Virtual frontiers and the technological state: contemporary American narratives in a global context

Thesis

This thesis analyses a series of threshold states located within contemporary culture. It investigates the effects of technology on spatial relations and human conditions in recent centuries, with a specific interest in the rise of virtual phenomena and the ongoing process of virtualisation. Key to the discussion is measuring the extent to which America and its narratives have influenced the virtual layer attached to contemporary global technological culture. Prevalent within this framewor...

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Authors: Flett, E

• Publication date: 2012
• DOI: 10.5287/ora-jnyqgmrpm
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: Oxford University, UK
• Language: English
• Keywords: 21st century; technology; DeLillo; 9/11; hip hop; 20th century; film; American culture; transnationalism; William Gibson; frontiers; Hari Kunzru
• Subjects: English Language and Literature; American studies; Globalisation; American literature in English; Technology and Applied Sciences; National identity; 21st Century music; Transnationalism and diaspora; Urban Studies; Transnationalism; Visual art and representation