Posthumanism.pptx

Posthumanism

1. Literary Theory Lecture Six: Posthumanism

2. Posthumanism Posthumanism began to emerge in the last decades of the twentieth century. It investigates and puts into question the nature of humanity and of being human. The prefix “ post-” has multiple connotations, it signals an epoch in which humanity undergoes a fundamental change in being; It poses an immanent critique of humanity, humanism, the human being; It represents a rediscovery of the non-human . Posthumanism undermines the myth of a stable , inviolate, and autonomous “human nature.” 2 Lecture Six: Posthumanist literary theory

3. Traditional Humanism Vs. Posthumanism Traditional Humanism: It emphasizes the power of individual human mind . It privileges “rational” thought over embodied emotion. It values individual autonomy / agency. It highlights binaries between humans/technologies and humans/animals. It positions white male as the archetypal human. Posthumanism: It emphasizes the power of the technological prosthesis (Artificial body) – ( we are always already machines ) It sees that rationality is not necessary for intelligent action / thought. It challenges the notion of individual autonomy/ agency through automation and internetworking. It blurs the boundaries between humans/non-humans through hybridity. It positions the cyborg or robots as posthuman subjects. 3 Lecture Six: Posthumanist literary theory

4. Posthumanism Posthumanism breaks with foundational assumptions of modern Western culture. It is a new way of understanding the human subject in relationship to the natural world in general. It claims to offer a new epistemology that is not anthropocentric . It is not centred in dualism and binary oppositions. It seeks to undermine the traditional boundaries between the human, the animal, and the technological. The term “posthuman” is coined by Ihab Hassan in an article entitled " Prometheus as Performer: Towards a Posthumanist Culture ?" (1977). 4 Lecture Six: Posthumanist literary theory

5. Posthumanism Posthumanism is associated with other related terms including the transhuman and the antihuman . A defining characteristic of posthumanism is its rejection of traditional humanism . Humanism was by definition anthropocentric ; It places man (rather than God) at the centre of its literary and philosophical project. Modern science depends on human powers of observation and reason to uncover universal laws and to understand the natural world. It views man as an autonomous agent, separate from though still engaged with nature. 5 Lecture Six: Posthumanist literary theory

6. Posthumanism Posthumanists regard Darwin, Marx, and Freud as preliminary precursors of the breakup of man as a unified Enlightened subject. Like postmodernism, posthumanism seeks to subvert claims of unity, simplicity, or universality related to humanism. This can be seen as in: What Hassan (1977) labelled as posthuman culture . The work of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, which has profoundly influenced posthumanist theory. 6 Lecture Six: Posthumanist literary theory

7. The Cyborg as Posthuman Subject Donna Haraway (1991) has been a key figure in posthumanism. She subverts the boundaries on the continuum machine–human–animal. She offered the cyborg as a contemporary cultural metaphor. The cyborg captures the ambivalent condition of the contemporary human beings It is based on the idea that human bodies are open to forms of technological modification and intervention. 7 Lecture Six: Posthumanist literary theory

8. The Cyborg as Posthuman Subject The “ Cyborg ” metaphor indicates the fantasies of science fiction: Prostheses or drugs not only correct characters’ deficiencies, but may also render them stronger, faster, smarter, and in general other than conventional human. Science fiction is often the realm of the transhuman , which refers to a condition that is arguably an extension and intensification of traditional humanism rather than its rejection . The “six million dollar man” is still a man in the traditional cultural sense. Haraway’s cyborg is not merely transhuman, but posthuman, as a rejection and a reconfiguration of the values of the traditional humanist subject . 8 Lecture Six: Posthumanist literary theory

9. Posthumanism: Blurring the Boundaries Posthumanists are concerned with blurring the boundaries between human and nonhuman animals. From their perspective, a central feature of humanism is its insistence on an unbridgeable gap between the human and the animal. This dualism insisted that the essence of the human was cognition and that animals were merely highly intricate machines. Posthumanists have challenged this dualism: Positivist science emphasizes continuity rather than separateness in the biological world. Advances in genetics and techniques of genetic manipulation provide tangible evidence of the possibility of blurring the boundaries between species. (cloning: Dolly the sheep , born in 1996) 9 Lecture Six: Posthumanist literary theory

10. Posthumanism: Blurring the Boundaries Bruno Latour In We Have Never Been Modern (1993), argued for the breakdown of dichotomies between society and nature and between the human and nonhuman. For Latour, the interplay of human and nonhuman actors constitutes a rejection of the boundaries that seemed secure in traditional humanism. Posthumanism frequently posits “ zones of indistinction ” as the space of confrontation between the human and the non-human. Thus, posthumanism subverts and dismantles the distinction between humans/non-humans (animals/ machines) This creates a sense of hybridity . 10 Lecture Six: Posthumanist literary theory

11. Posthumanism: Blurring the Boundaries In How We Became Posthuman (1999), Katherine Hayles examined the history and impact of cybernetics . Cybernetics is the study of control and communication in machines and animals. Hayles’ work on “ virtual bodies ” are both attempts to expand the very body as well as the definition of the human. Hayles is interested in deconstructing essentialist claims that human beings and nature are distinct categories. For Hayles, the posthuman is essentially a hybrid formation. 11 Lecture Six: Posthumanist literary theory

12. Feminism and Posthumanism Feminism as a theoretical position could contribute to posthumanism: Feminism rejects traditional humanist assumption of man as the standard and norm of the human . Feminists displace man from his central position in the definition of the human and challenge gender as a category. In Gender Trouble (1990), Judith Butler argued that gender and identity are performative—a position radically at odds with traditional humanism. 12 Lecture Six: Posthumanist literary theory