[PDF] Aspects Of Science Fiction Studies A Collection Of Miscellaneous Articles On The Intersection Of Posthumanism Transhumanism Anthropocene And Post Anthropocentrism In Some Select Contemporary Novels eBook

Author : Dr. Indrajit Patra
Publisher : Pen2Print
Page : 353 pages
File Size : 35,52 MB
Release : 2021-06-14
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 8195111963

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The book intends to present a critique of some select, 21st Century, hard science fiction novels in order to explicate the various ways in which the elements of posthumanism, transhumanism, techno-singularity intersect and interact with other such ideas as monstrosity, animality, machinicity, post-anthropocentrism, and Anthropocene. The study divides its analysis into seven different chapters and attempts to present an elaborate study on various aspects of posthumanism, transhumanism, and singularity. The book despite being a collection of miscellaneous essays actually intends to show how a technologically mediated transhuman/posthuman culture will normally be defined by a total dissolution of binaries such as digital and real, animal and human, and machine and man. The book also wants to describe through its analysis of some select hard science fiction novels, that man-machine merger and creation of hyper-immersive virtual reality can function as two of the most effective agents for catalyzing a radically transformative, posthuman, post-scarcity, and techno-utopian culture. The analysis presented in the book is not totally oriented to the discussion of far-future implications of accelerated technological progress which is imperative for arriving at a transhuman or posthuman stage; rather, the book is equally concerned with the implications of rapid technological advancements in our present times, and so the study also posits that before ascending to the heights of posthuman status mankind has to cope with the good and bad aspects of the Anthropocene which is the next stage in our collective evolution and journey towards the trans-/posthuman state. The first chapter of this study attempts to bring to focus the phenomenon of a technologically-mediated dissolution of the binaries between man/animal, human/nonhuman, and subject/object which will be extremely important in the analysis of the emergence of a posthuman culture later in the study. Technological advancements can be seen here as either conducive towards creating a harmonious relationship between man and animal or through systematic denigration of the agency of the animal it can pave the way for the emergence of monstrosity. In Chapter 2 of the book, we shall delve deep into the analysis of horror as illustrated in the novels and video games of the Dead Space series. Here, through a multi-theoretical perspective, we shall find how horrors and monstrosity can manifest themselves in both written as well as digital, virtual media. In Chapter 3, we shall delve into the discussion of the power of simulation in the construction of an immersive and hyperreal post- /transhuman culture where the distinction between real and virtual and material and immaterial vanishes altogether. In Chapter 4 we dedicate the entire chapter to the study of Kim Stanley Robinson’s systems novel The Ministry for the Future (2020) to attempt a critique of the elements of good and bad Anthropocene. Though not directly and intimately related to the study of posthumanism and transhumanism, yet a discussion of the elements of the Anthropocene will be of immense contemporary relevance to us. The next Chapter, i.e., Chapter 5 will attempt to present an explication of the role of machines in the realization of posthuman culture. Chapter 6 is primarily concerned with an analysis of Stephen Baxter’s novels to see how posthuman culture is constructed around the agency of the autopoietic machines. The final chapter attempts to present a brief analysis of three of Iain M Banks’ Culture novels, namely Matter, Surface Detail, and Hydrogen Sonata to elaborate on the employment of posthuman/transhuman tropes in these works.

Author : Sonia Baelo-Allué
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 31,12 MB
Release : 2023-01-09
Category :
ISBN : 9780367757496

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This collection explores the different ways in which the posthuman has been addressed in key narratives written in the second decade of the 21st century. From a critical posthumanist perspective the scholars in this collection analyse the aesthetic choices these authors make to depict the posthuman and its aftereffects.

Author : Antonio Córdoba
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 261 pages
File Size : 42,88 MB
Release : 2022-11-23
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 3031117913

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This volume explores how Latin American and Latinx creators have engaged science fiction to explore posthumanist thought. Contributors reflect on how Latin American and Latinx speculative art conceptualizes the operations of other, non-human forms of agency, and engages in environmentalist theory in ways that are estranging and open to new forms of species companionship. Essays cover literature, film, TV shows, and music, grouped in three sections: “Posthumanist Subjects” examines Latin(x) American iterations of some of the most common figurations of the posthuman, such as the cyborg and virtual environments and selves; “Slow Violence and Environmental Threats” understands that posthumanist meditations in the hemisphere take place in a material and cultural context shaped by the catastrophic destruction of the environment; the chapters in “Posthumanist Others” shows how the reimagination of the self and the world that posthumanism offers may be an opportunity to break the hold that oppressive systems have over the ways in which societies are constructed and governed.

Author : Jason Cham Sum Leung
Publisher :
Page : 158 pages
File Size : 10,95 MB
Release : 2019
Category : Humanism
ISBN :

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When speaking of the future of the human, our attention is often on human beings themselves as a species and their capability to survive in the face of the changes of the world. Our understanding of the human body, space and even our connection with technoscience are vastly transformed by the changes brought by the close and interconnected relationship of human and technology in the contemporary world. From Donna J. Haraway’s cyborg to N. Katherine Hayles and Cary Wolfe’s discussions on posthumanism, it is undeniable that we have already entered the age of the posthuman. Science fiction as a form of creative writing explores various possible futures of the human species augmented by the advent of technology while posthumanism looks into how the human should respond in view of the changing connection between human and technology, human and animals, human and the earth, and human and nonhuman. Science fiction with a posthuman theme is a unique genre that deals with the human condition in the world of science and technology and its relation to the nonhuman world. This dissertation examines posthumanism, the singularity, and the Anthropocene in science fiction from a thematic perspective. Chapter One reviews the history of cyborg and posthuman theories and the connection between posthumanism and science fiction to illustrate how posthuman discourses and science fiction works develop together. Chapter Two examines the representations of the posthuman body in science fiction along the development of posthuman discourses. Discussions on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Bicentennial Man (1999), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Blade Runner (1982), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), William Gibson’s Neuromancer, eXistenZ (1999), and Robert J. Sawyer’s WWW Trilogy: Wake, Watch, and Wonder demonstrate four main types of imaginations to illustrate different visions of the posthuman in science fiction: (1) the technologically-made monster, (2) artificial intelligence in an organic body, (3) plugging one’s body into the digital realm, and (4) embodiment of the nonhuman. Chapter Three argues for an alternative perspective other than the insistent privileging of the human in posthuman science fiction. From humanistic values and anthropocentric biases to the WWW Trilogy’s embrace of the singularity, there is a paradigm shift from humanism to the concern of the nonhuman. The chapter examines Vernor Vinge and Ray Kurzweil’s visions of the Singularity with reference to the WWW Trilogy and other singularity science fiction works which portray possible worlds of symbiosis, coexistence, and coevolution. Last but not least, Chapter Four focuses on the Anthropocene and science fiction to illustrate the coevolution of human and nonhuman in relation to the environment and climate change with discussions on Paul Di Filippo’s short story “Life in the Anthropocene” and Kim Stanley Robinson’s science fictions New York 2140 and 2312. By examining the development of posthuman discourses, concepts of the singularity and the Anthropocene along the creative narratives of posthuman science fiction, this dissertation aims to affirm science fiction’s role in exploring the posthuman condition and reimagining our future. It also puts science and humanities together in developing new perspectives and ethics for the world we are in.

Author : Tanmoy Kundu
Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Page : 205 pages
File Size : 20,33 MB
Release : 2021-02-08
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1527565939

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This volume, including an extended interview with noted philosopher of posthumanism Francesca Ferrando, explores the contemporary philosophical, literary and cultural landscapes that have emerged as a response to the unavoidable crisis faced by humans in the Anthropocene era. The essays gathered here map posthumanism both as theoretical posthumanism, which primarily seeks to develop new knowledge, and as practical posthumanism, which emphasizes socio-political, economic, and technological changes. Posthumanism, which explores how one can address the question of what means to be human today, is a burgeoning area of interest among universities across the globe. Written in accessible, yet scholarly, language, this volume introduces posthumanism in its diverse ramifications and explicates the subject through various literary and filmic texts in order to cater to the needs of researchers and students in the humanities.

Author : Tereza Dedinová
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 277 pages
File Size : 11,28 MB
Release : 2021-03-01
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 1793636648

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In order to demonstrate that speculative fiction provides a valuable contribution to the discussion about the challenges of the Anthropocene, Images of the Anthropocene in Speculative Fiction investigates a range of novels whose subject matter pertains to various aspects of the Anthropocene. These include the destruction and protection of the natural environment, the relationship between human and non-human inhabitants of the planet, the role of myth in the shaping of and combat against the Anthropocene, the political dimensions of the Anthropocene, the ensuing threat of the Apocalypse, and the role of post-apocalyptic narratives. To explore these topics our authors examine the works of Patricia Briggs, M.R. Carey, Dmitry Glukhovsky, Ursula K. Le Guin, N.K. Jemisin, Stephenie Meyer, China Miéville, James Patterson, Maggie Stiefvater, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Scott Westfield. Their essays demonstrate that speculative fiction, given its ability to pursue scenarios of alternative history and present familiar things in an unfamiliar way, can alter the readers’ perception of their duties and responsibilities towards their communities and the world, so that the threat of human-wrought destruction might ultimately be averted.

Author : Jonathan Hay
Publisher :
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 16,66 MB
Release : 2024-12-26
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 135046595X

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With science fiction stories imagining futures and worlds vastly different from our own, and posthuman philosophies radically reconceptualising our species' place within our own world, this book is a deep dive into the similarities between science fiction studies and critical posthumanism and how they can be read together. Both fields fantasise about future technologies, envisage alienness through conversation with everyday life and both anticipate the Anthropocene as a dire source of rupture from the present. Drawing inspiration from these and other consonances, this book establishes a common theoretical ground between the two fields, upon which the two currents of future-oriented thought can meet and begin to share a common language. An investigation that draws critical currency from the everyday condition of our species in relation to technology and our perilous situation in the Anthropocene, the book observes posthumanism not just as a theoretical framework that may be applied to science fictional ideas, but also as an integral part of how it is that science fiction is generated. Featuring case studies of the work of prominent authors Isaac Asimov, Ursula K. Le Guin and Kim Stanley Robinson, alongside the BBC television series Doctor Who and the cult videogame Outer Wilds, Science Fiction and Posthumanism in the Anthropocene formulates a new critical paradigm which recognises the value of such works to posthumanist thought. Addressing those with an interest in either academic discipline, it demonstrates that urgent discourses around our shared future are more imperative now than ever before.

Author : Source Wikipedia
Publisher : University-Press.org
Page : 62 pages
File Size : 33,79 MB
Release : 2013-09
Category :
ISBN : 9781230584652

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Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 60. Chapters: Transhumanism, History of science fiction, List of fiction employing parallel universes, Starstruck, Technology in science fiction, Darkstar: The Interactive Movie, Abney Park, The People, Glossary of terms in The Quantum Thief, Memory, Infamous Web Series, Deus Ex Machina, Eaton collection, Fantasy Amateur Press Association, Tuckerization, La saga de los Aznar, StoryForge Labs, I, Human, Killbot, The Alien Factor, TimeRiders, Mindwipe, The Robert Heinlein Interview and other Heinleiniana, I Eat Butterflies, The Girl in Harmagedon, Kaziranga, Assam. Excerpt: Transhumanism, often abbreviated as H+ or h+, is an international intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally transforming the human condition by developing and making widely available technologies to eliminate aging and to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities. Transhumanist thinkers study the potential benefits and dangers of emerging technologies that could overcome fundamental human limitations, as well as study the ethical matters involved in developing and using such technologies. They predict that human beings may eventually be able to transform themselves into beings with such greatly expanded abilities as to merit the label "posthuman." Transhumanism is therefore viewed as a subset of philosophical "posthumanism." The contemporary meaning of the term "transhumanism" was foreshadowed by one of the first professors of futurology, FM-2030, who taught "new concepts of the Human" at The New School of New York City in the 1960s, when he began to identify people who adopt technologies, lifestyles and world views transitional to "posthumanity" as "transhuman." This hypothesis would lay the intellectual groundwork for British philosopher Max More to begin articulating...