Racial Issues in the Metaverse: Focusing on Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash

Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash addresses racial issues in the metaverse as a central theme. However, previous studies have primarily focused on the concept of the ‘metaverse’ as a medium, while in-depth research on the racial issues presented within the metaverse of Snow Crash remains largely unexplored. Thus, seeking to expand the current interest in the metaverse, this paper aims to examine the racial dynamics in the metaverse as depicted in Snow Crash. Specifically, it will investigate how the metaverse functions as an escapist refuge from the real world, paradoxically serving as a mechanism that obscures the racial problems of reality. In other words, the potential for ‘becoming’ through avatars in the metaverse seems to erase the intense struggles surrounding racial identity in the real world, ultimately contributing to desensitization toward racial issues. Analyzing Snow Crash reveals that Neal Stephenson, the originator of the metaverse concept, seemingly anticipated the potential side ejects of the very metaverse he conceptualized. In this context, reflecting on racial issues within the metaverse through the lens of Snow Crash is an essential and timely undertaking in the present moment. (Sahmyook University)