Iain M Banks, Ernst Bloch and Utopian Interventions

This paper will develop a reading of Iain M Banks’s “Culture” novels using notions about utopian hope drawn from the work of the German philosopher, Ernst Bloch. Since there are seven novels, a novella and a short story in the series, I will not enter into great detail about particular works, but will rather focus on their overarching theme, albeit with specific refer-ence to the third book, Use of Weapons.