Mythologies. The Spirit of Technology in its Cultural Context

4 September 2022
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This is a call for papers for the special isuue "Mythologies. The Spirit of Technology in its Cultural Context".

Mythologies. The Spirit of Technology in its Cultural Context (Guest editors: Coreen McGuire and Natalia Nikiforova)

(Deadline March 5, 2023)


This special issue is concerned with technological developments in relation to state sponsorship and how these implicate myths of progress. Simultaneously, we wish to explore how scholars have explored technological determinism and critiqued techno-cultural imaginaries of national destiny. By republishing Nichola Berdyaev’s 1933 essay “Humanity and the Machine” alongside new critical discussions, we hope to stimulate significant analysis of the modern myths of technology and transformations of humanity, treating technology in its broadest sense as including material, digital, medical devices and systems. Following on from Benjamin and Barthes, we would like to explore how myths of immortality, renewal, heroism and community coalesce around toys, plastics, and advertisements for the amenities of modern life. The different use of technologies in response to Covid 19 has amplified the difference of national attitudes in national contexts, raising anew “The Question concerning Technology” in Europe, Russia, China, or the United States.