Techno-selves: Visions of identity in futurist narrative

Is technology perceived by the popular imagination as creating new types of identity, or as enhancing existing ones? For example, does the hero in cyberpunk fiction differ radically from the hero in Homeric epics? The proposed paper addresses such questions by analyzing aspects of selected novels and films that deal with technologically-modifiable identity. Using a narratological perspective, the paper briefly compares and discusses some popular and influential literary and film narratives that deal with issues of identity and selfhood in light of technological advancement. From literature, it focuses especially on William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984), Frederick Pohl’s Man Plus (1976) and I. M. Banks’ The Player of Games (1988). Works from film include Brett Leonard’s Lawnmower Man, (1992) and Alex Proyas’ Dark City (1998). These texts are chosen specifically because they have attracted considerable attention and debate from both readers/audiences and critics, underlining their influence, and suggesting that they capture important paradigms of the interface between culture and technology. The paper will discuss and compare the selected texts in terms of four aspects or variables: a) The role of causality and agency in the plot: what happens by chance and what happens by intention? b) Descriptions of the body and physicality: how adaptable and modifiable is the body considered to be? c) Descriptions of emotion: what role do emotions play in the worlds constructed by the text? d) The role of space or environment: how are the spaces in which action takes place represented? The paper will attempt to demonstrate that by exploring these aspects, we can identify important assumptions, wishes and fears of the popular imagination with regard to self and technology.