“Secure, anonymous, unregulated:” Cryptonomicon and the Transnational Data Haven

Abstract

This essay considers how Neal Stephenson’s 1999 epic novel Cryptonomicon engages with the long-standing and complex relationship between cryptology and national/transnational identity. Cryptonomicon's layered and disjointed structure allows it to explore the impact of cryptography and cryptanalysis in the Second World War (as well as their impact on the consequent rewriting of the international political stage), to reflect on the place of technology in the recent history of cryptology, and to consider how emergent (and supposedly secure) data storage technologies not only open up planetary-wide communication traffic but also unsettle the protocols of national and international law. The essay is informed by recent work on cryptology, data havens, globalization, transnationalism, and postcoloniality, as well as Derrida's work on archives and technology.