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Winterson’s Cyborg Dream in Frankissstein

Year 2021, Volume: 6 Issue: 3, 701 - 711, 31.12.2021

Abstract

Contemporary British novelist Jeanette Winterson does not remain indifferent to advancing science and technology and makes an impressive contribution to science fiction with her novel Frankissstein: A Love Story (2019). The aim of this study is to grasp Winterson’s feminist perspective on the human body and explore its parallels with Donna Haraway’s cyborg theory. Haraway emphasizes that despite progress, feminists have yet to reach a point satisfied within their struggle for rights. According to her, the only way to achieve equality is to create genderless cyborg monsters. Winterson is also aware of the great impact of the phallocentric system on all existing politics such as social and cultural. She explicitly voices the idea of human and technology fusion to upheave the classic concept of the body. In the novel, Victor Stein’s artificial intelligence has a body that does not fit into any mould – a body that will never grow old or reproduce. Nevertheless, Winterson’s disembodied beast does not last forever.

References

  • Allardice, Lisa. “Jeanette Winterson: ‘I Did Worry About Looking at Sexbots’.” The Guardian. 18th May 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/18/jeanette-wintersonfrankisstein-ai. Accessed 12th Feb. 2020.
  • Byers, S. (2019). “Frankisssteinby Jeanette Winterson review: a dazzling reanimation of Shelley’s novel”, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/24 /frankissstein-jeanette-winterson-review, (accessed: 20-07-2021).
  • Haraway, D. (1991). Simians, cyborgs, and women: The reinvention of nature. Routledge.
  • Jaggar, A. (1983). Feminist Politics and Human Nature. The Harvester Press Limited, Great Britain.
  • Sheppard, E. (2019). “Reanimating “Frankenstein”: On Jeanette Winterson’s “Frankissstein””. Los Angeles Review of Books. https://www.lareviewofbooks.org/article/reanimating-frankenstein-on-jeanette-wintersons-frankissstein/ (accessed: 03.09.2021)
  • Kundu, T., & Sarkar, S. (Eds.) (2021). The Posthuman Imagination: Literature at the Edge of the Human. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
  • Makinen, M., & Tredell, N. (2005). The Novels of Jeanette Winterson. Macmillan International Higher Education.
  • Pearson, W.; Hollinger V. Gordon, J. (2010). Queer Universes: Sexualities in Science Fiction. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
  • Rusk, L. (2002). The Life Writing of Otherness: Woolf, Baldwin, Kingston and Winterson. New York: Routledge.
  • Watercutter, A. (2019). “Wired Book of the Month: Jeanette Winterson’s Frankissstein”. https://www.wired.com/story/book-review-frankissstein-jeanette-winterson/ (accessed: 03.09.2021)
  • Winterson, J. (2019). Frankissstein: A love Story. London, Jonathan Cape Press.

Winterson’ın Frankissstein'ında Ciborg Rüyası

Year 2021, Volume: 6 Issue: 3, 701 - 711, 31.12.2021

Abstract

Çağdaş İngiliz roman yazarlarından biri olan Jeanette Winterson’da ilerleyen bilim ve teknolojiye kayıtsız kalmaz ve Frankissstein: Bir Aşk Hikayesi (2019) isimli romanı ile bilim kurgu alanına etkileyici bir katkıda bulunur. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Winterson’nın feminist bakış açısını keşfedip, Donna Haraway’in siborg teorisi ile paralelliklerini irdelemektir. Haraway, bütün ilerlemelere rağmen, feministlerin hakları için verdikleri mücadeleyi tatmin edecek bir noktaya gelinemediğini vurgular. Ona göre eşitliği sağlamanın tek yolu cinsiyetsiz sibernetik organizmalar yaratmaktır. Winterson’da fallus merkezli politikaların, var olan bütün politikaların, sosyal ve kültürel politikalar gibi, üzerinde ki büyük etkisinin farkındadır. Hatta klasik beden kavramını alt üst etmek için insan ve teknolojinin kaynaşması fikrini açıkça dile getirir. Romanda Victor Stein’nin yarattığı yapay zekâ klasik beden kavramını alt üst etmek için insan ve teknolojinin kaynaşması fikrini açıkça dile getiriyor. Hiçbir kalıba sığmayan bir bedene sahiptir- hiç yaşlanmayacak ve üremeyecek olan bir beden. Ancak Winterson’ nın bedensiz canavarının varlığı uzun sürmez.

References

  • Allardice, Lisa. “Jeanette Winterson: ‘I Did Worry About Looking at Sexbots’.” The Guardian. 18th May 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/18/jeanette-wintersonfrankisstein-ai. Accessed 12th Feb. 2020.
  • Byers, S. (2019). “Frankisssteinby Jeanette Winterson review: a dazzling reanimation of Shelley’s novel”, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/24 /frankissstein-jeanette-winterson-review, (accessed: 20-07-2021).
  • Haraway, D. (1991). Simians, cyborgs, and women: The reinvention of nature. Routledge.
  • Jaggar, A. (1983). Feminist Politics and Human Nature. The Harvester Press Limited, Great Britain.
  • Sheppard, E. (2019). “Reanimating “Frankenstein”: On Jeanette Winterson’s “Frankissstein””. Los Angeles Review of Books. https://www.lareviewofbooks.org/article/reanimating-frankenstein-on-jeanette-wintersons-frankissstein/ (accessed: 03.09.2021)
  • Kundu, T., & Sarkar, S. (Eds.) (2021). The Posthuman Imagination: Literature at the Edge of the Human. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
  • Makinen, M., & Tredell, N. (2005). The Novels of Jeanette Winterson. Macmillan International Higher Education.
  • Pearson, W.; Hollinger V. Gordon, J. (2010). Queer Universes: Sexualities in Science Fiction. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
  • Rusk, L. (2002). The Life Writing of Otherness: Woolf, Baldwin, Kingston and Winterson. New York: Routledge.
  • Watercutter, A. (2019). “Wired Book of the Month: Jeanette Winterson’s Frankissstein”. https://www.wired.com/story/book-review-frankissstein-jeanette-winterson/ (accessed: 03.09.2021)
  • Winterson, J. (2019). Frankissstein: A love Story. London, Jonathan Cape Press.
There are 11 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Creative Arts and Writing
Journal Section EDEBİYAT / ARAŞTIRMA MAKALELERİ
Authors

Belgin Bağırlar 0000-0001-5575-3227

Publication Date December 31, 2021
Submission Date October 18, 2021
Acceptance Date December 30, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2021 Volume: 6 Issue: 3

Cite

APA Bağırlar, B. (2021). Winterson’s Cyborg Dream in Frankissstein. Söylem Filoloji Dergisi, 6(3), 701-711.