<b>Posthuman “Meta(l)morphoses” in Jeanette Winterson’s <i>The Stone Gods</i></b> // "Meta(l)morfosis" posthumanas en <i>The Stone Gods</i> de Jeanette Winterson

Authors

  • Kerim Can Yazgünoğlu Hacettepe University-Ankara

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37536/ECOZONA.2016.7.1.986

Keywords:

Jeanette Winterson, The Stone Gods, posthumanism, trans-corporeality, material agency, naturecultures // Jeanette Winterson, posthumanismo, trans-corporalidad, agencia material, naturaculturas

Abstract

      Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods (2007) pictures a futuristic world in which every body is technologically, discursively, and materially constructed. First of all, The Stone Gods foregrounds the futuristic conceptualization of embodiment and posthuman gendered bodies in relation to biotechnology, biogenetics, and robotics, interrogating contemporary dimensions of the interface between the human and the machine, nature and culture. Secondly, the novel focuses on environmental concerns relevant to our present age. More specifically, however, drawing our attention to posthuman toxic bodies in terms of “trans-corporeality,” as suggested by Stacy Alaimo, The Stone Gods is an invaluable literary means to speculate on our “posthuman predicament,” in Rosi Braidotti’s words, and global ecological imperilment. In The Stone Gods, Winterson provides not only a warning against the dehumanization of the human in the process of posthumanization, but also a salient picture of posthuman trans-corporeal subjects through a discussion of the beneficial and deleterious effects of biotechnology and machines on human-nonhuman “naturecultures.” On this view, looking at both human and nonhuman bodies through a trans-corporeal lens would contribute to an understanding of how material-discursive structures can profoundly transform human-nonhuman life on Earth.

 

Resumen

       The Stone Gods (2007) de Jeanette Winterson describe un mundo futurístico en el que todo el mundo está construido tecnológica, discursiva y materialmente. En primer lugar, The Stone Gods pone en primer plano la conceptualización futurista de la materialización y de los cuerpos  posthumanos provistos de género en relación con la biotecnología, la biogenética y la robótica, cuestionando las dimensiones contemporáneas del interfaz entre el humano y la máquina, naturaleza y cultura. En segundo lugar, la novela se centra en preocupaciones medioambientales relevantes en nuestra época. Más específicamente, sin embargo, haciendo notarlos cuerpos tóxicos post-humanos en términos de “trans-corporalidad,” tal y como sugiere Stacy Aliamo, The Stone Gods es un medio literario que no tiene precio a la hora de especular sobre nuestro “dilema posthumano,” en palabras de Rosa Braidotti, y sobre la peligrosidad ecológica global. En The Stone Gods Winterson no solo ofrece una advertencia sobre la deshumanización del humano en el proceso de posthumanización, sino también una imagen destacada de los sujetos posthumanos trans-corporales por medio de un debate de los efectos beneficiosos y dañinos de la biotecnología y de las máquinas sobre las “naturaculturas” humanas-no-humanas. En este sentido, observando los cuerpos humanos y no-humanos a través de una lente trans-corporal contribuiría a comprender cómo las estructuras materiales-discursivas pueden transformar profundamente la vida humana-no-humana de la Tierra.

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Author Biography

Kerim Can Yazgünoğlu, Hacettepe University-Ankara

KCY is Research Assistant and graduate student in the Department of English Language and Literature at Hacettepe University-Ankara, Turkey. He obtained his Master’s Degree in English Literature from Hacettepe University, Turkey in 2012. His Master’s thesis, titled “Corporeal and Trans-Corporeal Reflections in Angela Carter’s The Passion of New Eve and Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods” was an investigation of fe/male body,  material being, trans-corporeality, toxic body, artificial images of women, the physical environment and posthuman natures. His areas of interest include contemporary British literature, ecocriticism, posthumanism, new materialisms, animal studies, feminist theory. He attended several national and international conferences, such as Tenth Asle Biennial Conference, 2013. He wrote a chapter in the book entitled Ekoeleştiri: Çevre ve Edebiyat (Ecocriticism: Environment and Literature in Turkish).

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Published

2016-06-15

Issue

Section

Articles: General Section