Life As Technology: The Rise of Informational Biology and Genetics in Literature from 1950-2006 (2016)
Undergraduate: Morgan Thompson
Faculty Advisor: Cynthia Current
Department: English & Comparative Literature
Human clones in literature predate real-world cloning technology by several decades. Although many point to Huxley's Brave New World as one of the earliest popular works to feature human cloning, the word clone does not actually appear in the text. In fact, the word "clone" was not widely used until the 1960s and 1970s to designate genetically identical individuals. In this project I examine the evolving concepts of the natural, the impact of the actualization of cloning technology on literature, and the unstable relationship between humans, biology and technology from 1950 to 2006 in the following three novels: William March's The Bad Seed, Octavia Butler's Dawn, and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. I analyze each novel in its historical, socio-cultural, and scientific context and discuss how each work addresses human reproduction, biological relationships, and sources of anxiety. I also suggest that in these novels biology represents an expansion on Foucault's theories of regulation of life. My research shows that rapid scientific progress prevents definitions of the natural to solidify into a recognizable form for any extended period of time. Each of these novels challenges the contemporary reader to investigate conceptualizations of the human, the natural, and the relationship between biology and technology.