Posthuman affect in Margaret Atwood’s science fiction Oryx & Crake
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5902/2176148529424Parole chiave:
Oryx & Crake, Margaret Atwood, Post-humanism, Canadian studiesAbstract
This article analyses Atwood's novel Oryx & Crake (2003) as to identify if and how it sets forth a critique on post-humanism. Therefore, we discuss how the narrative makes use of dystopian artefacts from XXI society as to elaborate on the matter of the interconnection established between human life and the machine. What does the narrative inform us regarding the influence of a post-human society on the environment, on our relation to machines, and on our relation even to ourselves as post-human subjects? It is important to say we shall be looking at post-humanism in both ways: as a moment to debunk humanist naiveté, as well as the contemporary man-made society where the human and the non-human are deeply intertwined. The discussion proposed, therefore, reminds one of the pertinence of dystopia as a mirror to the society whence it surfaces – and especially concerning the new critical perspectives emerging from a post-human dystopia. The fruitful critique articulated by the characters of Oryx & Crake (2003) regarding this post-human future, where everything seems to go wrong, is a response to the questionable idea that dystopias would not be pertinent if one lives distant from the shadow of an overtly tyrannical political regime possibility.
Downloads
Riferimenti bibliografici
ATWOOD, M. (2003). Oryx & Crake. New York: O.W. Toad.
BAUMAN, Z. (2007). Consuming Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University.
BEAULIEU, J. (2006). The Role and Representation of Nature in a selection of English-Canadian Dystopian Novels. Quebec: Université Laval.
BERLANT, L.; GREENWALD, J. (2012). Affect in the End Times: A Conversation with Lauren Berlant. Qui Parle: Critical Humanities and Social Sciences, 20 (2), 71-89.
BRADBURY, R. (1975). Fahrenheit 451. New York: Ballantine books.
CAVALCANTI, I. (2003). The writing of utopia and the feminist critical dystopia: Suzy McKee Charnas’ Holdfast Series. In: R. Baccolini (Ed.). Dark Horizons: Science Fiction and the Dystopian Imagination. (p. 47-70). London: Routledge.
CHADWICK, R. (2007). Posthumanism: A critical history. New York: Routledge.
DERRIDA, J. (1992). Acts of Literature. London: Routledge.
EAGLETON, T. (2010). Literary Theory: An Introduction. London: Blackwell Publishing.
EAGLETON, T. (2012). Marxism and Literary Criticism. London: Routledge Classics.
ECO, U. (1984). The Concept of the Text. U.S.A.: Indiana University.
EGGERS, D. (2013). The Circle. New York: Vintage Books.
FIGLEROWICZ, M. (2012). Affect Theory Dossier: An Introduction. U.S.A.: Duke University.
FUNCK, S. (1998). Feminist Literary Utopias in the 1970s. Florianópolis: PPGI.
GALEANO, E. (1997). Open veins of Latin America. New York: Monthly Review.
GOLDING, W. (2003). Lord of the Flies. London: Perigee Books.
GUNN, G. (1979). The Interpretation of Otherness. London: Routledge.
HARVEY, D. (2000) Spaces of hope. Edinburg: Edinburg UP.
HARVEY, D. (2010). The enigma of capital. New York: Profile Books.
HEISE, U. (2008). Ecocriticism and the Transnational Turn in American Studies. American Literary History, 20 (5), 381-404.
HOLLAND, P.; HUGGAN, G. (2000). Tourists with Typewriters: Critical Reflections on Contemporary Travel Writing. Michigan: Michigan UP.
HUXLEY, A. (2001). Brave new world. London: Penguin modern classics.
IVAKHIV, A. (2008). Stirring the Geopolitical Unconscious: Towards a Jamesonian Ecocriticism? New Formations, 64 (30), 98-109.
JAMESON, F. (1982). The Political Unconscious. USA: Cornell University.
JOHANSEN, J. (2010). Feelings in Literature, Integrative psychological & behavioural science, 44 (3), 185–196.
LEITCH, V. (2001). Thee Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. New York: W. W. Norton.
LETOURNEUX, M. (2015). La nouvelle jeunesse de la littérature populaire. La Revue des livres pour enfants, 282 (3), 106-114.
MARX, L. (1964). The Machine in the Garden: Technology and the Pastoral Ideal in America. New York: Oxford UP, 1964.
MERCHANT, C. (2003). Reinventing Eden. New York: Routledge.
MORE, T. (1986). Utopia. London: Routledge Classics. (2005) Animal farm. London: Signet classic, 2005.
ORWELL, G. (1948). 1984. London: Penguin.
PASOLD, B. (1999). Utopia vs. Satire in English Literature. Florianópolis: PPGI.
PEPPERELL, R. (2003). The Posthuman Condition. Bristol: Intellect Books, 2003.
PRATT, M. (1992). Imperial eyes: Travel writing and transculturation. London: Routledge.
RAYNAUD, J. (1998). Science-fiction et aliénation. In: M. Piarotas, H. Millot (Ed.). Écrits et expressions populaires. (p. 59-66). Saint Étienne: l’Université de Saint Étienne.
RODDIS, M. (2013). Atwood’s Eco-Posthuman Utopia. Writing Technologies, 6 (5), 18-40.
SCHOLES, J., & OSTENSON, J. (2013). Dystopian Adult Fiction. ALAN Review, 40 (2), 106-120.
SKINNER, B. F. (1969). Contingencies of Reinforcement. U.S.A: Meredith Corporation.
SZEMAN, I. (2001). Literature on the periphery of capitalism. llha do Desterro, 40 (1), 25-42.
YOUNG, C. (2013). From Nowhere: Utopian and Dystopian Visions. Toronto: Thomas Fisher.
WOLF, C. (2008). The Cambridge history of literary criticism. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
##submission.downloads##
Pubblicato
Versioni
- 2023-05-16 (2)
- 2018-11-28 (1)
Come citare
Fascicolo
Sezione
Licenza
Copyright (c) 2018 Letras
Questo lavoro è fornito con la licenza Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Condividi allo stesso modo 4.0 Internazionale.
Ficam concedidos a Letras todos os direitos autorais referentes aos trabalhos publicados. Os originais não devem ter sido publicados ou submetidos simultaneamente a outro periódico e não serão devolvidos. Em virtude de aparecerem nesta revista de acesso público, os artigos são de uso gratuito, com atribuições próprias, em aplicações educacionais e não comerciais.
