Summary: | 碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 台灣文學研究所 === 105 === The current study suggests that the reinvention of the human stands as a potential field for future Taiwanese literature. This thesis attempts to conceptualize the subjectivities of the posthuman even beyond the field of science fiction. This thesis labels the literary practices outside science fiction as “non-science fiction.” The focus lies on non-science fiction for two reasons. One, this study attempts to challenge the assumption in Taiwanese literature that associates the concept of the posthuman only with science fiction. Second, this study finds that the presupposed literary category of science fiction limits the imagination of cyborg- or posthuman-related subjects in Taiwanese literature. Inspired by the work of well-known cyborg theorist Donna Haraway, this study notes that non-science fiction texts present three kinds of posthuman existence. According to Haraway’s “Cyborg Manifesto,” “three crucial boundary breakdowns” make the cyborg possible. The three kinds of posthuman in this thesis correspond to Haraway’s three boundary breakdowns. The man of prosthesis corresponds to the blurred boundary between organism and non-organism, the man of video games to the physics and non-physics, and the man of animal to the humans and animals. This analysis focuses on Taiwanese non-science fiction texts from the 1990s onwards and applies concepts from disable studies and ecofeminist criticism, in addition to posthuman and cyborg theories. Situated within posthuman/cyborg studies, this thesis does not celebrate the breakdown of boundaries but points to the redefinition of the human which reduces and deconstructs hierarchal oppressions.
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