Title
A Sea of Stars? Towards an Astropelagic Reading of Outer Space with Jacques Lacan and Hannah Arendt
Author
Alexandra Ganser
Author
Jens Temmen
Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf
Author
Clemens Rettenbacher
Abstract
Starting from the fact that the International Outer Space Treaty (Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies/UNOOSA, 1967) has been modeled on international laws of the seas, this essay investigates the epistemic consequences of conceiving outer space archipelagically, or, more specifically and following Craig Santos Perez, terripelagically. By reversing center/periphery structurations in line with both archipelagic approaches to and philosophical theorizations of outer space by Jacques Lacan and Hannah Arendt, the article critiques the current discursive transformation in both science and popular culture of celestial bodies into desirable territories of capitalization, exploitation, and imperialism, and it suggests the term astropelago as an alternative conception. We argue that as a continuation of imperial exploratory mobilities, terripelagic outer space projections, which are becoming increasingly real, demonstrate the need for an outside of capitalism on ever new frontiers to continue ecological—human and nonhuman—exploitation on Earth. In a second part, we explore the initiative “For All Moonkind” and the TV series For All Mankind and the ways in which they center Mars and Earth’s moon respectively as spaces that reaffirm and renew imperial desires.
Keywords
General Arts and HumanitiesCommunicationCultural Studies
Object type
Language
English [eng]
Persistent identifier
https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:2063382
Appeared in
Title
Journal of Transnational American Studies
Volume
14
Issue
1
ISSN
1940-0764
Issued
2023
Publisher
California Digital Library (CDL)
Date issued
2023
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