Transhumanism and Posthumanism in Twenty-First Century Narrative; Perspectives on the Non-Human in Literature and Culture; First Edition

__Transhumanism and Posthumanism in Twenty-First Century Narrative__ brings together fifteen scholars from five different countries to explore the different ways in which the posthuman has been addressed in contemporary culture and more specifically in key narratives, written in the second decade of the 21st century, by Dave Eggers, William Gibson, John __Shirley__, Tom McCarthy, Jeff Vandermeer, Don DeLillo, Margaret Atwood, Cixin Liu and Helen Marshall. Some of these works engage in the premises and perils of transhumanism, while others explore the qualities of the (post)human in a variety of dystopian futures marked by the planetary influence of human action. From a critical posthumanist perspective that questions anthropocentrism, human exceptionalism and the centrality of the ‘human’ subject in the era of the Anthropocene, the scholars in this collection analyse the aesthetic choices these authors make to depict the posthuman and its aftereffects. Transhumanism and Posthumanism in Twenty-First Century Narrative brings together 15 scholars from five different countries to explore the different ways in which the posthuman has been addressed in contemporary culture and more specifically in key narratives, written in the second decade of the 21st century, by Dave Eggers, William Gibson, John Shirley, Tom McCarthy, Jeff VanderMeer, Don DeLillo, Margaret Atwood, Cixin Liu, and Helen Marshall. Some of these works engage in the premises and perils of transhumanism, while others explore the qualities of the (post)human in a variety of dystopian futures marked by the planetary influence of human action. From a critical posthumanist perspective that questions anthropocentrism, human exceptionalism, and the centrality of the ‘human’ subject in the era of the Anthropocene, the scholars in this collection analyse the aesthetic choices these authors make to depict the posthuman and its aftereffects. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 List of figures 8 List of contributors 9 Acknowledgments 14 (Trans/Post)Humanity and Representation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Anthropocene: An Introduction 16 1. Before Humanity, Or, Posthumanism Between Ancestrality and Becoming Inhuman 35 2. From Utilitarianism to Transhumanism: A Critical Approach 48 3. Posthuman Modes of Reading Literature Online 63 4. Vigilance to Wonder: Human Enhancement in TED Talks 80 5. Patterns of Posthuman Numbness in Shirley & Gibson’s “The Belonging Kind” and Eggers’s The Circle 94 6. Subjects of the ‘Modem’ World: Writing U. in Tom McCarthy’s Satin Island 109 7. The Paradoxical Anti-Humanism of Tom McCarthy’s C: Traumatic Secrets and the Waning of Affects in the Technological Society 125 8. Don DeLillo’s Zero K (2016): Transhumanism, Trauma, and the Ethics of Premature Cryopreservation 141 9. A Dystopian Vision of Transhuman Enhancement: Speciesist and Political Issues Intersecting Trauma and Disability in M. Night Shyamalan’s Split 157 10. The Call of the Anthropocene: Resituating the Human Through Trans- & Posthumanism. Notes of Otherness in Works of Jeff VanderMeer and Cixin Liu 176 11. “Am I a person?”: Biotech Animals and Posthumanist Empathy in Jeff VanderMeer’s Borne 193 12. Posthuman Cure: Biological and Cultural Motherhood in Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam 209 13. Posthuman Transformation in Helen Marshall’s The Migration 225 Conclusion: Towards a Post-Pandemic, (Post)Human World 239 Index 243 (Trans/Post)Humanity and Representation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Anthropocene; "1 Before Humanity,Or,Posthumanism Between Ancestrality and Becoming Inhuman"; 2 From Utilitarianism to Transhumanism; 3 Posthuman Modes of Reading Literature Online; 4 Vigilance to Wonder; 5 Patterns of Posthuman Numbness in Shirley & Gibson’s “The Belonging Kind” and Eggers’s The Circle; 6 Subjects of the ‘Modem’ World; 7 The Paradoxical Anti-Humanism of Tom McCarthy’s C; 8 Don DeLillo’s Zero K (2016); 9 A Dystopian Vision of Transhuman Enhancement; 10 The Call of the Anthropocene; 11 “Am I a person?”; 12 Posthuman Cure; 13 Posthuman Transformation in Helen Marshall’s The Migration; Conclusion (Trans/Post)Humanity and Representation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Anthropocene,1 Before Humanity, Or, Posthumanism Between Ancestrality and Becoming Inhuman,2 From Utilitarianism to Transhumanism,3 Posthuman Modes of Reading Literature Online,4 Vigilance to Wonder,5 Patterns of Posthuman Numbness in Shirley & Gibson’s “The Belonging Kind” and Eggers’s The Circle,6 Subjects of the ‘Modem’ World,7 The Paradoxical Anti-Humanism of Tom McCarthy’s C,8 Don DeLillo’s Zero K (2016),9 A Dystopian Vision of Transhuman Enhancement,10 The Call of the Anthropocene,11 “Am I a person?”,12 Posthuman Cure,13 Posthuman Transformation in Helen Marshall’s The Migration,Conclusion "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"-- Provided by publisher