Cyborg Identities and Posthuman Agency: A Cybernetic Study of Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash

Abstract

In this paper, the human/machine binaries are redefined through the analysis of Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson through the perspective of cyborg theory proposed by Donna Haraway. The paper analyzes how the novel predicts and challenges the symbiosis of machines and humans and exposes the uncontrollable state of identity as digital convergence is becoming more ordinary. The novel presents a potential transformational space represented by the Metaverse, a digital world populated by avatars, which are the extensions of individuals, in which human beings are themselves cyborgs, who have technology to enhance their abilities and challenge the limits of social construction. These are the conditions of the modern world where physical and virtual worlds mingle in a highly complicated, overwhelming exchange of identities and the cyborg identity is beyond the capacity of agency and uniqueness. The qualitative approach to the study is utilized to meet the investigative component of the research. Haraway argues that the world is a blend of humanity and technology since it is a hideous merger of animals and machines. The paper argues that the story by Stephenson is not just a reflection of the overlap between human life and technology, but it also raises some analytical questions regarding the concept of human identity in a posthuman era. A critical analysis of Snow Crash as applied to the cyborg theory reveals that the human agency and control in a posthuman and post-identity world are rendered unfounded as the conventional ideas about the presence of human race in the society that is saturated with technology are being undermined. Simply put, the study covers issues of posthumanism and online identity, providing a structure of how the research will be conducted in the virtual worlds in the future.

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