Aspects of Science Fiction Studies: A Collection of Miscellaneous Articles on the Intersection of Posthumanism, Transhumanism, Anthropocene, and Post-Anthropocentrism in Some Select, Contemporary Novels

The book intends to present a critique of some select, 21st Century, hard science fiction novels 

in order to explicate the various ways in which the elements of posthumanism, transhumanism, 

techno-singularity intersect and interact with other such ideas as monstrosity, animality, 

machinicity, post-anthropocentrism, and Anthropocene. The study divides its analysis into 

seven different chapters and attempts to present an elaborate study on various aspects of 

posthumanism, transhumanism, and singularity. The book despite being a collection of 

miscellaneous essays actually intends to show how a technologically mediated

transhuman/posthuman culture will normally be defined by a total dissolution of binaries such 

as digital and real, animal and human, and machine and man. The book also wants to describe 

through its analysis of some select hard science fiction novels, that man-machine merger and 

creation of hyper-immersive virtual reality can function as two of the most effective agents for 

catalyzing a radically transformative, posthuman, post-scarcity, and techno-utopian culture. The 

analysis presented in the book is not totally oriented to the discussion of far-future implications 

of accelerated technological progress which is imperative for arriving at a transhuman or 

posthuman stage; rather, the book is equally concerned with the implications of rapid 

technological advancements in our present times, and so the study also posits that before 

ascending to the heights of posthuman status mankind has to cope with the good and bad 

aspects of the Anthropocene which is the next stage in our collective evolution and journey 

towards the trans-/posthuman state. The first chapter of this study attempts to bring to focus the 

phenomenon of a technologically-mediated dissolution of the binaries between man/animal, human/nonhuman, and subject/object which will be extremely important in the analysis of the 

emergence of a posthuman culture later in the study. Technological advancements can be seen 

here as either conducive towards creating a harmonious relationship between man and animal or 

through systematic denigration of the agency of the animal it can pave the way for the 

emergence of monstrosity. In Chapter 2 of the book, we shall delve deep into the analysis of 

horror as illustrated in the novels and video games of the Dead Space series. Here, through a 

multi-theoretical perspective, we shall find how horrors and monstrosity can manifest 

themselves in both written as well as digital, virtual media. In Chapter 3, we shall delve into the 

discussion of the power of simulation in the construction of an immersive and hyperreal post-

/transhuman culture where the distinction between real and virtual and material and immaterial 

vanishes altogether. In Chapter 4 we dedicate the entire chapter to the study of Kim Stanley 

Robinson’s systems novel The Ministry for the Future (2020) to attempt a critique of the 

elements of good and bad Anthropocene. Though not directly and intimately related to the study 

of posthumanism and transhumanism, yet a discussion of the elements of the Anthropocene will 

be of immense contemporary relevance to us. The next Chapter, i.e., Chapter 5 will attempt to 

present an explication of the role of machines in the realization of posthuman culture. Chapter 6 

is primarily concerned with an analysis of Stephen Baxter’s novels to see how posthuman 

culture is constructed around the agency of the autopoietic machines. The final chapter attempts 

to present a brief analysis of three of Iain M Banks’ Culture novels, namely Matter, Surface 

Detail, and Hydrogen Sonata to elaborate on the employment of posthuman/transhuman tropes 

in these works.