Disaster Fiction and Cultural Characteristics In Twenty-First Century America
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Authors
Dominguez, Shane
Issue Date
2025
Type
Dissertation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
This dissertation analyzes four twenty-first century U.S. disaster novels in order to reveal idiosyncratic cultural traits that distinguish it from the middle and late twentieth century. Disaster novels are a relatively unstudied subgenre of speculative fiction, which provides fertile ground for cultural analysis due to their focus on social disruption and cultural criticism. Works within this subgenre often distill and simplify society, cultures, and communities, providing unique insight into social norms and assumptions of certain groups during a specific period of time. Throughout my analysis, I argue that twenty-first century U.S. culture has become distinctly individualistic, embodying subjectivist attitudes. The rise of this characteristic suggests that individuals are predisposed to favor their own “good,” while rejecting collectivist or utopian ideals. This dissertation suggests that the turn toward subjectivism has become widespread throughout various aspects of U.S. culture, influencing the way(s) individuals act as a group as well as with larger social systems. This has facilitated a cultural characteristic unique to twenty-first century U.S. society—what I call subjective optimism. This trait suggests that individuals in twenty-first century U.S. society maintain a sense of social optimism by obtaining what they subjectively value (e.g., money, stability, liberty, et cetera). As a result, there is little or no concern for societal improvement. This suggests a fundamental shift in U.S. culture between the population and many social assumptions/institutions, creating a unique period differentiated from the middle and late twentieth century.