ALTERED CARBON’DA BEDENİN VE İNANCIN METALAŞTIRILMASI VE BİYOPOLİTİKA: ELEŞTİREL BİR SÖYLEM ANALİZİ

Yıl 2024, Cilt: 2 Sayı: 10, 100 - 116, 31.07.2024

Kübra Nisanoğlu

Öz

Bu makale bedenin ve inancın metalaştırılması kavramını Netflix’in bilim kurgu dizisi Altered Carbon’daki söylemler üzerinden incelemektedir. Dizi, insan bilincinin indirilebildiği ve farklı bedenlere veya ‘sentetik vücutlara’ aktarılabilen ‘kortikal bellekler’ halinde saklanabildiği bir gelecekte geçmektedir. Bu teknoloji, zengin ‘Meth’lerin’ birden fazla beden almaya gücü yettiği ve fiilen sonsuza kadar yaşayabildiği, yoksul ‘sentetik vücutsuz’ların ise genellikle sıradan işlere gönderildiği ve hatta tek kullanımlık iş gücü olarak kullanıldığı keskin bir sınıf ayrımı yaratmaktadır.
Makale, Altered Carbon’un bedenin ve inancın metalaştırılması tasvirinin teknolojinin etiği, kimliğin doğası ve yaşamın anlamı hakkında önemli soruları gündeme getirdiğini savunmaktadır. Bu soruların değerlendirilmesinde biyoiktidar ve biyopolitika gibi kavramlara ilişkin teorilerin dizinin evreninin pratiğiyle kesişimselliği de incelenmektedir. Program, eğer dikkatli olunmazsa teknolojiye olan takıntının, insanların alınıp satılacak metalardan başka bir şey olmadığı bir geleceğe yol açabileceğini öne sürüyor.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Bilim kurgu, Biyopolitika, Beden ve inanç, Dijital kimlik, Altered Carbon

BIOPOLITICS AND COMMODIFICATION OF BODY AND FAITH IN ALTERED CARBON: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Öz

This article examines the concept of commodification of the body and belief through the discourses in Netflix’s science fiction series Altered Carbon. The series is set in a future where human consciousness can be downloaded and stored as ‘cortical memories’ that can be transferred to different bodies or ‘synthetic bodies’. This technology creates a sharp class divide where rich ‘Meths’ can afford to take on multiple bodies and can effectively live forever, while poor ‘synthetic bodiless’ are often relegated to menial jobs or even used as disposable labor.
The article argues that Altered Carbon’s depiction of the commodification of the body and belief raises important questions about the ethics of technology, the nature of identity, and the meaning of life. In evaluating these questions, the intersection of theories regarding concepts such as biopower and biopolitics with the practice of the universe of the series is also examined. The program suggests that without caution, obsession with technology could lead to a future where humans are nothing more than commodities to be bought and sold.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Science fiction, Biopolitics, Body and faith, Digital identity, Altered Carbon

Kaynakça

• Agamben, G. (1998). Homo sacer: Sovereign power and bare life. (D. Heller-Roazen. Trans.) Stanford University Press.
• Agamben, G. (2000). “Means without end: Notes on politics”. In, Theory out of bounds. (V. Binetti & C. Casarino Trans.) (Buckley, S. et al. Eds.). University of Minnesota Press.
• Agamben, G. (2005). State of exception. (K. Atell, Trans.) The University of Chicago Press.
• Agamben, G. (2016). The use of bodies. Stanford University Press.
• Bentham, J. (1995). Jeremy Bentham: The panopticon writings. (Božovič, M. Eds.). Verso Press.
• Debord, G. (2014). Society of the spectacle. (Annotated Ed.) (K. Knabb, Trans.) Bureau of Public Secrets.
• Ersümer, O. (2013). Bilimkurgu sinemasında cyberpunk. Altıkırkbeş Yayın.
• Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical discourse analysis: the critical study of language. Longman Publishing.
• Ferrando, F. (2019). Philosophical posthumanism. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
• Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. (2nd Vintage Ed.) (A. Sheridan, Trans.). Random House, Inc.
• Foucault, M. (2008). The birth of biopolitics: Lectures at the Collegé de France 1978-79. (M. Senellart, Ed., & G. Burchell, Trans.). Palgrave Macmillan.
• Foucault, M. (2014). The politics of health in the eighteenth century (R. A. Lynch, Trans.). Foucault Studies, No. 18. 113–127.
• Hughes, J. (2004). Citizen cyborg: Why democratic societies must respond to the redesigned human of the future. Westview Press.
• Kierkegaard, S. (1980). The sickness unto death: A christian psychological exposition for upbuilding and awakening. (H. Hong and E. Hong, Trans.). Princeton University Press.
• Kierkegaard, S. (2014). The concept of anxiety: A simple psychologically oriented deliberation in view of the dogmatic problem of hereditary sin. (A. Hannay, Ed., Trans.). Liveright Publishing Corporation.
• Kristeva, J. (1982). Powers of horror: An essay on abjection. (L. S. Roudiez, Trans.). Columbia University Press.
• Küngerü, A. (2022). In the context of transhumanism and biopolitics an example of TV series Altered Carbon. Trakya Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 24(1), 1-22. DOI: 10.26468/trakyasobed.995802
• Onishi, B. (2011). Information, bodies, and Heidegger: Tracing visions of the posthuman. Sophia, 50(1), 101–112. DOI: 10.1007/s11841-010-0214-4.
• Saint-Bonnet, F. (2001). L’état d’exception. Presses Universitaires de France.
• Sandberg, A. (2013). Morphological freedom: Why we not just want it, but need it. In The transhumanist reader: Classical and contemporary essays on the science, technology, and philosophy of the human future. (M. More and N. Vita-More, Eds.). 56–64. Wiley-Blackwell Publications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118555927.ch5
• Sconce, J. (2000). Haunted media: Electronic presence from telegraphy to television. Duke University Press.
• Sejfula, M. (2023). Body shaming and body positivity on social media within the context of biopolitics: A netnographic research on Instagram. Marmara University Social Sciences Institute Department of Communication Sciences.
• Smith, F. L. (2021). The daily bible (Large Print Ed.). Harvest House Publishers.
• Van Dijk, T. A. (2009). Society and discourse: How social contexts influence text and talk. Cambridge University Press.
• Westfahl, G. (1996). Cosmic engineers: A study of hard science fiction. Greenwood Press.
• AUDIOVISUAL REFERENCES
• Cronenberg, D. (Director). (2021). eXistenZ [Film]. Alliance Atlantis Communications; Canadian Television Fund; Natural Nylon Entertainment; Serendipity Point Films; The Harold Greenberg Fund; The Movie Network (TMN); Téléfilm Canada (CA); Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC) (FR).
• Kalogridis, L. (Writer & Director) & Morgan, R. (Writer) & Densham, N. (Writer). (2018, February 2). Out of the Past (Season 1, Episode 1) [TV series episodes]. In Kalogridis, L. et al. (Executive Producers), Altered Carbon. Mythology Entertainment; Netflix.
• Oshii, M. (Director). (1995). Ghost in the Shell [Film]. Production I.G; Bandai Visual; Manga Entertainment.
• Otomo, K. (Director). (1988). Akira [Film]. Kodansha; Mainichi Broadcasting System; Bandai; Hakuhodo; Toho; LaserDisc Corporation; Sumitomo Corporation; Tokyo Movie Shinsha (TMS Entertainment).
• Pfister, W. (Director). (2014). Transcendence [Film]. Alcon Entertainment; DMG Entertainment, Straight Up Films. Roddenbery, G. (Executive Producer). (1966–1969). Star Trek: The Original Series [TV Series]. Norway Productions; Desilu Productions; Paramount Television.
• Rodriguez, R. (Director). (2019). Alita: Battle Angel [Film]. 20th Century Fox.
• Scott, R. (Director). (1982). Blade Runner [Film]. The Ladd Company; Shaw Brothers.
• Serling, R. (Executive Producer). (1959–1964). The Twilight Zone [TV series]. Cayuga Productions; CBS Productions.
• Verhoeven, P. (Director). (1987). RoboCop [Film]. Tobor Pictures; Orion Pictures.
• Villeneuve, D. (Director). (2017). Blade Runner 2049 [Film]. Alcon Entertainment; Columbia Pictures; Scott Free Productions; Bud Yorkin Productions; Torridon Films; 16:14 Entertainment.
• Whannell, L. (Director). (2018). Upgrade [Film]. Blumhouse Productions; Goalpost Pictures; Nervous Tick Productions; Film Victoria; Automatik.
• Wilson, D., Newman, S., and Webber, C. E. (Executive Producer). (1963–1989). Doctor Who [TV Series]. BBC.