Exiling the Flesh: False Nomadism and Corporeal Materialism in Hanif Kureishi’s The Body

Abstract

This article examines Hanif Kureishi’s The Body (2002) as a narrative challenging the Cartesian mind–body dualism that hierarchises the mind over the body. Against the background of Elizabeth Grosz’s corporeal materialism and Rosi Braidotti’s nomadic subjectivity, the paper explores how late-capitalist biotechnology commodifies human flesh and corrupts nomadic subjectivity. While the secret Newbody market promises posthuman liberation through brain transplantation, the experiences of the protagonist, Adam, a writer in his sixties, challenge this promise, as the body plays an important role in human relational subjectivity. When Adam is introduced to brain transplant procedures, he agrees to haves his brain transplanted into a young body for six months, during which he agrees not to contact his social circle, telling his wife, Margot, that he is on a sabbatical. As a result, Adam suffers alienation and estrangement from his wife, demonstrating that human subjectivity cannot survive when disconnected from its historical, relational, and physical roots. Thus, this study demonstrates that discarding one’s original body erases the corporeal archive of the self, disrupting the processes of nomadic subjectivity formation and proving that knowledge-making and authentic posthuman subjectivity require embodiment and embeddedness.

Keywords

• Hanif Kureishi
• The Body
• Elizabeth Grosz
• Rosi Braidotti
• mind–body dualism
• corporeal materialism
• subjectivity

Supporting Institution

This research was conducted without any financial support from funding agencies, institutions, or organizations.

Thanks

An earlier version of this study was presented as a conference paper at the 9th International Conference on Narrative and Language Studies (NALANS 2023), held in Trabzon, Türkiye on October 3–5, 2023. In this study, artificial intelligence-supported tools were used to a limited extent within the acceptable boundaries defined in Nesir: Journal of Literary Studies’ Artificial Intelligence Use Policy; all content has been reviewed and approved in its final form by the author(s).

Bedenin Sürgünü: Hanif Kureishi’nin The Body Eserinde Sahte Göçebelik ve Bedensel Materyalizm

Abstract

Bu makale, Hanif Kureishi’nin The Body (2002) başlıklı eserini, zihni bedenin üzerinde konumlandırarak hiyerarşikleştiren Kartezyen beden-zihin ikiciliğine meydan okuyan bir anlatı olarak incelemektedir. Elizabeth Grosz’un bedensel materyalizmi ve Rosi Braidotti’nin göçebe öznellik kavramından hareketle bu çalışma, geç kapitalist biyoteknolojinin insan bedenini nasıl ticarileştirdiğini ve göçebe öznelliği nasıl zedelediğini araştırmaktadır. Gizli Newbody (Yeni Beden) piyasası, beyin nakli yoluyla posthüman bir kurtuluş vadetse de altmışlı yaşlarında bir yazar olan baş karakter Adam’ın deneyimleri bunun aksini göstermektedir; çünkü beden, insanın ilişkisel öznelliğinde önemli bir rol oynamaktadır. Adam, gizli beyin nakli operasyonlarından haberdar olduğunda beynini altı aylığına genç bir bedene naklettirmeyi kabul eder; bu süre zarfında sosyal çevresiyle iletişim kurmayacak, karısı Margot’a akademik izinde olduğunu söyleyecektir. Sonuç olarak Adam, karısına yabancılaşır ve ondan uzaklaşır; bu durum, insan öznelliğinin tarihsel, ilişkisel ve fiziksel köklerinden koparıldığında var olamayacağını göstermektedir. Dolayısıyla bu çalışma, kişinin kendi bedenini bir kenara atmasının benliğin bedensel arşivini sildiğini, göçebe özne oluşum süreçlerini sekteye uğrattığını ve bilgi üretimi ile posthüman öznelliğin oluşmasının bedenleşmiş ve konumlanmış olmayı gerektirdiğini kanıtlamaktadır.

Keywords

• Beden (The Body)
• Elizabeth Grosz
• Rosi Braidotti
• zihin-beden ikiciliği
• bedensel materyalizm
• öznellik

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