PJAS 15 Autumn-4
Inna Sukhenko
Fictionalizing Nuclear Terrorism in US Nuclear Fiction: James Reich’s Bombshell
Polish Journal for American Studies, vol. 15 (Autumn 2021), pp. 241-250
Abstract: This paper studies the phenomenon of fictionalizing terrorism as a literary response to the violence paradigm within nuclear narrative from the perspective of nuclear awareness formation as a critical thinking product about the nuclear energy related issues within the Nuclear Anthropocene. Focusing on James Reich’s Bombshell (2013), the paper goes beyond literary critical analysis of exploring the ways of fictionalizing the sociopolitical and psychic motives and ideas behind an act of terrorism. The paper highlights the factual component of the literary figurations of terrorism and terrorist activities in nuclear fiction, which is regarded here not only as a factor of weakening the apocalyptic rhetoric of nuclear narrative by transforming its “fabulously textual” nature, but mainly as a trigger of shaping public awareness and knowledge management on nuclear history and nuclear industry with a view to considering the possible patters of nuclear terrorism within the contemporary nuclear agenda.
Keywords: nuclear fiction, nuclear narrative, terrorist narrative, nuclear terrorism, nuclear awareness, James Reich, Bombshell.
DOI: 10.7311/PJAS.15/2/2021.04