http://www.notarofam.com/annawork

The figure of the cyborg, defined by Haraway as ‘a cybernetic mechanism, a hybrid of machine and organism’ (1991, 149) has become a familiar one across different media. This talk will examine the ‘place’ of the body in contemporary cyberculture from an historical perspective: from Mary Shelley’s patch-work monster from Frankenstein, to the female android in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, not forgetting the replicants from Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and the Japanese Astroboy and Gigantor, precursors of the various Terminators and Robocops. Our aim is to discuss the ways in which such representations of the cyborg address contemporary real fears (and desires) towards the post-human body, cloning technologies, the simulated (hyper)reality of the cyborg world.

Dr Anna Notaro
Programme Leader
Contemporary Media Theory
School of Media Arts & Imaging
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design
13 Perth Road
Dundee  DD1 4HT (UK)