Anthropology in the machine age, science fiction as applied sociology: Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano and the triumph of the technological fétiche in 20th Century

Abstract

Kurt Vonnegut’s Player piano literally elaborates an analysis of the triumph of the technological fetishism in the mass society of twentieth century, adopting a humanistic point of view that, despites its resignation, does not succumb to ideology, due to its ironical and reflexive attitude. The article exposes the hypothesis and provides evidences, allowing its discussion and its eventual acceptance, stressing the interfaces between the sociological reflection and science fiction literature according the way they were thought by Wright Mills.