Filling the Hole in the Nuclear Future Art and Popular Culture Respond to the Bomb

From the dawn of the atomic age, art and popular culture have played an essential role in interpreting nuclear issues for the public and investigating the implications of nuclear weapons for the future of human civilization. Political and social forces often seem paralyzed in thinking beyond the advent of nuclear weapons and articulating a creative response to the dilemma posed by this apocalyptic technology. Art and popular culture are uniquely suited to grapple with the implications of the bomb and the disruptions in the continuity of traditional narratives about the human future endemic to the atomic age.

Robert Jacobs is associate professor at the Hiroshima Peace Institute of Hiroshima City University.