This paper aims to investigate the meanings and phenomenologies of the simulacrum as a materialisation of a hybrid, liminal and nomadic ontology and as the result of biotechnological experiments that have redesigned the animal/human along post-anthropocentric lines. The analysis takes its cue from the post-apocalyptic setting of Margaret Atwood’s “MaddAddam” trilogy (2003-2013), with a final focus on “MaddAddam”, the last book in the series. After the world population has been decimated by a pandemic unleashed by Glenn/Crake, the creatures he has generated via transgenic technology emerge as the ‘fittest’ inheritors of the Earth. Toby, one of the few human survivors, is involved in training them in the Post-Anthropocene era. Attention will be paid to the Crakers’ identity as humanoids hovering between an anthropological and a zoomorphic dimension. If capable of establishing bioegalitarian relationships with the ecosystem, such pseudo-primates also show uncanny and possibly transhuman features that progressively come to the fore through their leader Blackbeard.
Il contributo mira a investigare i significati e le fenomenologie del simulacro in quanto materializzazione di un’ontologia ibrida, liminale e nomadica e risultante di esperimenti biotecnologici che hanno collocato l’asse animale/umano lungo linee post-antropocentriche. L’analisi prende spunto dall’ambientazione post-apocalittica della trilogia “MaddAddam” (2003-2013) di Margaret Atwood, con una focalizzazione particolare su “MaddAddam”, l’ultimo volume della serie. Dopo che la popolazione mondiale è stata decimata da una pandemia scatenata da Glenn/Crake, le creature da lui generate attraverso la tecnologia transgenica si configurano come le più ‘adatte’ a misurarsi con le condizioni di vita sulla nuova Terra. Toby, tra le poche sopravvissute della stirpe umana, è incaricata di istruire i Crakers nell’era del Post-Antropocene. Nel corso della disamina ci si soffermerà sull’identità dei Crakers in quanto umanoidi che si situano in una posizione intermedia tra dimensione antropologica e zoomorfa. Se, da un lato, questi pseudo-primati stabiliscono rapporti bioegalitari con l’ecosistema, dall’altro possiedono tratti perturbanti e potenzialmente transumani destinati ad affiorare grazie a Blackbeard, il loro leader.
Blackbeard and the Post-Anthropocene Humanoids. Tracing the Post/Transhuman in Margaret Atwood’s “MaddAddam” Trilogy
Laura Giovannelli
2022-01-01
Abstract
This paper aims to investigate the meanings and phenomenologies of the simulacrum as a materialisation of a hybrid, liminal and nomadic ontology and as the result of biotechnological experiments that have redesigned the animal/human along post-anthropocentric lines. The analysis takes its cue from the post-apocalyptic setting of Margaret Atwood’s “MaddAddam” trilogy (2003-2013), with a final focus on “MaddAddam”, the last book in the series. After the world population has been decimated by a pandemic unleashed by Glenn/Crake, the creatures he has generated via transgenic technology emerge as the ‘fittest’ inheritors of the Earth. Toby, one of the few human survivors, is involved in training them in the Post-Anthropocene era. Attention will be paid to the Crakers’ identity as humanoids hovering between an anthropological and a zoomorphic dimension. If capable of establishing bioegalitarian relationships with the ecosystem, such pseudo-primates also show uncanny and possibly transhuman features that progressively come to the fore through their leader Blackbeard.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.