TOWARDS TRANSMODERNISM: Transcendence, Technospirituality, and Technoculture Felicity Van Rysbergen (B.A. Hons, University of Melbourne) Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2011 Journalism and Media Research Centre The University of New South Wales 2 ABSTRACT This thesis argues that the pervasive merging of technocultural and sacred metaphors uncovers a longstanding Western tradition of inscribing the technologically new with the language of mysticism – a transcendental excess that underlies the logic of late capitalist notions of progress and evolution. By claiming that the transcendent moment has utterly saturated our technological desires, preserving an originary sense of the sacred at the inventive heart of science and technology, it sees this ‘technocultural transcendence’ as a model for thinking about an ironic return of grand narratives like metaphysics, truth, and the absolute, used wittingly to revitalise theory just as its last gasp has (perhaps prematurely) been proclaimed. The thesis therefore also seeks to theorise an emerging ‘transmodernity,’ or the post of postmodernism, through critical cultural readings of key transcendent myths in technoculture – Italian Futurism (art), cyberpunk (science fiction), cyberfeminism (film and performance art), and Integral theory (secular transformative spirituality). Each chapter offers examples of how the twinned concepts of transcendence and technology help create the conditions for the emergence of transmodernism, and works to provide potential examples of a resulting transmodern methodology in action. Throughout this thesis, the burgeoning desire for reconstructing what was once deconstructed, fragmented, and disavowed is examined, not to simply return past foci of theoretical enquiry to the margins or the marginalised to the centre, but to reveal the primary message of transmodernism – that both deconstruction and reconstruction hold equal significance on a continuum of understanding socio-cultural change. Fuelled by a growing sense of the interconnectivity that occurs with the multiplicity and diversity of information enabled by the internet, world wide web, and social networking channels, this thesis holds that its model of transmodernity represents interconnectivity laid bare. It is persistent renewal and eternal return, but with a witting nod to the process of culture’s perpetual becoming. It balances postmodernism’s dance of meaninglessness with the return of signification and purpose, reinserting the ‘Big Questions’ back into the 3 fields of discourse – morality, ethics, truth, beauty, spirit – while remaining wary of their potential to generalise. 4 ORIGINALITY STATEMENT I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project’s design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged. Signed ............................................................................................................................... Date .................................................................................................................................. 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I gratefully acknowledge the wonderful supervision and support of Professor Gerard Goggin during this work, and the Journalism and Media Research Centre at The University of New South Wales. The following people helped ameliorate and put into perspective the frustrations and isolations of writing a thesis: Jo and Russell Anderson, Fiona Austen, Sophie Gebhardt, Dr Angus Gordon, Emma Greenwood, Ross Hamilton, Lyndall Jenkin, Simon and Kath Keevers, Liam Leonard, Dr Tania Lewis, Nikki Lindsay, Daniel McGlone, Dr Nicola Parsons, Ann Paterson, Bryn Pears, Nicolle and Russell Penney, and Christine Thomas. I am also indebted to Dr Ann Vickery and Dr Jonathan Carter for their careful reading of earlier drafts of this dissertation, their useful comments, and ongoing support. A special acknowledgement must go to my parents Deirdre and Roy Nicol, sister Trish Nicol, aunt Rosemary Daniel, and her partner Alan Dodd for their understanding, endless patience, and encouragement when it was most required. Finally, I am forever indebted to my husband, Simon Plunkett, without whose love, support, and unflagging enthusiasm the arduous task of writing this thesis may never have been completed. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ..................................................................................................................9 Introduction. DEUS EX MACHINA: TRANSCENDENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND TECHNOSPIRITUAL FICTIONS...............10 i. The Transmodern Moment ii. Technological Mysticism and Technospiritual Narratives iii. Writing Technologies and Transcendence Chapter One. TRANSCENDENT BODIES, REVOLUTIONARY AESTHETICS: TRANSCENDENCE IN EARLY 20TH CENTURY TECHNOCULTURE.........................51 i. The Eternal Futurist Moment ii. On the Road to Transcendence iii. Praying to the Divine Velocity iv. Mind Over Matter Chapter Two. MARCHING BACKWARDS TO THE FUTURE: THE HACKER GETS RELIGION...............................................................................100 i. A Short History of Cyberpunk ii. Autobahn to Infobahn - Cyberpunk’s Critical Reception iii. Neuromancer, or Escape Velocity iv. God’s in Cyberspace v. Virtually Gnostic vi. Godhead Goes Digital Chapter Three. SUCK MY CODE: ABJECT OTHERS, UNSPEAKABLE (M)OTHERS, AND THE MULTIPLE BODIES OF CYBERSPACE.........................................................................................................163 i. Creation Anxiety and Desiring the Virtual Feminine ii. Jouissance, Madness, Holiness, & Poetry: Re-embodying Cyberspace iii. The Future Eve: Man-Made Women in Cult Science Fiction Television iv. Echoes of Transmodernism Chapter Four. WORSHIPPING @ THE SOURCE CODE: INTEGRAL EVOLUTION AND THE MATRIX TRILOGY............................................. 217 i. Evolutionaries on the Next Wave of Consciousness ii. A Map of Everything iii. Integral Spiral Dynamics iv. Boomeritis, Postmodernism, and the ‘Mean Green Meme’ v. Vertically Transcendent or Transpersonal States vi. Deus Ex Machina or Deus Sive Natura? An Integral Return to the Source Code 7 Conclusion. HACKING THE ABYSS: ACROSS AND BETWEEN MODERNISM, POSTMODERNISM, AND TRANSMODERNISM...............................................................................................274 i. Transcending Paradigms: Where the Vertical Meets the Horizontal ii. A Transmodern End to Postmodernism? Works Cited ................................................................................................................283 8 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Umberto Boccioni, Dynamism of a Cyclist, 1913.............................................54 Figure 2. Umberto Boccioni, The City Rises, 1910.........................................................57 Figure 3. Giacomo Balla, Dynamism of a Dog on A Leash, 1912...................................58 Figure 4. Étienne-Jules Marey with George Demeny, Untitled (Sprinter),1890-1900......58 Figure 5. Cover of Zang Tumb Tumb: Adrianopoli Ottobre 1912: Parole in Libertà by F.T. Marinetti......................................................................................................... 59 Figure 6. Umberto Boccioni, A Futurist Soiree. Caricature of the “Futurist evening,” at the Theatre Politeama Garibaldi, Treviso, 2 June 1911...........................................60 Figure 7. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and automobile circa 1909....................................68 Figure 8. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti's wrecked car in a ditch, 1908...............................74 Figure 9. Gigolo Joe and Gigolo Jane in Steven Spielberg’s AI: Artificial Intelligence..... 174 Figure 10. VNS Matrix, A Cyber Feminist Manifesto for the 21st Century, 1992............ 180 Figure 11. Carlo Carra, 13 Introspections, 1914...........................................................181 Figure 12. Giacomo Balla, Street Light, 1910-1911......................................................182 Figure 13. Eve Edison and Bobby Mann, Mann and Machine NBC publicity still...........190 Figure 14. Max Guevara (Jessica Alba), Dark Angel......................................................194 Figure 15. Final scene of Dark Angel (Season 2), showing transgenics recreating the 1945 raising of the US flag in Iwo Jima.......................................................198 Figure 16. Fox publicity still for Dollhouse depicting Echo (Eliza Dushku) as deadly mannequin..................................................................................................200 Figure 17. AQAL Graphic..............................................................................................230 Figure 18. 4Q8L map combining AQAL, SDi, levels, states, and types..........................233 Figure 19. Neo enters the Machine City in Matrix Revolutions.......................................266 9 INTRODUCTION DEUS EX MACHINA: Transcendence,