A Sea of Stars? Towards an Astropelagic Reading of Outer Space with Jacques Lacan and Hannah Arendt

Abstract

The Territorialization of Outer SpaceWith his novel The Martian (2015), author Andy Weir is credited with having almost single-handedly reinvigorated space exploration in general and Mars colonization in particular as popular narratives both within science and fiction. 1 Weir's fictional account of US astronaut Mark Watney and his accidental exile on Mars has been praised for its scientific accuracy and compelling writing style in depicting Watney's strategies of survival in the hostile environment of the Red Planet. Read through the lens of theories of imperialism and mobility, this survival essentially relies on Watney's ability to navigate the alien territoriality of planet Mars. In the story, the protagonist cycles through different approaches to conceptualizing Martian territoriality in order to make sense of and survive on the planet. Initially, Watney-a botanist by training-relies on planting potatoes in the arid soil of Mars to replenish his supplies. This introduction of agriculture to a territory resisting cultivation carries with it the distinct logic of nineteenth-century US settler-colonialism-a discourse that privileges agricultural use of land and ultimately serves as a way of legitimizing white settler land ownership. 2 Watney is accordingly informed by NASA that "once you grow crops somewhere, you have officially colonized it" and triumphantly surmises that he "technically colonized Mars." 3 Much like Watney's potato harvest itself, this initial attempt to locate the planet within an agricultural discourse of US imperialism, however, literally blows up