"Future early" : trans* body as metaphor in Jeanette Winterson's "Frankissstein" (2019)
- Jeanette Winterson's newest novel "Frankissstein: A Love Story" revolves around technological innovation and its effects on human development. The book's examinations feature trans* character Ry Shelley and transhumanist Victor Stein who interprets Ry's transitioned body as a metaphor for his ideal transhumanist future. This metaphor is based on three main textually conceptualized similarities between trans* identity and transhumanism: a hybridity in Ry's gender identity and embodiment as well as in a transhumanist vision of future human identity, the dissolution of biological determinism and the autonomy to change one's body, associated with recent technological advancement. The novel characterizes this metaphorization process as questionable, positing it with a character who represents not just the Frankenstein archetype but a possibly metaphysical, non-human entity. However, despite this inherent critique of harmful practices of objectification and exploitation of trans* people, "Frankissstein" ultimately reproduces similar practices in other aspects of its trans* representation.
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| Author: | Aiden John |
|---|---|
| URN: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-856204 |
| ISBN: | 978-3-96234-081-0 |
| ISBN: | 978-3-96234-080-3 |
| Parent Title (German): | Literatur und Zukunft : Beiträge zum Studierendenkongress Komparatistik 2022 / herausgegeben von Lara Ehlis, Kerstin Kiaups, Marco Maffeis und Ben Sulzbacher |
| Publisher: | Ch. A. Bachmann Verlag |
| Place of publication: | Berlin |
| Document Type: | Part of a Book |
| Language: | English |
| Date of Publication (online): | 2024/05/10 |
| Year of first Publication: | 2024 |
| Publishing Institution: | Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg |
| Release Date: | 2024/05/27 |
| Tag: | Winterson, Jeanette: Frankissstein |
| GND Keyword: | Winterson, Jeanette; Transgender <Motiv>; Transhumanismus |
| Edition: | 1. Auflage |
| Page Number: | 18 |
| First Page: | 67 |
| Last Page: | 80 |
| Dewey Decimal Classification: | 8 Literatur / 80 Literatur, Rhetorik, Literaturwissenschaft / 800 Literatur und Rhetorik |
| 8 Literatur / 82 Englische, altenglische Literaturen / 820 Englische, altenglische Literaturen | |
| Sammlungen: | CompaRe | Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft |
| CompaRe | Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft / Ch. A. Bachmann Verlag | |
| Licence (German): |  Deutsches Urheberrecht |
