Space Agency: Automation, Autonomy, and Acid Astronautics

Hester, Helen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8511-8846 (2024) Space Agency: Automation, Autonomy, and Acid Astronautics. Kulturwissenschaftliche Zeitschrift (KWZ), 2023 (4).

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Abstract

This essaylooksatthe figure of the cyborg via its origins in mid-twentieth century Americanastronautics.Itbegins by comparingdifferentapproaches to the›spacecyborg‹,helping to situate itwithin the distinctive culturalpreoccupations of its timesand places. The discussion thenproceedstoconsidertheAmericancyborg’srootsintwodiscursive regimes:thatsurroundingmilitarymasculinities,and that surrounding the non-human or de-humanizedmedical test subject. Via an analysis of the 1976sci-fi novelMan Plusby Frederik Pohl,the essay explores how thisdual heritagegenerates tensions intermsofgender, before concluding with an analysis of the waysin whichthe cyborg’smutable em-bodimentruns agroundon the perceivedfixity of human sexuality. How might we use the historicalconcept of the cyborg to queerthe notion of›par ticipantevolution‹today?

Item Type: Article
Identifier: 10.28937/9783787348961_1
Subjects: Arts
Related URLs:
Depositing User: Helen Hester
Date Deposited: 23 Sep 2024 07:31
Last Modified: 02 Oct 2024 11:00
URI: https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/12703

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