Master-Narrative Transitions from the Vikings to Artificial Intelligence: How Fiction Helps Communities Adapt to a Changing World

Master-Narrative Transitions from the Vikings to Artificial Intelligence: How Fiction Helps Communities Adapt to a Changing World examines how societies survive and transform when their foundational stories begin to collapse. By tracing a millennium of cultural evolution in the Nordic region, it explores the mechanisms through which communities move from one master-narrative to another. Propelled by artificial intelligence, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is challenging the humanist master-narratives that have structured meaning throughout the modern era. In their place, emerging dataist beliefs appear increasingly adaptive to tomorrow's environment, reshaping how individuals and institutions understand progress. Yet, such transitions come with the highest possible stakes. Drawing on selected works of fiction alongside cultural analysis, the book offers both historical insight and contemporary agency. It ultimately asks what kind of beliefs can sustain social cohesion in the age of AI, and what new societies might emerge if we choose our narratives wisely.