Apocalyptic Urban Future: Atomic Cities and Cinema
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › Scientific › peer-review
Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Resilient City in World War II |
| Subtitle of host publication | Palgrave Studies in World Environmental History |
| Editors | Simo Laakkonen, J. R. McNeill, Richard P. Tucker , Timo Vuorisalo |
| Publisher | Palgrave Macmillan |
| Pages | 259-278 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-3-030-17439-2 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-3-030-17438-5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 29 May 2019 |
| Publication type | A3 Part of a book or another research book |
Publication series
| Name | Palgrave Studies in World Environmental History |
|---|
Abstract
In August 1945, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused the death of about 200,000 people. Atomic warfare, if anything, made the warfare an urban phenomenon. The long-lasting lack of documentary footage of the atomic bombings opened the way for apocalyptic imagination. Cities were constantly attacked by radiation-born monsters, such as giant ants, as a sign of mutilated nature’s revenge. American science fiction films of the 1950s addressed contradictions of modern science by transforming the abstract scenarios of total annihilation into cinematic images of destroyed cities, hideous aliens, and post-apocalyptic survival. The “nuclear monster” movies started a completely new genre in the history of film, eco-horror, which opened the eyes of the general public to the possible futures of Western civilization.