The contribution of science fiction to technoscientific discourses on the conquest of Mars

L’apport de la science-fiction aux discours technoscientifiques sur la conquête de Mars

Thomas Michaud ()
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Thomas Michaud: LAB.RII - Laboratoire de Recherche sur l'Industrie et l'Innovation - ULCO - Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: The conquest of Mars is an issue that goes beyond the scope of scientific curiosity. Although exploration is mainly produced and financed by the public sector, the deployment of manned missions with the aim of creating a Martian civilization could be provided by private actors. Science fiction was inspired by these discourses to propose an imaginary whose function is studied in this article. After examining the contribution of this genre to the elaboration of the speeches of the Mars Society and of the entrepreneur Elon Musk, this study questions the construction of ideological micro-discourses such as Marsism. This neologism refers to the passage from science fiction to technological ideologies, particularly influential in the dynamics of capitalism. Exploring the imaginary is important for stimulating R&D and for merging the interests and expectations of engineers, innovators and the public.

Keywords: Science-fiction; marsism; ideologies; technotypes; innovation; engineers; planet Mars; marsisme; idéologies; planète Mars; ingénieurs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04169600
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Published in Technologie et innovation, 2019, 19 (4), pp.1-12. ⟨10.21494/ISTE.OP.2019.0392⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04169600

DOI: 10.21494/ISTE.OP.2019.0392

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