Posthumanism versus Transhumanism: James Tiptree, Jr.’s The Girl Who Was Plugged In

Date

2020-10-01

Author

Ağın, Başak

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This article builds its arguments on the relatively recent discussions of posthumanism in the academic circles, especially as regards the distinctive features that render it separate from transhumanist endeavors of human enhancement through technological means. Following the diverse methodologies of foregrounding scholars of posthumanism, such as Donna Haraway, Katherine Hayles, Rosi Braidotti, Cary Wolfe, and Francesca Ferrando, it seeks to highlight the debate of ‘humanness,’ enquiring into whether human consciousness could exist without the life-supporting systems of an organic body and to what extent technologies could help us reform our way of understanding the ontological, epistemological, and ethical grounds of being, existing, and acting responsibly and responsively. By drawing upon philosophical questions as such, the article points out the intertwined relations between the mind and the body, cross-examines the dichotomy of inscription versus corporeality, and analyzes the dynamic ties between technological advances, prosthetic bodies, and the feminist dimensions of posthumanism, while questioning whether James Tiptree, Jr.’s novella The Girl Who Was Plugged In (1973) could be considered a posthuman techno-feminist text.

Subject Keywords

Posthumanism, The Girl Who Was Plugged In, James Tiptree, Jr., Science-fiction, Transhumanism

URI

https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/1036489
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/72024

Journal

Journal of Language and Literature Studies

Collections

Department of Basic English, Article

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Citation Formats

B. Ağın, “Posthumanism versus Transhumanism: James Tiptree, Jr.’s The Girl Who Was Plugged In,” Journal of Language and Literature Studies, pp. 277–298, 2020, Accessed: 00, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/1036489.