Alien chic : posthumanism and the other within / Neil Badmington.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Badmington, Neil, 1971-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human-alien encounters--Public opinion--History.

Human-alien encounters.

Martians--Public opinion--History.

Martians.

Humanism--History.

Humanism.

History.

Science fiction films--History and criticism.

Science fiction films.

Public opinion.

Physical Description:

x, 203 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2004.

Summary:

Alien Chic provides a cultural history of the alien since the 1950s, asking why our attitudes to aliens have shifted from fear to affection, and what this can tell us about how we now see ourselves and others. Neil Badmington begins by exploring how our relationship with aliens is inscribed in films such as The War of the Worlds, Mars Attacks!, Mission to Mars, and Independence Day. He then considers how thinkers such as Descartes, Barthes, Freud, Lyotard and Derrida have conceptualised what it means to be human (and post-human). The book then examines the concept of posthumanism in an age in which the lines between what is human and what is non-human are increasingly blurred by advances in science and technology, for example cloning and genetic engineering, and the development of Al and cyborgs. This leads to the question of whether or not our current embracing of all things 'alien' - in the form of extraterrestrial gadgets or abduction narratives, for instance - stems from a desire to reaffirm ourselves as 'human' at a moment of radical uncertainty. Written in a clear and engaging style, Alien Chic is an original and thought provoking contribution to the study of posthumanism.

Contents:

Introduction : they all laughed

Reading the Red Planet ; or, little green men at work

It lives! ; or, the persistence of humanism

I want to be leaving ; or, tracking alien abduction

Alien objects, human subjects

A crisis of versus : rereading the alien

Conclusion : from difference to differance (with an 'a').

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0415310229

0415310237

OCLC:

54407503