Blackbeard and the Post-Anthropocene Humanoids. Tracing the Post/Transhuman in Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam Trilogy

  • Laura Giovannelli Department of Philology, Literature and Linguistics, University of Pisa
Keywords: Margaret Atwood, MaddAddam trilogy, Humanoid, Posthuman ontologies, Transhumanism

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the meanings and phenomenologies of the simulacrum as a materialisation of a hybrid, liminal and nomadic ontology and as the result of biotechnological experiments that have redesigned the animal/human along post-anthropocentric lines. The analysis takes its cue from the post-apocalyptic setting of  Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy, with a final focus on the last book in the series. After the world population has been decimated by a pandemic unleashed by Crake, the creatures he has generated via transgenic technology emerge as the ‘fittest’ inheritors of the Earth. Toby, one of the few human survivors, is involved in training them in the Post-Anthropocene era. Attention will be paid to the Crakers’ identity as humanoids hovering between an anthropological and a zoomorphic dimension. If capable of establishing bioegalitarian relationships with the ecosystem, such pseudo-primates also show uncanny features that progressively come to the fore through their leader Blackbeard.

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Published
2022-11-24
How to Cite
Giovannelli, L. (2022). Blackbeard and the Post-Anthropocene Humanoids. Tracing the Post/Transhuman in Margaret Atwood’s <em>MaddAddam</em&gt; Trilogy. Between, 12(24), 291-312. https://doi.org/10.13125/2039-6597/5127