The Future of the Enhanced Self and Contemporary Science Fiction: TED Talks and Dave Eggers' The Circle

Authors

  • Loredana Filip Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5283/copas.309

Keywords:

TED Talks, Human Enhancement, Transhumanism, Sense of wonder, The Circle, Affect of Aliveness

Abstract

This article sets out to examine the ways in which cultural and literary texts actively shape the discourse on human enhancement. First, it identifies the emergence of a “sense of wonder” (Sawyer 87) in TED talks that advance transhumanist ideals. Second, it investigates the critical and ethical potential of Dave Eggers’s The Circle“ (2013) to challenge the notion of a ‘post-bodied future.’

Author Biography

Loredana Filip, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg

Loredana Filip is a PhD candidate at Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg where she has received her Master’s degree in North American Studies. She served as a research assistant and tutor for international students at the department of American Studies and has been a lecturer since 2017. Her dissertation focuses on representations of biomedical and technological enhancements in contemporary culture to reflect upon questions of the ‘self’ and to argue for the potential of literature to raise critical awareness.

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Published

2019-06-12

How to Cite

Filip, Loredana. “The Future of the Enhanced Self and Contemporary Science Fiction: TED Talks and Dave Eggers’ The Circle”. Current Objectives of Postgraduate American Studies, vol. 20, no. 1, June 2019, doi:10.5283/copas.309.

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 1 (2019)

Section

Articles

License

Creative Commons License

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.