Do Cyborgs Really Dream of Electronic Identity?
Abstract
The great myths of contemporary culture, including Golem, Frankenstein and Robot, create impassable borders between man and Alien. They are based on Plato’s differentiation between ideas and copies; they permit confirmation of man’s identity and corroborate an opposition of human and divine in the Golem; of man and his alien Other in Frankenstein; of man and machine in a Robot. The late 20th century saw the rise of a hybrid of man and machine – cyborg, the icon of the digital age, the product of biotechnology and symbol of techno-culture. In it the difference is blurred and transgressed, while all traditional oppositions cease to exist. Ćwikiel recalls that to feminists cyborg is a metaphor of woman’s condition. Cyborg-woman, totally controlled by man, reflects a cultural process of interpreting woman’s body as a hybrid. Ćwikiel says cyborg does not want to be complemented because it is not part of any whole. Cyborg’s identity is uncertain and partial. Unfortunately, only film cyborgs often ask old-fashioned questions: Who are you? Where do I come from? Where am I going?
Keywords:
identity, cyborg, technologyReferences
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Authors
Agnieszka Ćwikielkwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
University of Silesia Poland
Starszy wykładowca w Zakładzie Filmoznawstwa i Wiedzy o Mediach Uniwersytetu Śląskiego. Interesuje się głównie historią kina powszechnego oraz poetyką filmu. Znawczyni kina science fiction i jego kontekstów. Opublikowała książkę Science Fiction jako gatunek filmowy (Katowice 1985). Autorka artykułów opublikowanych w tomach prac zbiorowych. Pracuje nad habilitacją poświęconą przemianom współczesnej kultury popularnej.
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Copyright (c) 2000 Agnieszka Ćwikieł
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