Critical perspectives on the already posthuman world

Peinado Abarrio, Rubén (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Chapman, Ana

Resumen: The claim that “we have always been posthuman” has become a commonplace in critical discourse (Braidotti; Hayles; Wolfe). While the distinctive affordances of digital communication and FourthIndustrial-Revolution technologies have intensified the entanglement with the nonhuman, such relationality is hardly unique to the twentyfirst-century subject. At the same time, the reality of the networked self implies the redefinition of the sense of agency as identity and community are increasingly articulated as online performance (Papacharissi). However, the pull of the human is not to be underestimated. The already posthuman self finds expression in imaginaries and institutions of the Anthropocene, and it continues to struggle against deeply ingrained anthropocentric ways of knowing, thinking, and acting. Tracing whether the discourses of this posthuman self materialize as dreamlike utopia or nightmarish dystopia is one of this special section’s central aims.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.12795/REN.2025.i29.5

Año: 2025

Publicado en: Revista de Estudios Norteamericanos 29 (2025), 6
ISSN: 1133-309X

Tipo y forma: Article (Published version)

Área (Departamento): Área Filología Inglesa (Dpto. Filolog.Inglesa y Alema.)