Call for Papers
Cyborgs and Cultural Systems
A Panel Discussion at the Sixth International Literature and Humanities =
Conference,
Inscriptions in the Sand: an arts and culture conference and festival
at Eastern Mediterranean University
in Famagusta, on the island of Cyprus
May 30-June 1, 2003
=20
The term =93cyborg=94 (cybernetic organism) was originally coined by =
Clynes and Kline in 1960 to characterize a self-regulating complex =
entity made up of interacting electrical/mechanical and human =
systems=97as distinct from =93robot,=94 which was derived by Capek in =
1923 from a Czech word meaning =93drudgery,=94 and which still today =
describes a non-sentient machine performing tasks set and ultimately =
controlled by a human being.
However, since the publication of Donna J. Haraway=92s =93Manifesto for =
Cyborgs=94 in 1985, the cyborg has evolved=97in disciplines as diverse =
as literature, film, sociology, cybernetics, and medicine=97into a =
figure and a trope of hybridity. As such, it interrogates and/or =
collapses the differences between the sentient and the non-sentient, the =
human and the non-human; it engages and undoes a wide range of binary =
oppositions from Cartesian dualism to culturally coded distinctions of =
gender, class, and race; and it exemplifies the breaching of boundaries =
and frontiers in social, ethical, legal and technological issues from =
disability to genetic engineering to computer privacy.=20
We invite proposals for a Panel Discussion aimed at extending current =
concepts of the cyborg, and exploring the ramifications of the =
interaction between human beings and their socio-cultural, =
technological, and biological environments.
Some possible topic areas (others are welcome):
=20
=97the extensions of man and woman: from Marshall McLuhan to Donna =
Haraway
=97the cyborg and the =93posthuman=94: the work of N. Katherine Hayles =
and Bruno Latour
=97bodies without organs (Artaud)/desiring machines (Deleuze and =
Guattari)
=97cyborgs and social systems: Niklas Luhmann on media and =93ecological =
communication=94
=97between biological and cultural systems: Humberto Maturana and =
Francisco Varela
=97rethinking Enlightenment rationality: between La Mettrie, deism, and =
the cyborg
=97avatars and cybersex: desire, fragmentation and jouissance in =
cyberspace
=97the hyperreal and the decay of lying: from Oscar Wilde to The Truman =
Show
=97Lacanian cyberspace: the Imaginary and the Symbolic
=97technomyths of fear and limitation: Icarus, Prometheus, and Pandora
=97science/creation myths: Michelangelo=92s Creation of Adam to Mary =
Shelley=92s Frankenstein
=97reconfiguring the grotesque: monsters/hybrids from satyrs, centaurs =
and mermaids to cyborgs, androids, replicants, clones, and zombies
=97cyborgs and hyperreality: Benjamin=92s aura, Debord=92s spectacle, =
Baudrillard=92s simulacrum
=97deconstructing grand narratives: ecofeminism and narratives of =
empowerment
=97monstrosity in film: from The Island of Dr. Moreau to Jurassic Park =
and Monsters, Inc.
=97technophilosophical utopias/dystopias: Zamyatin=92s We, Orwell=92s =
1984, and their progeny
=97cyborg fiction: Asimov, Clarke, Gibson, Ballard, Dick, Coupland, etc.
=97prosthetics in literature/film from Edward Scissorhands to Luke =
Skywalker
=97cyber-environments, interactive/virtual realities: Tron, eXistenZ, =
Johnny Mnemonic
=97prosthetics in reality from Gotz von Berlichingen to Stephen Hawking
=97magical technologies: from Perrault=92s seven-league boots to Oz and =
the Tin Woodman=92s heart
=97war, amputation, disability: the ethics of medical transplant/implant =
technology
=97the avatars of Arnold Schwarzenegger: Total Recall, Terminator, =
RoboCop, The Sixth Day
=97the ethics of reproductive technology: genetic selection, cloning, =
and eugenics
=97theorizing new technologies: Kevin Warwick, the VeriChip, =93smart=94 =
clothing
=97chemical enhancement: from cosmetics and steroids to genetically =
modified foods
=97cyborgs and superheroes: Spiderman, the Hulk, the X-Men, etc.
=97Foucault=92s =93political technology of the body=94: panopticism and =
cyborg ideologies
=97city machines: Metropolis, Logan=92s Run, The Matrix, Vanilla Sky, =
Minority Report
=97language-instinct machines: the work of Noam Chomsky, Steven Pinker, =
and Marvin Minsky
=97monstrosity and decadence: Des Esseintes, and Bouvard and Pecuchet
=97art and technology: from Futurism and Constructivism to Borofsky and =
Stelarc
Prospective panelists are invited to send 250-word abstracts/proposals =
for 15-20 minute presentations on any aspect of these areas to =
johann.pillai@emu.edu.tr or rodney.sharkey@emu.edu.tr by 30 October, =
2002. We look forward to learning about your research, and to a =
provocative discussion.
=20
For more information about Inscriptions in the Sand,=20
please visit our website at http://www.emu.edu.tr/elh/index_confer.html. =
Please also check out our links to =93Individual Research =
Presentations=94 and =93Creative/Performance Work.=94
===============================================
From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List
CFP@english.upenn.edu
Full Information at
http://www.english.upenn.edu/CFP/
or write Erika Lin: elin@english.upenn.edu
===============================================
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Oct 31 2002 - 16:03:40 EST