Cyborg Cinema and Contemporary Subjectivity

This book breaks new ground in providing an in-depth critical assessment of cyborg cinema, arguing that it remains one of the most intriguing and provocative cycles to have emerged in contemporary screen culture. Tracing the cinematic cyborg's transition

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Cyborg Cinema and Contemporary Subjectivity

Cyborg Cinema and Contemporary Subjectivity Sue Short Faculty of Continuing Education Birkbeck College, University of London, UK

© Sue Short 2005 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2005 978-1-4039-2178-9 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2005 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries.

ISBN 978-1-349-51564-6 ISBN 978-0-230-51350-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230513501 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Short, Sue, 1968– Cyborg cinema and contemporary subjectivity / Sue Short. p. cm. Filmography: p. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Cyborgs in motion pictures. I. Title. PN1995.9.C9S48 2005 791.43′656—dc22 2004053939 10 14

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This book is dedicated to the memory of my beloved uncle, Les, and to Alison Lambert – who each knew what it was to be a human being

Contents Preface

ix

Introduction

1

1 Cycles, Sub-Genres and Cyborg Cinema

18

2 Body and Soul: A History of Cyborg Theory

34

3 Food for Moloch: The Cyborg as Worker

55

4 The Synthetic Female: Cyborgs and the Inscription of Gender

81

5 The Best of Both Worlds? Hybridity, Humanity and the Other

106

6 Heart and Hearth: The Cyborg and Family Values

133

7 Reality Unplugged: Postmodernism, Posthumanism and the Cyborg

160

8 Summing Up the Cyborg: Towards a Conclusion

187

Notes

210

Select Filmography

231

Bibliography

232

Index

242

vii

Preface Various factors influenced this study, yet perhaps the most formative event was a visit to the cinema in 1990. The Ritzy in Brixton was still a flea-pit cinema back then and would sometimes screen several films on a Saturday night, one after the other, into t