1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910796963703321

Autore

Williams Nathaniel <1970->

Titolo

Gears and God [[electronic resource] ] : Technocratic Fiction, Faith, and Empire in Mark Twain's America / / Nathaniel Williams

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Tuscaloosa, Alabama, : University of Alabama Press, [2018]

ISBN

0-8173-9186-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (1 PDF (xii, 206 pages) :) : illustrations, maps

Collana

Studies in American literary realism and naturalism

Disciplina

813.308

Soggetti

Dime novels - History and criticism

Technology in literature

Religion in literature

Literature and technology - United States - History - 19th century

Religion and literature - United States - History - 19th century

American fiction - 19th century - History and criticism

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Inventing the technocratic exploration tale : God, gears, and empire -- Building imperialists : the steam man, "used up" man, and man in the moon -- Imagining inventors : Frank Reade and dime-novel technocratic exploration -- Discovering biblical literalism : Frank Reade redux -- Confronting "fol-de-rol" : Mark Twain, technocracy, and religion -- Reconstructing biblical history : technocratic explorations, 1899-1910 -- Conclusion: Technocratic exploration's legacy.

Sommario/riassunto

"A revealing study of the connections between nineteenth-century technological fiction and American religious faith. In this work, Nathaniel Williams analyzes the genre of technology-themed exploration novels--dime novel adventure stories featuring steam-powered and electrified robots, airships, and submersibles. This genre proliferated during the same cultural moment when evolutionary science was dismantling Americans' prevailing, biblically based understanding of human history"--