The Machineries of Uncivilization: Technology and the Gendered Body
The Machineries of Uncivilization: Technology and the Gendered Body in the Fiction of Margaret Atwood and William Gibson by Annette Lapointe A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of English, Film, and Theatre University of Manitoba Winnipeg Copyright © 2010 by Annette Lapointe For Patricia Lapointe reader, teacher, literary guide my mom Table of Contents Acknowledgements iv Abstract v Introduction Factory Girl @ the Crossroads 1 Chapter 1 Cyborg Pathology: Infection, Pollution, and Material Femininity in Tesseracts 2 15 Chapter 2 Girls on Film: Photography, Pornography, and the Politics of Reproduction 56 Chapter 3 Meat Puppets: Cyber Sex Work, Artificial Intelligence, and Feminine Existence 96 Chapter 4 Manic Pixie Dream Girls: Viral Femininity, Virtual Clones, and the Process of Embodiment 138 Chapter 5 Woman Gave Names to All the Animals: Food, Fauna, and Anorexia 178 Chapter 6 The Machineries of Uncivilization: Gender, Disability, and Cyborg Identity 219 Conclusion New Maps for These Territories 257 Works Cited 265 iii Acknowledgements Many thanks to Dr. Mark Libin, my dissertation adviser, for all of his guidance in both my research and my writing. Dr Arlene Young guided me to a number of important nineteenth century texts on gender and technology. My foray into disability studies was assisted by Dr. Nancy Hansen and by Nadine Legier. melanie brannagan-frederiksen gave me insight into the writings of Walter Benjamin. Patricia Lapointe read every draft, provided a sounding board and offered a range of alternate perspectives. The Histories of the Body Research Group guided me through to literary and non-literary approaches to body studies.
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