Posthümanizm Transhümanizme Karşı: James Tiptree, Jr.’ın Uzaktan Kumandalı Kız Adlı Kısa Romanı

Yıl 2020, Sayı: 22, 277 - 298, 20.10.2020

Başak Ağın

https://doi.org/10.30767/diledeara.685823

Öz

Bu makale, yakın geçmişte bilimsel çevrelerde hız kazanan ve önemi gittikçe artan posthümanizm
konusunda ileri sürülen çeşitli akademik görüşler üzerinden oluşturduğu argümanlarla, teknoloji vasıtasıyla insanın fiziksel ve bilişsel kapasitesini artırmayı hedefleyen transhümanizm ile insan kavramının
özünü sorgulayan posthümanizmi birbirlerinden ayırt edecek özellikleri tartışmaya açmaktadır. Donna
Haraway, Katherine Hayles, Rosi Braidotti, Cary Wolfe ve Francesca Ferrando gibi, posthümanizmin
temelini oluşturan ve alanda önde gelen kuramcıların metodolojilerini izleyerek, insan olmanın anlamı;
organik bir bedenin sağlayacağı yaşam destek sistemleri olmaksızın insan bilincinin var olup olamayacağı; ontolojik, epistemolojik ve etik düzlemlerden bakıldığında varlığa, bilgiye ve tepkisel ya da ahlaki
olarak davranışlarımıza yönelik anlayışımızı teknoloji yoluyla yeniden düzenleyip düzenleyemeyeceğimiz gibi kritik, felsefi sorulara odaklanmaktadır. Dolayısıyla, bu makale, ele aldığı konular ile; zihin/
beden arasındaki ayrılmaz ilişkinin öneminin altını çizmekte, yazı (bilgi) ile bedensellik arasındaki
ikilemi sorgulamakta ve bir yandan James Tiptree, Jr.’ın Uzaktan Kumandalı Kız (1973) adlı kısa romanının posthümanist teknofeminist bir metin olarak değerlendirilip değerlendirilemeyeceği sorusuna
yanıt ararken, diğer bir yandan da teknolojik gelişmeler, protez (eklenti) bedenler ve posthümanizmin
feminist boyutları arasındaki dinamik ilişkileri incelemektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

posthümanizm, transhümanizm, bilim kurgu, uzaktan kumandalı kız, james tiptree jr.

Posthumanism versus Transhumanism: James Tiptree, Jr.’s The Girl Who Was Plugged In

Öz

This article builds its arguments on the relatively recent discussions of posthumanism in the academic circles,
especially as regards the distinctive features that render it separate from transhumanist endeavors of human
enhancement through technological means. Following the diverse methodologies of foregrounding scholars
of posthumanism, such as Donna Haraway, Katherine Hayles, Rosi Braidotti, Cary Wolfe, and Francesca
Ferrando, it seeks to highlight the debate of ‘humanness,’ enquiring into whether human consciousness
could exist without the life-supporting systems of an organic body and to what extent technologies could
help us reform our way of understanding the ontological, epistemological, and ethical grounds of being,
existing, and acting responsibly and responsively. By drawing upon philosophical questions as such, the
article points out the intertwined relations between the mind and the body, cross-examines the dichotomy of
inscription versus corporeality, and analyzes the dynamic ties between technological advances, prosthetic
bodies, and the feminist dimensions of posthumanism, while questioning whether James Tiptree, Jr.’s
novella The Girl Who Was Plugged In (1973) could be considered a posthuman techno-feminist text.

Anahtar Kelimeler

posthumanism, transhumanism, science-fiction, the girl who was plugged in, james tiptree jr.

Kaynakça

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