Transmodern Reconfigurations of Territoriality, Defense, and Cultural Awareness in Ken MacLeod’s Cosmonaut Keep

Jessica Aliaga-Lavrijsen

doi:10.3390/soc8040103

Abstract

This paper focuses on the science fiction (SF) novel Cosmonaut Keep (2000)—first in the trilogy Engines of Light, which also includes Dark Light (2001) and Engines of Light (2002)—by the Scottish writer Ken MacLeod, and analyzes from a transmodern perspective some future warfare aspects related to forthcoming technological development, possible reconfigurations of territoriality in an expanding cluster of civilizations travelling and trading across distant solar systems, expanded cultural awareness, and space ecoconsciousness. It is my argument that MacLeod’s novel brings Transmodernism, which is characterized by a “planetary vision” in which human beings sense that we are interdependent, vulnerable, and responsible, into the future. Hereby, MacLeod’s work expands the original conceptualization of the term “Transmodernism” as defined by Rodríguez Magda, and explores possible future outcomes, showing a unique awareness of the fact that technological processes are always linked to political and power-related uses.

Highlights

In order to understand the conceptual framework in which transmodern fiction is contextualized, it is necessary to explain the paradigm shift that occurred in the late 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century that led us from the Modern and Postmodern into the Transmodern Age
Ziauddin Sardar [36], and the French anthropologist Etienne Le Roy [37], among others, have preferred the use of this term to postulate the hypothesis that transmodernism indicates the new paradigm shift that has been taking place since the late 1980s [1]
After seeing that warcraft might not be as determining as one might think in an advanced interplanetary civilization and that transmodern peace is a desired aim, alien encounter serves the novel to tackle the issue of technological development, and to emphasize the importance of the development of cultural awareness

Summary

Introduction

In order to understand the conceptual framework in which transmodern fiction is contextualized, it is necessary to explain the paradigm shift that occurred in the late 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century that led us from the Modern and Postmodern into the Transmodern Age. Ziauddin Sardar [36], and the French anthropologist Etienne Le Roy [37], among others, have preferred the use of this term to postulate the hypothesis that transmodernism indicates the new paradigm shift that has been taking place since the late 1980s [1]. These authors seem to implicitly or explicitly accept the fact that transmodernism transcends the two previous periods of modernity and postmodernity. As will be explored SF constitutes one of the most suitable genres to explore these transformations

Transmodernism and Contemporary SF

Ken MacLeod: A Description of Possible Futures

Ken MacLeod’s Cosmonaut Keep

Transmodern and Future Warfare

A Transmodern Approach to Cultural Awareness

Conclusions