Book Review: The radiance of France: nuclear power and national identity after World War II

S. Kirsch
{"title":"Book Review: The radiance of France: nuclear power and national identity after World War II","authors":"S. Kirsch","doi":"10.1177/096746080100800211","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"children first. For they are targeted first, she claims, ‘when a dominant technoscientific culture becomes unsure of itself’, being constructed as ‘threatening and monstrous others out of virtual anxiety’ (p. 133). Given the anxiety provoked in the (dominatrix) subject vis-à-vis the (elusive) object, Kember maintains that masculinist medical science is attempting to have done with the object, its feminized other, through NITs and new reproductive technologies (NRTs) that will father themselves in a cycle of ‘autonomous reproduction’, a yearning found in Frankenstein, artificial intelligence and cloning. Since NITs and NRTs do not enable us to see social relations and their mediation differently, Kember employs a parodic figure that may: vampirism. Information is the new currency of exchange: ‘It is the life-blood of contemporary societies . . . turning us all into (metaphorical) vampires’ (pp. 134–5). Hence the recent transdisciplinary interest and anxiety about connection and contagion. What Kember adores in the figure of the vampire is that its ‘feminine desire’ is transgressive and transformatory; it effects afamilial and illicit connections. Vampires, like cyborgs, proffer a re-envisioning of social relations that is neither Frankensteinean nor sado-masochistic. They also foreground the interlacing of science and myth that ‘optical empiricism’ would rather disavow. Although quite short, the book is well written, wide-ranging and accessible. Most of the key ideas are laid out in the introduction and first couple of chapters, often with very effective examples. Thereinafter, the remaining chapters do not so much develop and sharpen these ideas as rehearse them with more expansive case studies. The occasional gems notwithstanding, this is a shame. I was also disappointed by the literary side of the study, which seemed to jar with the rest of the book. However, there is much here that will stimulate readers of this journal. It makes a valuable contribution to a host of timely debates.","PeriodicalId":104830,"journal":{"name":"Ecumene (continues as Cultural Geographies)","volume":"34 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2001-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ecumene (continues as Cultural Geographies)","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/096746080100800211","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

children first. For they are targeted first, she claims, ‘when a dominant technoscientific culture becomes unsure of itself’, being constructed as ‘threatening and monstrous others out of virtual anxiety’ (p. 133). Given the anxiety provoked in the (dominatrix) subject vis-à-vis the (elusive) object, Kember maintains that masculinist medical science is attempting to have done with the object, its feminized other, through NITs and new reproductive technologies (NRTs) that will father themselves in a cycle of ‘autonomous reproduction’, a yearning found in Frankenstein, artificial intelligence and cloning. Since NITs and NRTs do not enable us to see social relations and their mediation differently, Kember employs a parodic figure that may: vampirism. Information is the new currency of exchange: ‘It is the life-blood of contemporary societies . . . turning us all into (metaphorical) vampires’ (pp. 134–5). Hence the recent transdisciplinary interest and anxiety about connection and contagion. What Kember adores in the figure of the vampire is that its ‘feminine desire’ is transgressive and transformatory; it effects afamilial and illicit connections. Vampires, like cyborgs, proffer a re-envisioning of social relations that is neither Frankensteinean nor sado-masochistic. They also foreground the interlacing of science and myth that ‘optical empiricism’ would rather disavow. Although quite short, the book is well written, wide-ranging and accessible. Most of the key ideas are laid out in the introduction and first couple of chapters, often with very effective examples. Thereinafter, the remaining chapters do not so much develop and sharpen these ideas as rehearse them with more expansive case studies. The occasional gems notwithstanding, this is a shame. I was also disappointed by the literary side of the study, which seemed to jar with the rest of the book. However, there is much here that will stimulate readers of this journal. It makes a valuable contribution to a host of timely debates.
书评:《法国的光辉:二战后的核力量与国家认同》
孩子第一次。因为他们首先成为目标,她声称,“当一个占主导地位的技术科学文化变得不确定自己”,被构建为“出于虚拟焦虑的威胁和怪物”(第133页)。鉴于(受支配的)主体对-à-vis(难以捉摸的)客体所引起的焦虑,Kember坚持认为,男性主义医学科学正试图通过nit和新的生殖技术(nnt)来完成客体,其女性化的他者,这些技术将在“自主生殖”的循环中成为自己的父亲,这种渴望在弗兰肯斯坦、人工智能和克隆中发现。由于nit和nrt不能让我们以不同的方式看待社会关系及其调解,所以肯伯使用了一个模仿的形象:吸血鬼。信息是新的交换货币:它是当代社会的命脉……把我们都变成(隐喻的)吸血鬼”(第134-5页)。因此,最近出现了对联系和传染的跨学科兴趣和焦虑。肯伯在吸血鬼的形象中所推崇的是,它的“女性欲望”是越界的和变革的;它影响着家族和非法的联系。吸血鬼和电子人一样,提供了一种对社会关系的重新设想,既不是弗兰肯斯坦式的,也不是施虐狂式的。他们还强调了科学与神话的交织,这是“光学经验主义”宁愿否认的。虽然篇幅很短,但这本书写得很好,内容广泛,通俗易懂。大多数关键思想都在引言和前几章中列出,通常还有非常有效的例子。此后,剩下的章节并没有发展和强化这些观点,而是用更广泛的案例研究来排练它们。尽管偶尔会有宝石,但这是一种耻辱。我也对研究的文学方面感到失望,这似乎与本书的其余部分不一致。然而,这里有很多将刺激读者的杂志。它为一系列及时的辩论做出了宝贵的贡献。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
自引率
0.00%
发文量
0
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:604180095
Book学术官方微信