If we had a spaceship could we go there?”
The Road ’s Critique of Techno- Futurism and Anthropocentrism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8864749 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Aihua Chen (0000-0003-2208-2716, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 102 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 563-572 |
| Publication date | 2021-07-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | English Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-838X • E-ISSN: 1744-4217 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0013838x.2021.1943896 |
| OpenAlex | W3181159492 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 7 |
Cormac McCarthy’s The Road depicts the journey of an unnamed man and his young son across a devastated American wasteland in a post-apocalyptic world. The spaceship, Mars, other planets and aliens are referred to in this novel. Moreover, it also explicitly refers to the residues of modernisation the father and son come upon on their journey to the south. However, the significance and implications of these references have not been given due attention by extant criticism. Accordingly, this paper argues that the references have many significant implications for us to understand this novel’s denial of the plausibility of fantasies of extraterrestrial colonisation, critique of techno-futurism and anthropocentrism, and call for responsible earth stewardship
Aesthetics · Anthropocentrism · Art · Criticism · Denial · Ecocriticism · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Extant taxon · Literature · Modernization theory · Political science · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Stewardship (theology · Ecocriticism and Environmental Literature · Modern American Literature Studies · Psychology · Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction · History · Law · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |