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Honey, Tania (2015) Change for the Machines: the Cyborg in Fact and Fiction Into the 21St Century. Phd Thesis, James Cook University

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Honey, Tania (2015) Change for the Machines: the Cyborg in Fact and Fiction Into the 21St Century. Phd Thesis, James Cook University ResearchOnline@JCU This file is part of the following reference: Honey, Tania (2015) Change for the machines: the cyborg in fact and fiction into the 21st century. PhD thesis, James Cook University. Access to this file is available from: http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/49051/ The author has certified to JCU that they have made a reasonable effort to gain permission and acknowledge the owner of any third party copyright material included in this document. If you believe that this is not the case, please contact [email protected] and quote http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/49051/ CHANGE FOR THE MACHINES: THE CYBORG IN FACT AND FICTION INTO THE 21ST CENTURY Thesis submitted by Tania HONEY BA (Hons) Qld September 2015 For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the College of Arts, Education and Society James Cook University STATEMENT OF ACCESS I, the undersigned, author of this work, understand that James Cook University will make this thesis available for use within the University Library and, via the Australian Digital Theses network, for use elsewhere. I understand that, as an unpublished work, a thesis has significant protection under the Copyright Act and I do not wish to place any further restriction on access to this thesis. ________________________________ _____________________________ Tania Honey Date STATEMENT OF SOURCES DECLARATION I declare that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in any form for another degree or diploma at any university or institution of tertiary education. Information derived from the published or unpublished work of others has been acknowledged in the text and a list of reference is given. ________________________ ____________________________ Tania Honey Date STATEMENT ON THE CONTRIBUTION OF OTHERS Financial assistance for this project was obtained from the following sources: Stipend: A JCU Postgraduate Research Scholarship (JCU PRS) James Cook University 28th February 2006 – 30th July 2009 Stipend: Six Month Write-up Scholarship School of Arts and Social Sciences James Cook University 31st August 2013 – 28th February 2014 Grant: Staff Conference Grant School of Arts and Social Sciences James Cook University $2,500.00 for travel, accommodation and other expenses associated with presenting a paper at Oxford University, United Kingdom. July 2011 ___________________________ ____________________________ Tania Honey Date ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, my gratitude goes to my supervisor, Sylvia Kelso, who offered timely advice and helped me develop a critical eye that extends beyond any self-doubt I began with. My associate supervisor, Dr Greg Manning, who has been a stalwart in timely advice and guidance, often coupled with anecdotal stories that supported and encouraged my moments of inertia. Importantly, as in any study that can often incorporate moments of loneliness and isolation, my PhD cohort. These people have been integral to this study, offering advice, friendship and a chance to reflect on the whole writing process. So a very big thank you to Linda Wight, Rhian Morgan, Emma Scott, Chris Pam, Belinda Duke, Ryl Harrison, Kristy Campion, Pamela Pensini, Kayla Morris and Connar McShane. Additionally, my deepest thanks to all staff in administration, including Belinda Wilson, Robina McDermott and Debbie Buckley who were always gracious in answering my questions about paper supply, timesheets and finding the right rooms. Many of the staff in the College of Arts and education, particularly Richard Lansdown, Allison Craven, Claire Brennan, Phillipa Anderson, Rosita Henry, Nigel Chang and Theresa Petray have been encouraging and supportive colleagues. The duration of this experience has been peppered with birth and death, and I owe a great deal to my family and friends who have supported me through these times. To my closest friends, Michelle Preston, Naarah Sawyers, Emma Hooper, Leisa Merrill, Yvette Taylor, Caroline Mann, Melitta Lewis and Kylie Harms, I am forever grateful for your love, support and numerous close moments of laughter and tears. To my parents, Susan Mitchell and Robert Coleman, thank you for your unwavering support and love, now and throughout all of my life. Mum, you have always encouraged me and set the record straight when I faced difficulties. Dad, you have always been there when I needed you, your faith in me is much appreciated. My two beautiful children, Jesha and Rory, have been the most delightful and loving people any parent could ask for. Jesha, I am so proud of the person you have become under the umbrella of a parent who has been working on this project during your final years of high school and your leap into the big wide world. I am proud of your keenness for new knowledge, your strong adherence to feminist beliefs and your unfailing belief in the good of people. Rory, you were born part way through this project and came out running. As a toddler and now at the beginning of your own education, I hope your keenness for learning and knowledge grow as fast as you run! My final acknowledgement must go to my life partner, my soul mate and my best friend, Philip. Through the ups and downs, the births and deaths, the terrible illnesses and the fantastic holidays, you have always been by my side. Your support and encouragement has never wavered; I have never for a moment doubt your belief in me. To use a worn out cliché, but so terribly accurate “Sine qua non”, because there are many times your encouragement and unswerving belief in me was the only thing that helped me to sustain this project. This thesis is dedicated to my beautiful dog, Jazz. A true companion who I shall never forget and always love. Part of Chapter 7: “The Cyborg in SF in the 21st Century” was published as Honey, T. (2012). Cyborgs in the Garden: Tales of Iden in Kage Baker’s ‘Company’ Series. Unveiling the Posthuman (ed. Artur Matos Alves). Inter- Disciplinary Press, Priory House, Oxfordshire UK. 2012 Honey, T. “Subjectivity in the Garden of Iden” in Imachine: There is no I in Meme (ed. Tania Honey) Inter-Disciplinary Press, Priory House, Oxfordshire UK. 2014 ABSTRACT In science fiction one of the key concerns has always been the question, “What is Human?” The cyborg, an amalgamation of organic and machine, is a frequent figure in the exploration of this question. Science fiction has considered the cyborg concept as early as the 1920s and continues to investigate this figure into the new millennium. Running parallel with considerations in science fiction, military research and development into creating a cyborg soldier, a superhuman war machine, has been an integral part of military affairs since WWII. In the 1980s, Donna Haraway proposed the cyborg as key metaphor in investigating feminism in technology and science. The cyborg in SF narratives begins with a concentrated concern with sexuality as a key indicator of what makes a human and then, into the 1980s, with the onset of general computer use in general society, the cyborg becomes a figure most often employed in the subgenre of cyberpunk. After the turn of the millennium the cyborg figure becomes more humanised and the focus on cyborg characters switches to concepts about aging and humour, while the figure is now paralleled by other alternate humanities like AIs. The cyborg has proved a critical step in this expansion of ideas on the key SF question of what is human. In the military sphere, the advent of basic military technologies in World War I and World War II sees the advent of computer based weaponry which culminates in a revolution in warfare during the 1980’s and onwards. By the year 2000 technological warfare has entered the world arena proper, but a material form of the cyborg, at least in SF terms, remains unrealised. The closest approach has been the development of a “temporary cyborg,” soldiers with many of the augmentations pre-imagined by SF, but developed as external add- ons, such as weapons, armour and scanning technology. Additionally, in the military- industrial-media-complex, the technology in warfare is visibly lauded as masculinised, while the soldier has become feminised. This shift has also leaked over into civilian lives and highlights a critical crisis in masculinity overall. In the 1980s in feminism, the cyborg provided a positive metaphor for resisting and destabilising liberalist humanism, and proved a sound theoretical approach for feminists engaging science and technology. The cyborg has not disappeared from this theoretical spectrum, but it has developed so far in that it is now a companion to other theories on how feminism can combat the dominant paradigms of science and technology, as well as opening the door to more fluid and fragmented concepts of subjectivity and thinking about mobility and gendered spatiality, as in difference and “Nomad” theory. TABLE OF CONTENTS Statement of Access ii Statement of Sources iii Statement on the Contribution of Others iv Acknowledgements v Abstract viii Table of Contents x CHAPTER ONE: RESEARCH PROJECT AND METHODOLOGY 1 Approaching the Cyborg 1 Defining the Cyborg: 3 Methodology: 10 Further Directions for Cyborg Research 11 Chapter Layout 12 Conclusion 15 CHAPTER TWO: THE CYBORG IN SF, 1920S-1970S 17 The history of the machine-based Artificial Person – 1920s-1944 17 The history of the machine-based Artificial Person – 1940s – 1950s 23 The history of the machine-based Artificial Person – 1950s-70s 27 CHAPTER THREE: THE CYBORG AND THE MILITARY - WORLD WAR I TO 1980 42 Pre-World War I - World War I 42 Pre-War
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