOMY ............................................................................................................ 103 Scavenged Sources ...................................................................................... 110 Precursors ................................................................................................ 110 The New Vulnerability ........................................................................... 115 Doom Deferred ....................................................................................... 124 The New World Order ............................................................................ 136 v The Age of Crisis .................................................................................... 148 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 172 CHAPTER 3: SEPARATION ANXIETY: POST-CATACLYSMIC DEMOCRACY ............. 186 Post-Posse Comitatus ............................................................................. 192 Post-Cataclysmic Frontiers ..................................................................... 195 Sources of the State ..................................................................................... 198 Precursors ................................................................................................ 198 The New Vulnerability ........................................................................... 206 Doom Deferred ....................................................................................... 217 The New World Order ............................................................................ 234 Age of Crisis ........................................................................................... 249 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 281 CHAPTER 4: A GRAVE SOCIETY: POST-CATACLYSM AMERICAN CULTURE, ETHNICITY AND RACE .......................................................................................... 293 National Identity and
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