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Radiant memory

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Published conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

The chapter argues that the absent bodies from nuclear history structure the signification process of radiant objects. Here, I posit the term ‘radiant memory’ to conceptualise the gesture of return to others' traumatic experiences of historic nuclear events, as a way of learning to live with the ongoing legacies of nuclear history. Radiant memory, like ionising radiation, also casts a long shadow over the generations of nuclear subjectivity. Like a missing referent in a photograph, radiant objects left by the victims of irradiation and atomic explosions signify the absent bodies and entangle the viewer in nuclear history.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationArt encounters in the nuclear age: radiant objects
EditorsJessica Holtaway
Place of PublicationNew York
PublisherRoutledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Chapter1
ISBN (Electronic)978-1-003-62218-5
ISBN (Print)978-1-041-03084-3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 18 Nov 2025

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