Attempting Immortality: AI, A-Life, and the Posthuman in Greg Egan's "Permutation City."
This paper argues that the combination of "hard" and "metaphysical" sf in Greg Egan's "Permutation City" provides a unique exploration of digital modes of being and immortality. His use of multiple paraspaces and subjective cosmologies challenges many assumptions regarding objectivity, the body, and...
| Publicado en: | Science Fiction Studies Vol. 27; no. 1; pp. 69 - 92 |
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| Autor principal: | |
| Formato: | Literary Criticism |
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University of California Press
Mar2000
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=2975677&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 2975677 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00917729 SFS jtl: Science Fiction Studies issn: 00917729 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Mar2000 vid: 27 iid: 1 pid: 414 pub: University of California Press artinfo: ui: 2975677 10.1525/sfs.27.1.0069 ppf: 69 ppct: 23 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 19.3MB tig: atl: Attempting Immortality: AI, A-Life, and the Posthuman in Greg Egan's "Permutation City." aug: au: Farnell, Ross su: Criticism Egan, Greg, 1961- Permutation City (Book) Ontology in literature Immortality of the body in literature Science fiction sug: subj: Criticism Egan, Greg, 1961- Permutation City (Book) Ontology in literature Immortality of the body in literature Science fiction ab: This paper argues that the combination of "hard" and "metaphysical" sf in Greg Egan's "Permutation City" provides a unique exploration of digital modes of being and immortality. His use of multiple paraspaces and subjective cosmologies challenges many assumptions regarding objectivity, the body, and identity, in a mediation of philosophy, theology, science, technology, and fantasy. The novel's spatio-temporal disruptions and the subjective fragmentation of digital topologies question what it is to be human, to be alive, and to be immortal. Juxtaposing AI Copies with evolved A-Life swarm-like entities, Egan explores the differences between these paradigms in the context of science fiction's quest to "live forever." Crossing the line between self-transformation and death, the Copies struggle against timeless time and trial by space, their panic bodies demonstrating ontological dislocation. Through abstraction, the Copies' non-bodies deny the most fundamental phenomenological experiences of corporeality, the viscer(e)al. Ultimately, they confirm that only the finite is bearable. The novel's A Life-reverse the logocentric (digital) gaze, removing the posthuman from center and exposing the copies' hubris. Where the cybernetic posthuman falters, the non-human paradigms of A-Life adapt through enactive evolution to survive being immortal. "Permutation City" demonstrates how A-Life can offer sf a viable chance to narrate a true alien alterity divorced from Western metaphysical traditions, thus providing a valuable reflection on the human and the posthuman condition. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Literary Criticism src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Science Fiction Studies is the property of University of California Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Science Fiction Studies holder: University of California Press dt: @attributes: year: 2000 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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