Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"The primary attraction [of writing sf] is the sheer pleasure of creating something from whole cloth."
- Dan Simmons
 |
| Wende | ||
| A change, a turning point, a reversal of culture and politics. |
In German, die Wende describes the era surrounding the falling of the Berlin Wall and the period preceding reunification.
Sterling says this in the story:
Eddy nodded soberly. “Wendes are very interesting phenomena. CAP- CLUG is studying Wendes. We might like to throw one some day.”
“That’s not how Wendes happen, Eddy. You don’t ‘throw’ a Wende.” Sardelle paused, considering. “A Wende throws you.”
Americans might compare it to the mass demonstrations protesting the Vietnam war in the 1960's.
“But strange things happen during a Wende.”
| “But none of those events by itself sounds all that threatening or serious.” “Not each thing by itself, Eddy, no. But it all happens all at once. That’s what a Wende is like.” “I don’t get it,” Eddy said. He put his spex back on and lit the menu from within, with a fingersnap. He tapped the spex menu-bar with his right fingertip and light-amplifiers kicked in. The passing crowd, their outlines shimmering slightly from computational effects, seemed to be strolling through an overlit stage-set. “I guess there’s trouble coming from all these outsiders,” Eddy said, “but the Germans themselves seem so . . . well ... so good-natured and tidy and civilized. Why do they even have Wendes?” “It’s not something we plan, Eddy. It’s just something that happens to us.” Sardelle sipped her coffee. “How could this happen and not be planned?” “Well, we knew it was coming, of course. Of course we knew that. Word gets around. 'That’s how Wendes start.” She straightened her napkin. “You can ask the Critic, when you meet him. He talks a lot about Wendes. He knows as much as anyone, I think.” “Yeah, I’ve read him,” Eddy said. “He says that it’s rumor, boosted by electronic and digital media, in a feedback-loop with crowd dynamics and modem mass transportation. A nonlinear networking phenomenon. 'That much I understand!" |
| Technovelgy from Deep Eddy,
by Bruce Sterling. Published by Asimov's Science Fiction in 1993 Additional resources -
|
Compare to a flash crowd (flash mob) from Flash Crowd (1972) by Larry Niven.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Deep Eddy
More Ideas
and Technology by Bruce Sterling
Tech news articles related to Deep Eddy
Tech news articles related to works by Bruce Sterling
| Switzerland May Cap Population At Ten Million |
| California Governor Candidate Calls For Voting By Phone |
| Chinese Hospital Tries Vonnegut's 'Harrison Bergeron' Cosplay |
| A Remarkable Coincidence |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'Clothes are no longer made from dead fibers of fixed color and texture that can approximate only crudely to the vagrant human figure...'
'Books were just a commodity that had to be produced, like jam or bootlaces.'
'...it rears and spreads its fan. It can pick one man out of a crowd.'
'...a new plastic with the characteristics of an avian eggshell.'
'It was a pushpot, which could not possibly be called a jet plane because it could not possibly fly. Only it did.'
'She wouldn't stop until Antar had told her everything he knew about whatever it was that she was playing with on her screen.'
'Does thinking you're the last sane man on the face of the Earth make you crazy?'
