Hélice

Reexiones críticas sobre cción especulativa

Volumen 7, n.º 1 · Primavera-Verano 2021

Miscelánea
Jonathan Hay
Reflexiones
Sara Martín Alegre

Hélice 30 Primavera-Verano 2021

Francisco Collado-Rodríguez
Beatriz Domínguez-García
Lidia María Cuadrado Payeras
Rocío Carrasco Carrasco
Amaya Fernández Menicucci
Hélice: Reexiones Críticas sobre Ficción Especulativa
Mónica Calvo Pascual
[Link]
Crítica
ISSN: 1887-2905 Mariano Martín Rodríguez
Recuperados
Federico de Castro
Salvador Rueda
Ion Heliade-Rădulescu
Pietro Gori
Guerau de Liost
Ippolito Nievo
Antônio Gomes Neto
Anatole France
Arturo Graf
Auguste Angellier
Alexandru Petroff
António Feijó
Àngel Guimerà
Renée Vivien
Arturo Graf
Ion Pillat
Humberto de Campos
Gian Fontana
Hélice Sumario
Volumen 7, n.º 1 · Primavera-Verano 2021
Editorial
2
Miscelánea How Much?: An Interesting Typo in Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Gold Coast
7 Jonathan Hay
Reflexiones On the Monographic Section about Posthumanism
9 Sara Martín Alegre
Reflexiones Retrospective Posthumanism: Frankenstein According to Our Vocabulary
11 Sara Martín
Reflexiones The Female, the Intertextual, and the Transhuman in William Gibson’s Molly Millions
23 Francisco Collado-Rodríguez
Reflexiones Of Mutants and Monsters: A Posthuman Study of Verhoeven’s and Wiseman’s
37 Total Recall
Beatriz Domínguez-García
Reflexiones Posthuman Worldbuilding in Nalo Hopkinson’s Midnight Robber: An Exploration
52 of the Techno/Natural Divide
Lidia María Cuadrado Payeras
Reflexiones Experiencing the Posthuman: The Cinematic Clone in the 21st Century
65 Rocío Carrasco Carrasco
Reflexiones Mors Dei, Vita Mea: Human, Transhuman, and Posthuman Identities in the TV
79 Series Altered Carbon and Westworld
Amaya Fernández Menicucci
Reflexiones The Tiger Flu: A Critical Posthumanist Response to the Illusion of Transhumanism
99 Mónica Calvo Pascual
Crítica Los viejos mundos de la ciencia ficción española, bien al descubierto
111 Mariano Martín Rodríguez
Recuperados The Perfect Slave
119 Federico de Castro
Recuperados The Iron City
124 Salvador Rueda
Recuperados Paraísos futuros: tres himnos utópicos
127 Ion Heliade-Rădulescu, Pietro Gori, Guerau de Liost
Recuperados Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias prospectivas satíricas
136 Ippolito Nievo, Antônio Gomes Neto
Recuperados Visiones tras los apocalipsis: cuatro poemas épico-fantásticos sobre ruinas
165 Anatole France, Arturo Graf, Auguste Angellier, Alexandru Petroff, António Feijó
Recuperados Nuevas escrituras sobre el Dios y el Diablo: seis ficciones teológicas dualistas
177 Àngel Guimerà, Renée Vivien, Arturo Graf, Ion Pillat, Humberto De Campos,
Gian Fontana

Portada y contraportada de Leo y Diane Dillon. Derechos reservados.

ISSN: 1887-2905 Revista Hélice: Volumen VI, n.º 2: otoño-invierno de 2020-2021
Creada originalmente por la Asociación Cultural Xatafi.
Comité de redacción: Sara Martín Alegre, Mariano Martín Rodríguez.
Corrección, composición, diseño y maquetación: Paco Arellano.
Diseño original de la revista: Alejandro Moia.
Webmaster: Ismael Osorio Martín.
martioa@[Link] | [Link]@[Link]
[Link] Todos los derechos reservados. Disposiciones legales en [Link]

REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen 7, n.º 1 1  PRIMAVERA-VERANO 2021

[Link] Todos los derechos reservados. Disposiciones legales en [Link]

Editorial

E
n unos tiempos como los actuales, en los que las medidas
dictadas por la situación sanitaria cambian nuestro modo
de vida, creemos que resulta muy oportuno dedicar un
número de Hélice a uno de los temas especulativos más
pertinentes en nuestros días, el posthumanismo en la ciencia fic-
ción, al menos en su vertiente de imaginación del futuro inspirada
por la tecnología. En la Unión Europea, quienes deciden han deci-
dido, por una vez claramente, que el futuro de los ciudadanos de
esa gran semiconfederación será digital, les convenga o no. No ca-
be duda de que la digitalización de arriba abajo ha llegado para
quedarse, y no solo en Europa. A primera vista, se están cum-
pliendo, pues, los sueños o, más bien, dictados de los potentados
de la industria informática. Entre ellos, una parte no menor apoya
asimismo unas tendencias transhumanistas que persiguen modi-
ficar la humanidad y la naturaleza por medios tecnológicos y por
su sedicente propio bien. Aunque transhumanismo no es equiva-
lente a posthumanismo, igual que un melón no es una sandía, es
indudable que ambas cosas tienen un marcado aire de familia y,
de hecho, se suelen abordar juntas tanto en la teoría actualmente
predominante en el mundo occidental como en su plasmación (a
veces) artística en la ciencia ficción contemporánea. Esto es paten-
te en los siete ensayos en inglés de la sección de Reflexiones, que
dedicamos en este número al posthumanismo. En consecuencia, la
mayoría aborda los interrogantes que suscita este fenómeno desde
el punto de vista de sus consecuencias sociales, personales e inclu-
so teológicas.
Estos ensayos suelen reafirmar las críticas lanzadas al trans-
humanismo por los teóricos activistas postmodernos debido a su
complicidad con el gran capital, su elitismo mental y económico,
su dualismo supuestamente humanista entre la mente y el cuer-
po, y otros feos defectos que se le atribuyen. Mónica Calvo Pascual
es quien más claramente examina el conflicto transhumanismo-
posthumanismo en su estudio sobre la reciente novela de Larissa
Lai The Tiger Flu (2018), en la que esta autora sinonorteamerica-
na denuncia un futuro bastante creíble dominado por una China
hipercapitalista, en la que la clase social y la exclusión derivan de
la posibilidad de acceder a diversos implantes de finalidad tanto
corporal como mental. Según Calvo Pascual, Lai presenta una al-

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 ternativa posthumanista integral social y filosóficamente. Una al-
ternativa al posthumanismo excluyente propone también Nalo
Hopkinson en su clásico Midnight Robber (2000) desde una pers-
pectiva postcolonial que persiguen una superación de la oposición
entre naturaleza y tecnología, perspectiva que describe Lidia Ma-
ría Cuadrado Payeras en su artículo. Por su parte, Beatriz Do-
mínguez-García tampoco olvida la dimensión social de un post-
humanismo que parece dejar atrás el cuerpo, pero que reafirma
este de manera paradójica. Al analizar la visión que se ofrece de
los cuerpos humanos normales y mutantes en las dos películas de
Hollywood tituladas Total Recall (1990 y 2012), observa cómo una
situación posthumana no acaba con una jerarquía fundada en la
mayor o menor (dis)capacidad física y estética de los cuerpos, y la
ambigua visión que se ofrece en ambas películas de tal categoriza-
ción y de sus consecuencias sociales. En efecto, si algo se puede
deducir de estos estudios como característica común de estas fic-
ciones es la conciencia de que el futuro posthumano no acabará
con la explotación del (post)hombre por el (post)hombre de cual-
quier sexo y género. Esa explotación se exacerba cuando la tecno-
logía posthumana no confía tanto en lo digital como en el aprove-
chamiento biológico de clones como meros depósitos de órganos
para sus acaudalados modelos genéticos, tal y como se presenta en
varias películas de nuestro siglo estudiadas por Rocío Carrasco
Carrasco. Con todas las salvedades necesarias en productos cuyo
carácter comercial determina inevitablemente el modo de su críti-
ca, la adopción en aquellas películas de la perspectiva del clon in-
vita a ponerse emocionalmente en su lugar, esto es, en el lugar de
los explotados.
Otro rasgo común de las obras comentadas es el pesimismo dis-
tópico. Aunque la utopía es muy frecuente como horizonte vendido
al ciudadano-consumidor por los poderes políticos y económicos
que fomentan la digitalización trans y/o posthumanista, escritores
y cineastas parecen mirar con pesimismo el resultado especulado
del proceso digitalizador. Desde el punto de vista de la historia li-
teraria, no extrañará tan enorme diferencia entre lo que se vende
políticamente como porvenir ideal y ese mismo porvenir según la
ciencia ficción mayoritaria. Si cabe considerar que el posthuma-
nismo contemporáneo deriva directamente de la moda ciberpunk,
es normal que también haya heredado los ambientes distópicos de
esta, ya desde su creador William Gibson. Francisco Collado-
Rodríguez así lo señala con amplia documentación en relación con
la prototípica mujer ciberpunk de Gibson, Molly Millions, una mu-
jer fuerte y violenta que no puede escapar, sin embargo, a los con-

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 dicionantes de su sociedad, que le impone una constante mejor
tecnológica de sus implantes si quiere sobrevivir. La sociedad
posthumana así pintada es un conjunto de seres transhumanos
sometidos a la ley de la jungla. Al menos, aún es posible en ella
luchar por su propia autonomía como individuos. Este es un lujo
solo alcance de una extrema minoría afortunada en dos series te-
levisivas posthumanistas de gran éxito, Westworld y Altered Car-
bon, que Amaya Fernández Menicucci estudia sobre todo como la
expresión de la barruntada capacidad demiúrgica de la tecnología.
Esta permitiría superar la dualidad entre cuerpo y mente, y pro-
piciaría la aparición de conciencias artificiales hasta el punto de
que lo divino, lo humano y lo no humano construido dejarían de
distinguirse en el seno de subjetividades irreductibles a las con-
cepciones humanistas anteriores, aunque ello no supondría en ab-
soluto el fin de las antiguas injusticias, sino más bien al contrario.
Tal vez ninguna mejora tecnológica es capaz de cambiar la natu-
raleza humana, cuyo comportamiento biológico nunca ha dejado
de organizarse en forma de jerarquías, cuya manifestación es
esencialmente represiva. Las formas de oprimir cambian, pero no
la opresión. Todas las obras objeto de estos ensayos así lo indican.
Lo que sí es dudoso es que las soluciones sugeridas por algunos au-
tores, siguiendo la escolástica postmoderna, sean eficaces. Tal vez
lo sean, y el paraíso de diversidad y felicidad, sobre todo para las
minorías, acabe llegando realmente, pero se echa de menos en to-
dos estos ensayos algún sano cuestionamiento de sus presupuestos
teóricos, tan necesario para que un ensayo sea crítico y no propa-
gandístico. Sin embargo, no se ha de reprochar a los autores que si-
gan a rajatabla el método y los postulados de los Estudios Cultura-
les de nuestra época. Sus voces se añaden simplemente a un coro
masivo que repite las mismas consignas y cita siempre a los mis-
mos autores, pero al menos lo hacen con indudable habilidad y cer-
ciorándose de que sus trabajos aporten interpretaciones bien ar-
gumentadas y plausibles dentro de sus respectivas escuelas.
Un método muy distinto sigue Sara Martín en su reflexión sobre
Frankenstein (1831), de Mary Shelley. Aunque tiene presente las
teorías posthumanistas actuales, su propósito es demostrar el ca-
rácter pionero de esa novela en la imaginación del individuo post-
humano, para lo cual se sirve de los procedimientos filológicos
probados de la historia de la literatura, sin complejos y sin temor
de oponerse a las ideas recibidas en la materia. Concretamente,
ataca con razón las lecturas anacrónicas actuales que se niegan a
ver en la creación del doctor Frankenstein un monstruo, que es
como es visto por los demás personajes y es presentado por la pro-

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 pia autora en el marco de una obra que no es tanto fictocientífica
como gótica. Al fin y al cabo, el monstruo lo es no por ser una crea-
ción posthumana por medio tecnológicos, sino por ser un fracaso es-
tético: es un monstruo de fealdad que da literalmente miedo…
El respeto hacia la historia, el texto y su contexto inspira tam-
bién la importante antología de ciencia ficción española en la lla-
mada Edad de Plata (1898-1936) editada por Juan Herrero-Senés,
tal y como pone de relieve la reseña correspondiente de Mariano
Martín Rodríguez en la sección de Crítica. También funda el cu-
rioso trabajo de Jonathan Hay sobre una errata no corregida en la
novela de The Gold Coast (1988), de Kim Stanley Robinson, cuya
publicación en Miscelánea demuestra que el método filológico si-
gue siendo útil como base para lecturas correctas de cualquier tex-
to que permitan evitar los sesgos que aquejan con demasiado fre-
cuencia los estudios que, a diferencia del de Sara Martín y del
libro de Herrero-Senés, prestan más atención a la corrección
(también en el sentido de reprensión y censura) ideológica que a la
comprensión y el respeto del pasado no solo por lo que nos con-
venga para propagar nuestras ideas, sino también en sus propios
términos, cuya pertinencia desde nuestra perspectiva actual no
debería impedir intentar verlo desde dentro. Así se ha intentado
en Hélice en el rescate en la sección de Recuperados, en forma de
traducción, de varios textos de tema posthumanista posteriores a
Frankenstein y muy anteriores al cyberpunk. Dos de ellos adoptan
el discurso historiográfico para describir la aparición de dos espe-
cies posthumanas, una de robots y otra de simios inteligentes de
aspecto humano. A diferencia de aquella novela de Shelley, ambos
tienen un carácter satírico dirigido a rebajar la autoestima de la
humanidad. En la historia de Ippolito Nievo, que es quizá el texto
fictocientífico más importante escrito en italiano en el siglo XIX, la
holganza inducida por la explotación laboral de los «homúnculos»
artificiales induce en los humanos un declive de voluntad que ha
de llevar al fin de la especie, mientras que los monos de la historia
del brasileño Gomes Neto acaban siendo reconocidos como especie
igual a la humana sobre todo porque han sabido imitar a esta so-
bre todo en sus defectos, de manera que el final feliz, tan poco co-
mún en la literatura de este tema posthumanista, resulta ser
amargamente irónico. Con ese mismo tema, se adelanta a la ima-
gen de la explotación por los poderosos del individuo-objeto post-
humano Federico de Castro en su cuento dedicado a la autómata
propiedad de un semidivino monarca de aspecto oriental, cuyo
ideal de mujer íntegramente sumisa realiza aquella «esclava per-
fecta», verdadera precursora de las muñecas sexuales de nuestros

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 días. Sin embargo, el poder masculino y patriarcal que encarna el
rey se siente frustrado, lo que ilustra los límites de la teórica om-
nipotencia del poder y de la ideología que lo sustenta. Pese a su
brevedad, este cuento plantea, desde la humanista perspectiva
krausista de su autor, una interesante crítica que suena muy ac-
tual. Además, su cuento es literariamente pionero, pues su am-
bientación en un mundo secundario integral de aspecto legendario
acerca su planteamiento literario al de la fantasía épica.
Los demás textos «Recuperados» se dividen en tres secciones no
directamente relacionadas con el tema predominante en este nú-
mero de Hélice, si bien aquellos clasificados dentro de la ficción
teológica como expresiones estéticas (y heréticas) de un dualismo
entre el principio supremo del bien y el del mal que puede consi-
derarse la lejana matriz del dualismo cuerpo-mente que subyace a
no pocos enfoques posthumanistas. No obstante, su interés mayor
radica quizá en la manera en que la ciencia teológica ha podido
ser explotada fructíferamente con fines puramente literarios en la
época moderna, a menudo como base para empresas de claro ca-
rácter mitopoético. En cuanto a la sección dedicada a las ruinas
imaginarias como variedad de la construcción de mundos posibles
ficcionales de carácter épico-fantástico, sus distintos poemas pue-
den servir de recordatorio que las perspectivas de progreso tecno-
lógico continuo no han de hacernos olvidar no solo a los seres hu-
manos y de otro tipo que serán sus víctimas, sino también a
quienes se quedarán indefectiblemente atrás. El orden trans y
posthumanista también dejará ruinas. Con todo, para que no toda
sea quejarse y dejar el oportuno margen para la esperanza, tam-
bién se recuperan varios poemas de forma hímnica y asunto utó-
pico que describen un porvenir mejor para los explotados hoy, un
porvenir de beatitud paradisíaca, de paz y de belleza, en ciudades
celestiales o terrenales, que tal vez nos pueda servir de consuelo
frente a tantos desastres como aparecen en la ficción posthuma-
nista, cuyos augurios más pesimistas nuestros gobernantes sani-
tarios, políticos y económicos parecen estar volviendo cada vez
más verosímiles.

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How Much?: An Interesting
Typo in Kim Stanley
Robinson’s The Gold Coast

Jonathan Hay © Jonathan Hay, 2021

University of Chester

One typo in Kim Stanley Robinson’s 1988 McPherson had read the figure wrong, or
novel The Gold Coast is so prominent as to that the booklet he reads is misprinted,
merit consideration. Nevertheless, there is there is no logical reason for him to have
no evidence that it has ever come to the suddenly deduced that the figure of $669
attention of readers before now. In chapter million is erroneous (if, indeed, it is). Nor
thirty-four, when Dennis McPherson’s does he appear to notice the $30 million
corporation Laguna Space Research loses a discrepancy between the announced
crucial military defence contract to a rival figure ($699 million) and the alternative
aerospace company, an announcer states total that the booklet ostensibly indicates
that the “winning bid totaled six hundred ($669 million). This narrative lacuna is
ninety-nine million dollars” (2020: 456). rendered particularly conspicuous since
However, when Dennis reflects upon that McPherson has been working obsessively
unfavourable verdict two paragraphs to develop LSR’s alternate proposal for
later—after having read a pamphlet months, and so, it appears highly unlikely
outlining the proposal in detail—his ire is that he would be anything less than
directed at Parnell Aviation Incorporated wholly attentive whilst analysing even
having undercut himself and his the most minute details of the winning
colleagues by submitting an “impossible” contract bid. Neither is the discrepancy
bid of “$669 million” (2020: 456). Stranger likely to be either a ludic or postmodern
still, when reflecting once more upon move. Throughout The Gold Coast
Parnell’s winning bid another few Robinson exclusively favours plain,
paragraphs later, McPherson now believes declarative exposition, and accordingly,
that the bid was “$699 million” (2020: his narrative style is never wilfully
457), in line with the originally cited obstructive.
amount. In the time intervening between Additionally, the typo is by no means
his cogitation of the latter two values, exclusive to later editions of the novel; it
McPherson does not appear to have been has been present in the manuscript since
corrected by any external source, and The Gold Coast was first published. In its
hence, his abrupt reversion to the first edition, the same alternating
originally cited figure appears interplay of the two different figures
incomprehensible. appears (1988: 180-1), and the 2015
Even if we were to presume that audiobook edition narrates each of the

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MISCELÁNEA

How Much ?: An Interesting Typo
in Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Gold Coast

relevant passages verbatim (cited at truly was is obscured, impairing our

[Link], [Link], [Link] respectively). comprehension of precisely why a number
Were chapter thirty-four related from a of very important diegetic events
first person perspective, we might subsequently become inevitable.
presume that either McPherson or the
announcer had made an error, yet the
passage is rendered in free indirect
Works Cited
discourse. Hence, the error appears to be
attributable to either Robinson, or the
ROBINSON, Kim Stanley (1988). The Gold
novel’s original typesetter. Crucially, the
Coast. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
exact value of Parnell’s winning bid is ROBINSON, Kim Stanley (2015). The Gold
highly significant at this stage of the Coast: The Three Californias Triptych,
novel’s plot, as the extent to which the Book 2. Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki. Los
corporation has outcompeted LSR bears a Angeles: Skyboat Media, Inc.
considerable influence upon later events. ROBINSON, Kim Stanley (2020). The Gold
Yet, since two vastly different figures Coast, in Three Californias. New York:
have been erroneously cited, readers’ Tom Doherty Associates, 293-653.
perception of how audacious Parnell’s bid

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On the monographic
section about
posthumanism

Sara Martín Alegre © Sara Martín Alegre, 2021

In the pre-pandemic world of May 2019 examine Frankenstein as a posthuman

the research group “Trauma and text avant la lettre. In my article I consider
Posthumanity” of the University of the anachronistic application of current
Zaragoza held the conference concepts to the science fiction of the past,
“Representation in the Time of the warning that though this may be an
Posthuman”. There, the authors of the illuminating exercise we still need to pay
monographic issue that we now present attention to how the texts were originally
met to exchange ideas. One of these ideas conceived. Mary Shelley’s novel is
was the possibility of working together in a primarily a horror story, and we should
publication, which soon materialized in a not forget that the creature, posthuman as
project for a journal that should have been he is, is a fearsome monster and not just
published in Spanish, a language in which an object of compassion, as he mostly is in
the connection between science fiction and current analysis. Francisco Collado chose
posthumanism has been not explored in to focus in his article on William Gibson’s
depth. That project fell through for that atmospheric Neuromancer (1984), one of
type of absurd reason that often plagues the great novels about artificial
the academic world but we decided to intelligence. Collado is not interested in
continue in the language that the seven of the relationship between human and A.I.,
us use professionally, English, as we are however, but in vindicating the
all English Studies academics. Our thanks protagonist’s bodyguard Molly Millions as
go to my co-editor, Mariano Martín an iconic posthuman character. First seen
Rodríguez, who suddenly found in his in “Johnny Mnemonic” (1981) Molly is a
hands the proposal to publish not one or self-empowered female cyborg of the type
two, but seven articles on the same topic in Donna Haraway dreamed of; technology is
what constitutes Hélice’s first monographic for Millions the only way forward in a
issue (we hope there will be more soon). world that offers women few options but a
As editor of the monographic section transgressive posthumanism. Beatriz
my call to the authors was based on a very Dominguez’s contribution focuses on the
simple idea: choose the science-fiction text two versions of Total Recall: the very
you prefer—novel, film, TV series—and popular first film by Paul Verhoeven
explain how posthumanism works in it. (1990) and the far less accomplished
We did not agree beforehand to cover remake by Len Wiseman (2012). She is
specific ground but, as happens, the particularly interested in the figure of the
articles do cover the period 1984-2020 mutant, specifically in how its presence in
except for my own excursion into 1818 to science fiction suggests that the future

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REFLEXIONES

On the monographic section
about posthumanism

might create its own kind of abled and dystopian novel about corporate control of
disabled bodies, for it is certainly not the global economy set in an Earth devastated
case that the posthuman body will be by climate change. Calvo shows how Lai
necessarily an improved version of current offers a welcome alternative to the
humanity. The contrast between the two separation of mind and body backed by
films helps Domínguez to consider this but cybernetic transhumanism through an
also the different ideas about how ethics of the post-anthropocentric which
dogmatic posthumanism may impact the re-humanizes the posthuman body.
repression of the less abled in the 1990s All in all, as these articles show,
and the 2010s. Lidia Cuadrado’s essay posthumanism cannot be understood from
deals with the novel Midnight Robber a single position. We feel, however, that
(2000) by Canadian-Jamaican author Nalo too often science fiction has been missing
Hopkinson. Applying the ideas of in the more philosophical discussions of
Francesca Ferrando’s Philosophical this concept. Not even major academics
Posthumanism (2019) Cuadrado considers such as Rosi Braidotti—author of the
the clash between the techno-driven and seminal The Posthuman (2013)—have
the nature-driven civilisations in fully understood the importance of science
Hopkinson’s work, paying attention to the fiction (or speculative fiction, if you prefer
interpretations of posthumanism from it) as a huge laboratory of ideas about the
outside a Western, ethnocentric point of posthuman. It has been, then, our
view. Returning to cinema, Rocío Carrasco collective aim to call attention to this
explores in her article the figure of the omission, and to stress that, as
clone in films such as The Island (2005) Frankenstein proves, science fiction has
and Never Let me Go (2010), based on the been concerned from the very beginning
novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, and the animated with the problem of how technology can
series World of Tomorrow (2015, 2017, alter the natural evolution of Homo
2020). She delves into the ethics of Sapiens. Posthumanism, as the articles
biomechanical technology, which these show, has been mainly defended as a
works emphasize by allowing viewers to positive process of human enhancement
access posthuman subjectivity in an that will lead to a happier transhumanist
exercise aimed at increasing empathy. civilization, yet there is a dangerous
Amaya Fernández Menicucci discusses in underside to this idealism constituted by
her essay how the TV series Altered new forms of bodily marginalization that
Carbon (Netflix, 2018-2020) and need to be prevented. Speculating with the
Westworld (HBO, 2016-2020) investigate future in fictional scenarios, as the texts
the consequences of unlimited body- we have chosen do, is, therefore, the best
enhancement, the Cartesian mind-body possible strategy to anticipate serious
dualism, and the rise of non-human problems and to suggest satisfactory
consciousness in artificial posthumans to solutions that respect fundamental ethical
question humanity itself. Cyborgs and A.I. values and human rights. That is how
represent something new, perhaps even important science fiction is for humanity.
beyond the supernatural and the
unnatural. Finally, Monica Calvo reads SARA MARTÍN ALEGRE
Larissa Lai’s The Tiger Flu (2018), a Barcelona, May 2021

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Retrospective Posthumanism:
Frankenstein
According to Our
Vocabulary

Sara Martín © Sara Martín, 2021

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Abstract: Mary Shelley conceived Frankenstein as a Gothic horror story. However, Brian Aldiss
claimed in 1973 that her novel is the true originator of science fiction—a 1920s label of which she
could not be aware. Also in the 1970s, ‘posthumanism’ emerged as the critical current that might
replace humanism. The word ‘posthuman’, though, had first appeared in a 1936 novella by H.P.
Lovecraft. Because of this changing vocabulary Frankenstein must be re-read retrospectively
(though not unproblematically) without neglecting its Gothic origins, as pioneering fiction about
the creation of a posthuman individual, even of a whole posthuman species. In this article I argue
that, nonetheless, the new posthuman re-reading should not obscure Mary Shelley’s intention to
characterize her monster as an abject creature intended to produce intense fear and terror in her
readers. This is an affect that has been lost in the contemporary academic treatment of the
creature as a being dispossessed of his rights as a living individual.

Keywords: Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Gothic, science fiction, posthumanism

1. Frankenstein as a Gothic text: her husband Percy, and Claire Clairmont

Horror and technophobia (the daughter of Mary’s step-mother),
were frequent visitors at Villa Diodati on
In her Introduction to the second edition the shores of Lake Geneva, where Lord
of Frankenstein (original publication Byron was staying at the time with his
1818)—published in 1831 by Colburn & personal physician, John Polidori. The
Bentley within their Standard Novels Shelleys were in Switzerland at the
collection—Mary Shelley (1797-1851) request of Claire, who was then pregnant
narrated the genesis of her novel, thus by Byron; she would give birth to their
establishing the enduring Romantic myth daughter Allegra in early 1817. Beyond
of its creation. During the cold, rainy sex, however, Byron did not care for
summer of 1816,1 nineteen-year-old Mary, —————
of the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. The
————— events at Villa Diodati have inspired films as
1 The Summer of 1816 was abnormally different as Gothic (1986), Rowing with the
cold all over the Western hemisphere because Wind (1987) or Haunted Summer (1988), and
of the eruption in April 1815 of Mount even the Doctor Who episode The Haunting of
Tambora, a volcano in northern Sumbawa, one Villa Diodati (2020).

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Claire; he clearly preferred Percy pressure (she was asked daily whether
Shelley’s intellectual company. According she already had thought of a topic),
to Mary, the two men’s conversations on caused a great deal of anxiety, which
scientific topics—which she claims to resulted in an agitated state or “waking
have witnessed without ever participating dream” (9), one evening when Mary was
in them—together with Byron’s proposal trying to sleep:
that the four of them (excluding Claire)
wrote each a ghost story in imitation of I saw—with shut eyes, but acute mental
the German horror tales2 they were vision—, I saw the pale student of
reading to pass the time, were major unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing
sources of inspiration for her novel. he had put together. I saw the hideous
Mary mentions in her Introduction phantasm of a man stretched out, and
that she had been writing since childhood then, on the working of some powerful
but she still had a reluctance to believe engine, show signs of life, and stir with an
herself endowed with the talent that uneasy, half vital motion. Frightful must it
Percy attributed to her, as the daughter be; for supremely frightful would be the
of intellectual authors William Godwin effect of any human endeavour to mock the
and Mary Wollstonecraft. She took, stupendous mechanism of the Creator of
nonetheless, Byron’s challenge seriously, the world. (9)
making a constant effort to come up with
Unable to get rid of her “hideous
a story that would be up to the expected
phantom”, Mary chose this haunting
standard: “One which would speak to the
vision as the subject of her “tiresome
mysterious fears of our nature, and
unlucky ghost story!” (10). It was her aim
awaken thrilling horror—one to make the
to terrorize readers in the same degree
reader dread to look round, to curdle the
she had been terrorized by her
blood, and quicken the beatings of the
imagination, or her subconscious.
heart” (8). Her difficulties to find a
Initially, Mary wanted to write a short
subject, together with Percy’s and Byron’s
story but, encouraged by Percy, she
————— expanded her tale into the novel
2 A key volume was Fantasmagoriana Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus,
(1812), a collection of German ghost stories which she published anonymously. Since,
anonymously translated into French by Jean- because of this quite habitual
Baptiste Benoît Eyriès. The main authors circumstance, most readers and critics
featured in it are Johann Karl August assumed that the novel had been written
Musäus, Johann August Apel, Friedrich Laun,
by Percy, Mary made a point of clarifying
and Heinrich Clauren. Byron and Shelley
in the Preface to the second edition that
never finished their own ghost stories but
John Polidori did. His novella The Vampyre, everything in Frankenstein was her own
the first prose narration dealing with this creation, though she granted that her
topic in English, was published in 1819. husband had written the Preface to the
Unfortunately, The Monthly Magazine, where first edition of 1818.
it appeared, attributed it to Byron, who was Frankenstein, originally published by
actually the inspiration for the horrid vampire the small press of Lackington, Hughes,
Lord Ruthven. Polidori is rumoured to have Harding, Mavor, & Jones when Mary was
committed suicide in 1821 because of this
21, fit well the literary market for Gothic
humiliation.

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fiction, a genre in which women writers remote past nor in a mysterious building
were abundant—from the lesser ones (preferably a castle, convent, or haunted
published by the blatantly commercial mansion). Although it does feature a
Minerva Press (see Copeland, 1995) to romance (between Victor and his fiancée
best-selling Ann Radcliffe, who gave Elizabeth), this is secondary to the main
Gothic in the 1790s the literary plot. Frankenstein does not even have a
respectability which the genre was villain clearly identifiable as such. Both
missing. Horace Walpole accidentally Victor and his creation have been
invented the label ‘Gothic fiction’ by described as hero-villains or villain-
giving his novel The Castle of Otranto heroes, an ambiguity which enriches this
(1764)—the text that inaugurated this unique masterpiece.
narrative mode in Britain—the subtitle A Even though Victor Frankenstein
Gothic Story. Walpole alluded to the originated the figure of the ‘mad doctor’
pseudo-medieval atmosphere of his that would eventually appear in countless
romance but the adjective ‘Gothic’ was stories, from H.G. Wells’ Dr. Moreau to
eventually applied to any type of fiction Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, Mary
(initially prose and drama, and later a herself was not attributed any main merit
long etcetera) interested in awakening as a ground-breaking author for too long a
the most universal affect: fear. As David time. English fantasy and science fiction
Punter notes in his pioneering study of author Brian Aldiss3 was the first to
the genre, argue, in his 1973 essay Billion Year
Spree, that the Gothic nature of
Fear is not merely a theme or an attitude, Frankenstein is no obstacle to read it as
it also has consequences in terms of form, science fiction, quite the opposite. Calling
style and the social relations of the texts; Mary ‘the origin of the species’ (the title of
and exploring Gothic is also exploring fear his chapter), Aldiss exalts her to the
and seeing the various ways in which position of main initiator of modern
terror breaks through the surfaces of science fiction, a title that would certainly
literature, differently in every case, but have surprised her, since this was a label
also establishing for itself certain distinct created in 1926 by editor Hugo
continuities of language and symbol. (1980: Gernsback.4 Aldiss is right to connect
21)
—————
3 In his novel Frankenstein Unbound
In view of Mary’s avowed declaration
(1973) Aldiss enacts through his delegate in
that it was her intention to elicit a feeling the text, Joe Bodenland, the fantasy of
of fear from readers, there is no doubt travelling backwards in time to meet Mary
that Frankenstein is primarily a Gothic Shelley. For the 1990 adaptation by Roger
text, though not at all the ghost story she Corman, see my own article (Martín, 2003).
had set out to write. Her novel is, in any 4 ‘Scientifiction’ appeared in the editorial

case, a late addition to the first cycle of article by Gernsback written to present
Gothic fiction—Melmoth the Wanderer Amazing Stories (April 1926). “By
‘scientifiction’,” Gernsback clarifies, “I mean
(1820) by Charles Maturin is often named
the Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, and Edgar Allan
as its closing point—with very little
Poe type of story—a charming romance
respect for the habitual conventions of the intermingled with scientific fact and prophetic
genre. Frankenstein is neither set in the vision” (3). The magazine Astounding Stories

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science fiction and Romanticism since, of the main technological optimists, as he

thanks to the spectacular technoscientific called himself, is Isaac Asimov. In his
progress that led to the Industrial hybrid detective/science fiction novel The
Revolution, Mary’s generation was “the Caves of Steel (1954), Asimov distances
first to enjoy that enlarged vision of himself from Mary Shelley, whom he
time—to this day still expanding— gently mocks, by introducing through the
without which science fiction is main robotics experts on Earth (in a
perspectiveless, and less itself” (1975: 3). future distant 3000 years from our
Nonetheless, even though it is obvious present) a key concept. As Dr. Gerrigel
that modern science fiction from tells Detective Elijah Baley:
Frankenstein onwards has frequently
used horror elements—an outstanding “The human race, Mr. Baley, has a strong
early 20th century example is “The Color Frankenstein complex”.
Out of Space” (1927) by H.P. Lovecraft, “A what?”
published in Gernsback’s Amazing “That’s a popular name derived from a
Stories—claiming that this genre is Medieval novel describing a robot that
“characteristically cast in the Gothic or turned on its creator. I never read the
post-Gothic mould” (8) is a risky novel myself. […]” (170)
manoeuvre. Despite this, many other
critics have followed Aldiss. Goss and The solution which Asimov found to
Riquelme, for instance, present the problem of how to prevent the
Frankenstein as a villain similar to the rebellion of the robots, the famous Three
classic aristocratic villains of Gothic Laws of Robotics that guarantee their
fiction, calling him an “intellectual obedience,5 reveals that the trope of the
aristocrat” (2007: 425) since he is upper creation of non-human, self-conscious
class but bourgeois (his native country, artificial life need not result in horror
Switzerland, has no aristocracy). Gothic tales. Brian Stableford was the first one
fiction, they add, “reaches an important to clarify why this is the case in
moment of cultural realization in its Frankenstein. According to him, Mary did
offspring, science fiction, when the not characterize young Victor as a
scientist replaces the ruler and the priest scientist because she wanted to comment
as wielder of power and source of on the scientific debates of her time but
wrongdoing” (435). because she needed to distinguish her
Whereas Frankenstein is a novel from the typical Gothic story of
technophobic novel—whether we argue —————
that Mary only opposed certain aspects of 5 The Three Laws of Robotics were
science or all of it—the abundant science suggested by editor John W. Campbell and
fiction that lacks Gothic elements, and introduced in the short story “Runaround”
that Aldiss ignores, is technophiliac. One (1942). They are: 1. A robot may not injure a
human being or, through inaction, allow a
————— human being to come to harm; 2. A robot must
of Super-Science (founded in 1930) was obey the orders given it by human beings
renamed Astounding Science-Fiction by its except where such orders would conflict with
new editor, John W. Campbell, in 1938, who the First Law; and 3. A robot must protect its
seems to have coined the label habitual today own existence as long as such protection does
for this genre. not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

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supernatural horror “which had already science with the real science of the period
become tedious and passé” (1995: 54). If in which Mary’s novel is set, presumably
Byron had challenged her to write a tale the 1780s or 1790s (though Captain
about a ‘modern Prometheus’ (Mary’s Walton’s letters are dated 17— it makes
subtitle for Frankenstein), Mary might little sense to place the story in an earlier
have followed a very different course and period). The noun ‘scientist’ only
perhaps present the creature’s awakening appeared in 18346 and since Victor refers
as “a joyous and triumphant affair” (54). several times to ‘natural philosophy’—
The problem, of course, is that nobody science as we know it today was only
would have published this imaginary consolidated in the final third of the 19th
alternative novel, which could only have century (Cahan, 2003: 4)—Sutherland
been received as “horribly indecent and points out that he is no scientist, “mad or
blasphemous” (56). Indeed, apart from sane, but an Enlightenment philosophe”
Asimov, few if any authors have really (1996: 25). Following this line of
overcome the Frankenstein complex. This argumentation, Johnson (2018) examines
is why Stableford characterizes the disciplines that were taught in the
Frankenstein’s enormous popularity as a real-life German University of Ingolstadt
tragedy trapping “the entire genre of (1472-1800) in Bavaria, where Mary
science fiction” (56). places Victor as a student. Johnson notes
Generally speaking, there are two that from 1780 onward this university
main lines of argumentation in relation to had a large circle of scholars interested in
Mary Shelley’s technophobia, based in the application of modern chemistry
any case on a splendid knowledge of the (Medieval alchemy’s descendant) to
main debates of her time, quite an medicine. As he points out, though Victor
achievement for a young woman of scant mentions having studied physiology and
formal education. On the one hand, critics anatomy, disciplines taught at the real
such as Andrew Smith maintain that Ingolstadt institution, he is neither a
Frankenstein is, despite its manifest, physician nor a ‘doctor’ in any field but
unambiguous horror, an ambiguous text just an advanced student of chemistry
as regards science. The novel does not and electricity science with no degree.
belong to the agitated post-French This historical precision contrasts with
Revolution period in which Mary’s the deliberate anachronism of statements
parents expressed their progressive ideas, —————
but to the far more conservative 6 William Whewell first used the word
atmosphere which dominated Britain ‘scientist’ in print in his review of On the
after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo Connexion of the Physical Sciences by Mrs.
(1815). For this reason, Smith insists, Somerville for the Quarterly Review. He was
“the novel’s refusal to either fully endorse actually reporting the occurrence which an
or extol radical views should be seen as “ingenious gentleman”, whose name he does
part of the political ambiguities of the not mention, volunteered during a meeting of
the British Association for the Advancement of
time in which radicals, such as Mary
Science. Since the word ‘philosopher’ sounded
Shelley and her milieu, were unclear “too wide and too lofty a term” (59), this man
about where to go next” (2010: 81). The proposed ‘scientist’ by analogy with ‘artist’
other main scholarly strategy consists of though, Whewell adds, “this was not found
connecting Victor Frankenstein’s fictional palatable” (59).

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such as “Speculation about the neologism, the latest slogan, or simply

posthuman emerged in the another image of man’s recurring self-
Enlightenment in tandem with new hate” (843). Hassan warns that five
notions of the human” (Yaszek & Ellis, hundred years of post-Renaissance
2017: 71). Obviously, the word humanism are coming to an end because
‘posthuman’ did not exist in the the impact of the brutal technoscientific
Enlightened 18th century which moulds acceleration is transforming this
Victor Frankenstein’s natural philosophy. intellectual current into something new
Yaszek and Ellis use ‘posthuman’ with “that we must helplessly call
the intention of connecting the past with posthumanism” (843, original italics).
our present, confident that their Despite his negative tone, Hassan
anachronism will not be perceived as an believes that “posthumanism may also
error but as a productive strategy. Yet, hint at a potential in our culture, hint at
though much is gained in this way, a tendency struggling to become more
something is also inevitably lost, arguably than a trend” (843); it might thus become
an accurate perception of past zeitgeists. a tool for regeneration.
In Frankenstein’s specific case, the use of The problem is that posthumanism
‘posthuman’ in relation to this novel has exploded with such force and in areas
originally born as a Gothic text creates of knowledge so diverse that it is
important tensions in the very definition impossible to agree on a single meaning.
of monstrosity, as I argue in the following Francesca Ferrando’s Philosophical
section. Posthumanism (2019), which offers a
comprehensive overview of all its main
currents, conveys the impression, most
2. Frankenstein as a posthuman text: likely against the author’s intentions,
Gains and losses that many scholars have used this label
as randomly as postmodernism was used
Frankenstein survived as a popular before and is still used. Ferrando, in any
classic at the margins of academic literary case, does her best to explain in a very
criticism until the publication of the useful, didactic way how the label has
collective volume The Endurance of evolved. According to her (25-26), the
Frankenstein: Essays on Mary Shelley's Philosophical Posthumanism which she
Novel (1979), edited by George Levine and practices, as Rosi Braidotti’s disciple,
U.C. Knoepflmacher. This volume was descends from the Critical and Cultural
part of the then emerging Gothic Studies, Posthumanism developed between
consolidated thanks to David Punter’s Hassan’s 1977 article and N. Katherine
The Literature of Terror (1980). Hayles’s seminal volume How We Became
Interestingly, the birth of this new Posthuman (1999). Another main
research area overlapped with the highlight of this period, and the key text
beginnings of posthumanism as anti- for Cultural Posthumanism, is Donna
humanist critical practice. The witty Haraway’s “A Manifesto for Cyborgs”
hybrid article by Ihan Hassan (half essay, (1985). The volumes by Braidotti The
half masque) “Prometheus as Performer: Posthuman (2013) and by Stefan
Toward a Posthumanist Culture?” (1977) Herbrechter Posthumanism: A Critical
introduced the label as “a dubious Analysis (2013) consolidated the current

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cycle, based on the premise that all human’ because unlike the creature “who
Posthumanist critique must proceed “in later imagines a life modestly accepting of
relational and multilayered ways, in a the limits which his extraordinary
post-dualistic, post-hierarchical praxis circumstances have imposed” (2016: 161),
which sets a suitable way of departure to Frankenstein feels “a ‘human’ desire to
approach existence beyond the boundaries overcome his humanity” by refusing “to
of humanism and anthropocentrism” live within the boundaries of the human”
(Ferrando, 2019: 119). (161-162), marked by disease and death.
These critical currents have appeared Those of us who appreciate the virtues
in a historical period when real-life of science fiction are often frustrated by
technoscience is moving ahead of science how the discourse on the posthuman,
fiction, from which it often takes its which is quite distinctly defined in this
inspiration anyway. This realization has genre, is oddly distorted in disquisitions
multiplied almost to infinity the numbers that do not take sf into account. Haraway
of narrative descendants and of academic pays homage to Joanna Russ, Samuel R.
readings of Frankenstein. Feminist Delany, John Varley, James Tiptree Jr.,
criticism, for instance, has condemned Octavia Butler, Monique Wittig, and
Frankenstein as a perpetrator of Vonda Mclntyre as the true “theorists for
patriarchal technoscientific crimes which cyborgs” (1991: 173), whereas Hayles
victimize women and children, even the presents in How We Became Posthuman
monster. Far from being abject, as Mary critical analyses of Bernard Wolfe,
imagined him, the monster is William Burroughs, William Gibson,
reconfigured in contemporary texts “in Philip K. Dick, Neal Stephenson, and
line with a posthuman trajectory of Greg Bear. Braidotti, in contrast,
hybrid horror heroes from neo- develops her Philosophical Posthumanism
Victorianism, graphic fiction, and familiar in The Posthuman with no reference at all
mashed myths of marvellously animated to science fiction. Ferrando just offers a
fantastic action” (Botting, 2018: 310). few passing remarks in her own volume.
Braidotti’s views, according to which It is important, however, to recall that, as
there is no division between nature and Prucher notes (2009: 54), the adjective
culture but a continuum (2013: 2), ‘posthuman’ first appeared in a novella by
inspired Outka to state that “The H.P. Lovecraft, The Shadow Out of Time
creature disrupts the sublime formation (1936), in which it is used to describe the
of the human/natural binary, and in doing diverse alien species that will replace
so changes the definition of both” (2011: Homo Sapiens on Earth. This is still
36). The use which Victor makes of today mainly how posthumanism is
animal parts (“The dissecting room and understood in science fiction. Whether the
the slaughter-house furnished many of new posthuman species (or, rather, post-
my materials”, 55) has resulted in Homo Sapiens) is extraterrestrial or
readings of Frankenstein as an anti- terrestrial, natural or manufactured, is
vivisection protest (Guerrini, 2008) about irrelevant: what matters is the concept of
a fundamentally hybrid individual who is replacement. This, as I will comment, is
also a human animal (McQueen, 2014). fundamental in Frankenstein.
On his side, Mousley describes Victor It is necessary to briefly consider at
rather than his monster as a ‘posthuman this point transhumanism, the

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intellectual and technoscientific current hold no membership in any particular

which defends the right to control the party or political platform. Yet, it is
evolution of Homo Sapiens towards a new evident that their vision of the future
posthuman state, or even species. Julian depends on tracing an inhumane division
Huxley, Aldous’s brother and a first-rank between those who have access to
biologist, with suspect eugenicist anatomical enhancement and those who
interests, coined in 1957 this concept in do not. On the other hand, it is relevant to
an often quoted passage: note that a major line of research in
Oxford University’s Future of Humanity
The human species can, if it wishes, Institute, founded by Bostrom, considers
transcend itself—not just sporadically, an the impact of advanced AI in our future.
individual here in one way, an individual The institute’s Centre for the Governance
there in another way—but in its entirety, as of AI devotes its efforts to ensuring that
humanity. We need a name for this new transhumanism stays within the
belief. Perhaps transhumanism will serve: boundaries of Homo Sapiens’ evolution
man remaining man, but transcending and is not overwhelmed by AI evolution.
himself, by realizing new possibilities of and Victor Frankenstein is, in our new
for his human nature. (17, original italics) vocabulary, a transhumanist ahead of his
time since he intends to transcend the
The transhumanist project was nature of Homo Sapiens to turn humans
initially developed as fantasy within into a renewed posthuman species. His
science fiction but became eventually the research is animated by the selfish,
object of heated technoscientific debate in patriarchal idea that, if he succeeds, “A
real life. Haraway’s call “for pleasure in new species would bless me as its creator
the con-fusion of boundaries and for and source; many happy and excellent
responsibility in their construction” (1991: natures would owe their being to me. No
150, original italics) in allusion to the father could claim the gratitude of his
cyborg (a form of individual child so completely as I should deserve
transhumanism) came only three years theirs” (54). The methods which
before the foundation in 1988 of the Frankenstein uses require, as Coleridge
World Transhumanist Association led by would say, our willing suspension of
Nick Bostrom and David Pearce. Their disbelief. However, the advances in
“Transhumanist Declaration” includes technoscience have made Mary’s novel
points as alarming as “(4) “more relevant to apprehensive concerns
Transhumanists advocate the moral right omnipresent in the twenty-first century
for those who so wish to use technology to than it was in the nineteenth” (Friedman
extend their mental and physical & Kavey, 2016: 12). There is no doubt
(including reproductive) capacities and to that Frankenstein “perfectly illustrates
improve their control over their own lives. [the] human anxieties of becoming
We seek personal growth beyond our posthuman” (Heiise-von del Lippe, 2017:
current biological limitations” (1998: 9), whereas its ending invites readers to
online). Transhumanists claim to embrace consider “how a restricted notion of
the main principles of modern personhood has led to the denial of rights
humanism—a stance that may have made to a bioengineered being” (Karmakar &
many anti-humanist converts—and to Parui, 2018: 351).

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Part of Gothic’s sinister charms is its Victor’s original design is faulty and that
association with death and the ensuing he has a limited plastic ability. “As the
bodily decadence, both presented as minuteness of the parts formed a great
sources of disgust and terror. Victor hinderance to my speed”, Victor decides to
passes from studying physiology and work on a gigantic being, “about eight feet
anatomy as part of his university training in height, and proportionably large” (54).
to manipulating dead bodies illegally Logically, his ignorance of modern
obtained from cemeteries (cadaver microsurgery techniques cannot be solved
dissection was limited to the bodies of by increasing the size of his creature. An
executed criminals in the United eight-feet tall man can still look fully
Kingdom until 1832).7 Victor claims he human—Gheorghe Mureșan, NBA’s
feels no superstitious fears but Mary tallest player in the 2019-20 season, is
Shelley aims at eliciting deep disgust seven feet seven inches, or 2’31 metres,
with Frankenstein’s narration of his tall—but Frankenstein simply does not
experiments to Walton; these include know how to make his creature’s various
examining in detail “every object the most features cohere in a harmonious body.
insupportable to the delicacy of the The poor aesthetics of his Adam are a
human feelings” (52). Once he discovers consequence of Frankenstein’s limitations
the secret of how to animate organic dead as an artist and plastic surgeon, and they
matter, Victor starts using not just body are the only reason why he is perceived as
parts but also living animals in these a monster. Victor tries to exonerate
experiments. When he asks “Who shall himself by arguing that “I had selected
conceive the horrors of my secret toil, as I his features as beautiful” (57) but still
dabbled among the unhallowed damps of cannot explain why the creature’s
the grave, or tortured the living animal to physical appearance is so incongruous:
animate the lifeless clay?” (54), the
immediate reply is ‘any minimally His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of
sensitive reader’. muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was
Initially, Frankenstein doubts between of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of
creating “a being like myself, or one of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances
simpler organization” but his overexcited only formed a more horrid contrast with his
imagination gives him the self-confidence watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same
he needs to create “an animal as complex colour as the dun white sockets in which
and wonderful as man” (53). A crucial they were set, his shrivelled complexion and
question often overlooked is the fact that straight black lips. (57)

————— His second main strategy consists of

7 William Burke and William Hare placing an insuperable dividing line,
murdered in 1828 sixteen people in Edinburgh defining himself as human and his
to sell their bodies to famed anatomist Robert creature as a non-human monster. When
Knox, who presumably new about their his youngest brother William is
misdeeds. The scandal led to the passing of the
murdered, Victor concludes at once that
Anatomy Act in 1832, aimed at supplying
medical schools with sufficient dead bodies.
“Nothing in human shape could have
Burke was hanged and subsequently his body destroyed that fair child” (76). When
was dissected. Hare’s fate remains unknown. innocent Justine is wrongly accused of

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According to Our New Vocabulary

ending the child’s life, Victor understands of gratitude at his acceptance” (145), yet he
that “every human being was guiltless of has already concluded that “the human
this murder” (80). senses are insurmountable barriers to our
Eventually, creator and creature meet union” (145). The solution is the
in an isolated spot of the Alps. manufacturing of a female companion of
Frankenstein sees “the figure of a man, at the same type, with whom he could live
some distance, advancing towards me quietly on a lonely corner of Earth, an
with superhuman speed” (98). This arrangement which he defines as “peaceful
comment transforms the novel’s discourse and human” (146, my italics). Victor
on monstrosity by adding to the problem grants his wish but contemplating the
of the monstrous aesthetics the problem half-made woman he is gripped by a fear
of the creature’s augmented, superhuman that his “daemon” will want to have
capacities. He is far stronger than any children “and a race of devils would be
man, can endure extreme cold, survive propagated upon the earth, who might
with very little food (all of it of vegetal make the very existence of the species of
origin), and has even self-educated himself man a condition precarious and full of
in very limiting circumstances, just by terror. Had I right, for my own benefit, to
observing how the De Lacey family speaks inflict this curse upon everlasting
and reads. The new Adam (who never gets generations?” (165). Imagining the passage
a name) insists that “I was benevolent; my from the posthuman individual to the
soul glowed with love and humanity” (100, posthuman species finally forces Victor to
my italics) but the violent rejection “from acknowledge that he had no right at all to
your fellow-creatures” (100), he tells start his transhumanist project.
Victor, forced him to accept his monstrous Understandably, the destruction of the
difference. This can never be overcome. female companion and, in consequence, of
Not even once he knows the creature’s the possible new posthuman species, turns
complete story can Frankenstein control creature and creator into irreconcilable
the revulsion that his abject creature enemies. Since Frankenstein claims that
inspires in him. Among the accusations he has broken his promise of making the
that the monster throws at his maker the woman because “never will I create
main one is that he has been gifted with another like yourself, equal in deformity
“perceptions and passions” (139) that and wickedness” (167), the monster
make him aware of his terrible condition, attributes the betrayal to hatred without
even though Victor seems to have cared fully understanding the anti-posthuman
only for his anatomy and ignore his mind. fear that Victor feels.
The fact that this is a far superior Returning to Stableford, the problem
achievement than the body condemns the with any readings of Frankenstein as
monster, even to the eyes of his creator. fiction on the posthuman is that its plot
The motif of the augmented capacities depends on a questionable premise:
of the monster is the foundation of the Victor’s act of creation produces a
anti-posthuman horror that Mary Shelley monster to fulfil the Gothic requirements
activates in her readers’ minds, even of the novel rather than because he is a
today. The creature argues that if any bad scientist (he is in fact a great scientist
human being could welcome him, “I would but a bad artist). Mary Shelley’s constant
bestow every benefit upon him with tears preoccupation with the revulsion which

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Andrew Smith (ed.), The Cambridge Literature and the Posthuman. Cambridge:
Companion to Frankenstein. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 71-83.

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The Female, the Intertextual,
and the Transhuman in
William Gibson’s
Molly Millions

Francisco Collado-Rodríguez1 © Francisco Collado-Rodríguez, 2021

Universidad de Zaragoza

Abstract: Considered the great guru of cyberpunk, William Gibson is also the creator of one of the
most representative female icons of the genre, Molly Millions. An aggressive co-star in one of
Gibson’s early narratives, “Johnny Mnemonic” (1981) and in his first novel, Neuromancer (1984),
Molly finds herself at an intertextual, postfeminist, and post/transhuman crossroads. She emerges
as a dangerous and empowered cyborg; without her, the rather weak Johnny, the male lead in the
first story in which Molly appears, would have died. However, her condition makes her much more
than a bodyguard. Through her role, Gibson also shows the hyperreal predictions of a dystopian
world whose strongly naturalist context does not seem to offer this prototypical cyberpunk woman
any outlet but a transhumanity for which she needs to update constantly her physical
enhancements, inexorably related to her necessarily violent survival.

Keywords: William Gibson, Molly Millions, “Johnny Mnemonic”, Neuromancer, posthumanity,

transhumanity

1. William Gibson’s Molly Millions, intertextual, and the transhuman. This

the hyperreal, and female power1 contribution analyzes the role these three
factors have in the construction of Molly
In the early stages of creating his Million’s character within Gibson’s early
cyberpunk universe, William Gibson predictions of a dystopic future.
portrayed the character of his first In her article “Back to the Future”,
empowered female protagonist, Molly Mojca Krevel puts the emphasis on the
Millions, around three fundamental alleged fact that, especially in his earlier
features that shaped her literary and better-known fiction, cyberpunk guru
personality significantly while also William Gibson constructed hyperreal
affecting posterior cultural models that anticipated and even brought
manifestations: the (post)feminist, the some actual advancements in the fields of
technology and biotechnology. In other
—————
1 The Spanish Ministry of Science and
words, his early cyberpunk fiction turned
Innovation under grant PID2019-106855 GB-
out to be a precise cultural example of
I00, and the Aragonese Regional Government– Baudrillard’s third order of simulacra
DGA under grant H03_17R supported the (1983: 83-159): Gibson’s literary world
writing of this work. became the postmodern sci-fi

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representation of a reality that did not characters are linked to the myth of the
exist yet, but that eventually, preceded by American frontier—“a place of
the simulacrum created by the cyberpunk unmitigated exploitation”—he has also
author, would come into existence. From been criticized for being a neo-colonial
Baudrillard’s critical perspective, author (343). Stacy Gillis’s views on the
Gibson’s hyperreal fiction had helped to issue are even harsher and more
change the postmodern factual world categorical on the alleged patriarchal and
thanks to imagined technological male-suffocating roots of cyberpunk
advancements based on his observation fiction. By resorting to a simplistic binary,
and capacity to predict the future, Gillis perceives “an understanding of the
something that happened despite the gender politics of cyberpunk in which
writer’s apparent inexperience in the use reason and activity are located within the
of cutting-edge technology at the moment masculine body, as opposed to the
of creating his fiction (Krevel, 2014: 34- dangerous female body” (2007: 13). Nicola
35). We might wonder if in the depiction Nixon, in her article “Cyberpunk:
of such hyperreal world, which precludes Preparing the Ground for Revolution or
and defines the wide world web Keeping the Boys Satisfied?” also
(Neuromancer, 37), Gibson also worked on contends that cyberpunk conceals “a
a new model of woman that could endorse complicity with ’80s [gender]
the fight for the advancement of gender conservatism” (1992: 231).
equality, thus anticipating the wave of However, in her article “Razor Girls:
“feminist cyberpunk” initiated by the end Genre and Gender in Cyberpunk Fiction”
of the 1980s. (1997), Lauraine Leblanc defends a
Overall, the issue of feminism and different interpretation, which firmly
gender relations at the early stages of the takes into account the role technology has
cyberpunk movement becomes rather in the creation of new types of
problematic, as some critics have accused (post)human beings in the subgenre. In
this science-fiction subgenre of being line with the well-known views provided
traditionally patriarchal. However, even by Donna Haraway in her influential “A
if one considers as suspicious the fact that Cyborg Manifesto” (1985), Leblanc
the alleged five leaders who consciously contends that “gender dichotomies are
decided to create the new sf movement at overcome through the prevalence and use
the beginning of the 1980s are all male of technology; as ‘post-human’ subjects,
(William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, John cyborgs create new social and cultural
Shirley, Rudy Rucker, and Lewis Shiner), contexts, redefining gender along with the
critics have addressed gender issues in most basic of human attributes” (1997:
cyberpunk from highly contrastive angles. 72). This critic sees in Gibson’s Molly the
Thus, in his analysis of the reception in first “steppin’ razor” example of
recent times of Gibson’s early fiction, cyberpunk “female-gendered cyborgs
Pawel Stature argues that the cyberpunk undertaking a role-reversal into
writer’s “representation of female masculinity” (72). As argued in the
characters has been described as following pages, and in line with
stereotypical, unfair, or even dangerous to Leblanc’s views, textual analysis shows
women” (2018: 336). Stature argues that, that one-dimensional criticism of the type
since Gibson’s portraits of female developed by some critics who consider

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Gibson’s fiction to be fully rooted in evaluated later on in this work. Moreover,

patriarchy is not sufficiently grounded Gibson depicts Molly, above all, as a
when it comes to reflect on his bodyguard and lethal warrior who, as
representations of gender issues in his such, aspires to have a well-trained body
early fiction. ready for combat with the help of
Regarded, together with Bruce expensive technological implants. In other
Sterling, as the leader of the cyberpunk words, she does not come to fill the role of
movement, at the beginning of the 1980s the femme fatale in the grounds of science
Gibson published two pieces of fiction fiction, but to occupy the place of the
considered to be among his most traditional (male) fighting hero in the
influential work: one of his first short new cyborgian version brought about by
stories, “Johnny Mnemonic” (1981), and the posthuman paradigm. In such role,
his first novel, Neuromancer (1984). Both she helps and ultimately saves the life of
of them reveal that Gibson drew the a physically weak and incapable-to-fight
portrait of female protagonist Molly new model of unmanly male protagonist;
Millions as an extremely active woman the inversion of gender roles, however, is
who openly qualifies as an empowered not a simple one and Gibson’s male
individual, both physically and mentally. protagonists do not respond easily to the
As discussed in this work, she is not masculinity crisis of the 1980s.
simply a cyborgian version of film-noir In line with the materialization of
femme fatale who has been transported to postmodern ideology characteristic of the
the spaces of the future, as Gillis claims first wave of cyberpunk (McHale, 1992),
(2007: 13-16), nor is her sexuality merely Molly’s transhuman search for physical
“the marker of female identity” (Gillis: perfection via body enhancements is also
16). On the contrary, I contend that a response to Gibson’s representation of a
Gibson’s first well-known female dystopic future. In it, what is left of
protagonist is ideologically (and humanity becomes categorized again in
physically) a rather malleable but binaries but, although they are old
dynamic figure. Thanks to the powerful binaries, the author has reframed them.
role she enjoys in the two narratives The newly framed ideological pairs
above mentioned, she helps to link represent the new beings who are
Gibson’s fiction both to the beginning of gradually resulting of the progression
the cyberpunk agenda as a new type of from the human into the (dystopic)
postmodern sf subgenre and to some posthuman. Furthermore, Gibson’s
interesting notions centered on the literary universe portraits a large
philosophy of transhumanism. collection of what might be better referred
As pertains to her female condition, to as infrahuman beings, losers in the
Molly is not represented as a mere object dystopic future who try to make a living
sexualized by the male gaze. In fact, male at the increasingly large bottom of
stares on the female sometimes society. Meanwhile, very rich families—
experience an important contextual many of whose members, in a new parodic
difference in Gibson’s universe, where version of vampirism, are periodically
(cyborgian) heterosexual men may cryogenized—live in artificial heavens
passively stare through the female, as the above the planet (Neuromancer, 50-51).
case is in Neuromancer, a procedure Right in the middle, between the masses

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of the infrahuman dispossessed and the also be helped in their freebooting

very rich, others like the cyborgian endeavors by different urban tribes who
mercenary Molly Millions help cowardly prefer or are forced to live outside the
hackers or “console cowboys”, such as system, such as is the case of the Lo Tek
Case, the male protagonist in who help Johnny Mnemonic, or the
Neuromancer, in their illegal efforts to get Rastafarian Zionites of Neuromancer.
money from the privileged rich, and thus Not surprisingly, the writer’s gloomy
remain above the infrahuman rubble. predictions for our near future may help
Anticipating the impact of the internet in readers to understand why, instead of
our present lives, in his cyberpunk portraying a female protagonist who
universe Gibson’s hackers move between might have shown clearer connections
two ontologically distinct realities, the with a feminist and gender-equalitarian
physical and the virtual, but the writer agenda, he depicts Molly as a ninja-type
describes both as very dangerous places. assassin, as deadly as apparently
The physically feeble male version of the immoral. The logic of the fictional but
old tough cowboy has to leave his ‘meat’ dystopic universe that Gibson describes
or physical body behind, as Case makes leaves no room for traditional morality
clear once and again, while pursuing because the main aim of his protagonists,
technological buccaneer adventures that men and women alike, is sheer survival.
take place in Gibson’s premonitory Both in the short story and in the
cyberspace (Neuromancer, 8, 10, 29, 39, novel, Molly shows that in physical
51, etc.). reality she can be better and more active
While being on-line, the male hacker than many men can be. In this sense, she
may have to evade dangerous electronic qualifies as an early representative of
“black ice” and virtual walls programmed postfeminism, a notion that critics have
to keep hacking thieves away. However, also approached from contrastive angles.
in physical reality cyberspace cowboys Thus, Stacy Gillis summarizes the first
still put their ‘meat’ at risk. Here, they commonly accepted definition of the
have to face gangsters who work for the concept as follows: “Postfeminism, as used
big corporations that control an extremely in scholarly debate, is concerned with how
dehumanized hyper-capitalist system. certain ‘playful’ re-renderings of
Following the logic of popular romance femininity and sexuality could be
fiction, be it American frontier or pirate understood as a powerful example of
story, when entering Gibson’s cyberspace female agency” (2007: 9). However, she
the console cowboy sometimes requires later reframes the notion, using brackets
someone to watch his physical body to retake her allegedly feminist agenda.
during the time in which he is submerged “Rather, ‘(post)feminist’ refers to the ways
in his illegal activities as a hacker. in which figures of women with
Alternatively, the physically frail hacker emotional, physical, social or financial
may need somebody brave to carry out agency have been variously represented
material deeds for him, while he as lacking something—a relationship, a
comfortably observes and guides her child, a more attractive body, a stable
watching everything through her eyes by parent figure and/or domestic skills—
means of a transhuman technological since the early 1980s” (9, my emphasis).
implement. Virtual space cowboys may Among the existing number of fictional

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in William Gibson’s Molly Millions

(post)feminist characters, Gillis explicitly we easily conclude that Gibson has

includes the “ass-kicking techno-babes of bestowed upon her, as an essential
cyberpunk film and fiction” (9). In effect, feature of her empowerment, the
Gibson clearly portrays Molly Millions as traditional role of the stereotypical male
an empowered active female character in warrior who has to fight as a way of
both “Johnny Mnemonic” and living. In his futuristic but extremely
Neuromancer. Aesthetically, she also naturalist pages, the author’s dystopic
qualifies as an “ass-kicking techno- presentation of our future requires a huge
babe”—although I would substitute deal of old human violence to survive.
woman for babe. Moreover, Molly seems Nevertheless, Gibson’s predictions and
to be always lacking something, as Gillis the role he allots his female protagonist in
contends, because she frequently needs such a future are more complex than the
even more money to further her mere use of violence to stay alive. Molly is
cybernetic enhancements and, at times, not just a woman warrior; she is a highly
she clearly misses a true soulmate with skillful fighter who can challenge and
whom to live a happier life. However, defeat fearsome martial arts experts,
Gillis seems to miss the fact that the which means that she is also a brainy,
sense of lacking also exists and is astute personage. As a literary character,
applicable to Gibson’s male protagonists; she is above all the result of intertextual
lack is not gender-biased in his dystopic symbiosis. Her portrait shows clear links
fiction. In it, most characters from every with other fictional females that, along
gender are exposed to a dangerous and the postmodern period, were also marking
brutal life that reverberates with the the coming of the postfeminist woman
notion that Dominick Lacapra defined as along with the increasing fears of
“structural trauma”2 and which results in traditional men who felt that such newly
unavoidable existential anguish. Besides, empowered woman was dangerously
such anguish is not only the result of eroding their ancestral male privileges.
what Lacan understands to be a lack of
plenitude in his analysis of the evolution
of being (1966: 220-22)—and which 2. Intertextual Postfeminist Molly
applies to both woman and man—but
especially of the dreadful living conditions Cultural history points to the politically
that Gibson depicts for the protagonists of conservative America of Ronald Reagan’s
the bleak future he predicted in his early 1980s as a period when many men wished
fiction. Indeed, if we focus our attention to recuperate the traditional patriarchal
on the figure of Molly from the position they thought they had lost
perspective of folk and popular culture, because of the advent of the
counterculture and the social revolts of
————— the 1960s. A second wave of 20th-century
2 For LaCapra structural trauma results
feminism combined then with the growing
from the realization of the intrinsic mortality
economic supremacy of Japan and West
of the human condition; it may happen prior to
any specific traumatic experience of individual
Germany to produce an alarming sense of
character or be the result of several or many insecurity among American males (Ludas,
traumatic events that threaten individual or 2011). Thus, in line with other cultural
collective existence (LaCapra, 2001: 76-81). artifacts created at the time, the first

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wave of cyberpunk fiction echoed in its western (with its typical duel at the
own way the patriarchal social anxieties saloon) and the detective thriller, with the
of the period both in gender and in motif of the chase becoming highly
economic grounds. It was in this context relevant till the end of the tale. Johnny
that Gibson added to his fiction the provides readers with the main, and male,
conviction that Aristotelian categorical perspective in his role as homodiegetic
thinking, far from having been erased narrator:
from the western world-view—as
deconstructivists intended—would Lewis was grinning. I think he was
develop in the future into new distinct, re- visualizing a point just behind my forehead
framed binaries to form the discursive and imagining how he could get there the
columns of a highly dystopic society. hard way.
Among others, the old binary man/woman “Hey”, said a low voice, feminine, from
was going to experience a tantalizing somewhere behind my right shoulder, “you
revision, as shown in Molly Millions’ cowboys sure aren’t having too lively a
depiction. time”.
Intertextually, Molly evokes the classic “Pack it, bitch”, Lewis said, his tanned
Amazons but she also appears to be a face very still. Ralfi looked blank.
female version of Wolverine from Marvel “Lighten up. You want to buy some
Comics. In turn, she became a good free base?” She pulled up a chair and
predecessor of other popular female quickly sat before either of them could stop
protagonists, most noticeably of Trinity in her. She was barely inside my fixed field of
The Matrix trilogy. As mentioned above, vision, a thin girl with mirrored glasses,
she first appeared in “Johnny Mnemonic”, her dark hair cut in a rough shag. She
published in Omni Magazine in May wore black leather, open over a T-shirt
1981, and later reprinted in Gibson’s slashed diagonally with stripes of red and
popular short-story collection Burning black. “Eight thou a gram weight”.
Chrome (1986). In this narrative, Molly Lewis snorted his exasperation and tried
enters the story abruptly to rescue to slap her out of the chair. Somehow he
Johnny from certain death by providing didn’t quite connect, and her hand came up
him with her bodyguard services for a and seemed to brush his wrist as it passed.
considerable sum of money. The most Bright blood sprayed the table. He was
obvious genres that Gibson parodied—in clutching his wrist white-knuckle tight,
the postmodern sense provided by Linda blood trickling from between his fingers.
Hutcheon3—along his short story are the But hadn’t her hand been empty?
He was going to need a tendon stapler.
————— He stood up carefully, without bothering to
3 In her classic study on (postmodern) push his chair back. The chair toppled
parody, Hutcheon defines it as “repetition, but backward, and he stepped out of my line of
repetition that includes difference [...] it is sight without a word. (Burning Chrome 4-
imitation with critical ironic distance, whose 5; my emphasis)
irony can cut both ways. Ironic versions of
‘trans-contextualization’ and inversion are its
major formal operatives, and the range of Molly had planned to work for Lewis’s
pragmatic ethos is from scornful ridicule to boss Ralfi, an intermediary who wanted
reverential homage” (1985: 37). to earn the bounty of the contract put on

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Mnemonic’s head. However, when Johnny the Lo Tek tribe resort to a primitive
promises her two millions if she can get combat ring to solve disputes, the Killing
him out, she becomes his protector and Floor, and Gibson displaces the
rescues him, outsmarting and defeating importance of the male protagonist who
the two other men in this futuristic gives the story its title to grant the
version of the saloon duel: attributes of old heroic narratives to the
female character. As his champion, Molly
“Name’s Millions. Molly Millions. You want takes Johnny’s place in the Killing Floor
to get out of here, boss? People are starting and faces the lethal Yakuza cyborg, killing
to stare”. She stood up. She was wearing him after an intense fight and, thus,
leather jeans the color of dried blood. literally saving Johnny’s head (20-21).
And I saw for the first time that the In medieval epic poems, male heroes
mirrored lenses were surgical inlays, the such as Beowulf, Roland or Cid
silver rising smoothly from her high Campeador take the place of the
cheekbones, sealing her eyes in their sockets, physically unfit King to fight for him and
I saw my new face twinned there. (6) defeat his enemies. In the ritualistic ring
devised by Gibson, a female champion has
Eventually, the strange-looking replaced the male heroes of old patriarchy
cyborgian rescuer takes Johnny away to a to, again, rescue a weak man in danger.
refuge where he can hide among the Interestingly, in the film version of
members of the Lo Tek urban tribe. “Johnny Mnemonic” that Robert Longo
However, a Yakuza assassin goes after directed in 1995 patriarchal gender roles
the male protagonist’ head, because were fully reestablished, despite the fact
Johnny is, like Molly, also a cyborg. More that Gibson was the scriptwriter. In the
specifically, he functions as an embodied film, Johnny, played by Keanu Reeves,
representation of Marshall McLuhan’s shows his evident qualities as a fighter,
analysis of globalized reality (1964: 7-21). whereas his sidekick female companion,
Johnny is the medium that carries the here called Jane instead of Molly and
message in himself, in a hard disk that he played by Dina Meyer, is rather a failure
had implanted in his head and where he as bodyguard, being incapable of
transports important information. Thus, defeating Johnny’s chasers or protecting
he—more precisely, his head—becomes him efficiently because she is sick. In this
the message the Yakuza is looking for patriarchal version of Gibson’s story, the
with an aim to “erase” it. male protagonist becomes the one who
After the two protagonists’ victorious eventually saves the weaker female
escape from the duel at the cyberpunk character from imminent death.
saloon, amidst the bleak dystopic Molly reappears, as noted above, in
cityscape Gibson reinforces the popular, Neuromancer. This is the way Gibson’s
ritualistic, and traditional ingredients of heterodiegetic narrator, combined with
his story with a second and final duel. Case’s male gaze, describes his female
The Yakuza assassin finally reaches their character early in the plot:
refuge and Molly tells Johnny that the
hitman is “fast, so fast […] His nervous [Case] realized that the glasses were
system’s jacked up. He’s factory custom” surgically inset, sealing her sockets. The
(“Johnny Mnemonic”, 8). The members of silver lenses seemed to grow from smooth

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pale skin above her cheekbones, framed by new woman that she represents is not the
dark hair cut in a rough shag. The fingers only (post)human who is defined for being
curled around the fletcher were slender, still physically ‘meat’. The metaphor also
white, tipped with polished burgundy. The applies to Case. Molly’s boss wants him
nails looked artificial. for his capacities as a hacker, for which
“I think you screwed up, Case. I showed he needs a suitable physical body, without
up and you just fit me right into your which he could not be a console cowboy in
reality picture”. virtual reality. Even when readers meet
“So what do you want, lady?” He sagged Dixie Flatline later in the narrative, this
back against the hatch. disembodied consciousness that only lives
“You. One live body, brains still as software requires a physical entity to
somewhat intact. Molly, Case. My name’s activate him (Neuromancer, 68). In other
Molly. I’m collecting you for the man I words, despite the old categorical
work for. Just wants to talk, is all. Nobody assumptions favored by many critics, in
wants to hurt you”. Gibson’s cyberpunk universe, to exist and
“That’s good”. do his job in virtual cyberspace a hacker
“’Cept I do hurt people sometimes, also necessitates his meat: no body means
Case. I guess it’s just the way I’m wired”. no possible access to virtual reality.
She wore tight black glove leather jeans Consciousness, even as software that is
and a bulky black jacket cut from some played in a machine, always requires the
matte fabric that seemed to absorb light. help of physicality, the old Cartesian
“If I put this dart gun away, will you be duality body/mind being a delusion that
easy, Case? You look like you like to take
science supports no more. Gibson has
stupid chances”. (20)
reframed the old binary physical/virtual
by erasing the dash: no physical means no
In other words, Molly certainly looks virtual.
“dressed to kill” but not in the shrewd, Despite being a dangerous mercenary,
femme fatale way: transhuman Molly’s first description in the novel, from
augmentations have changed her into a Case’s perspective, does not exclude
fighting cyborg even if her more powerful sexual connotations that may lure the
weapons, the retractile blades under her male stare (“She wore tight black glove
nails, are still concealed from the view of leather jeans”, 20). In part, I agree with
focalizing Case. The male protagonist can Leblanc when she comments that Molly
notice only that her nails “look artificial”. “is deliberately unfeminine, lacking the
However, as happened to Johnny traditional womanly attributes of both the
Mnemonic, Case soon focuses on Molly’s ‘Madonna’ and the ‘whore’” (Leblanc,
surgically implanted glasses, a cybernetic 1997: 72). However, Case’s male stare
device that also has a Pynchonian cannot refrain from finding a sexual angle
intertextual reading, as discussed later. in the female bodyguard, something that
Meanwhile, at the same time, pace Gillis, cannot be found in Johnny’s first
Molly appears in the novel to make it impressions of Molly, despite the fact that
clear that her mission at the time is to eventually they become lovers until
enroll Case’s “live body, brains still Johnny’s death—as Molly recollects in
somewhat intact”, for the cause she has Neuromancer (114). Furthermore,
been paid for. This means that the type of Gibson’s alteration of traditional

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categorical binaries also functions to into a fighting ninja capable of defeating

locate his female protagonist beyond both the most dangerous men—Case soon
patriarchal and feminist views and into addresses her as a “street samurai” (23).
less essentialist postfeminist grounds. In As such, she proves to be in both
fact, later in the story, Molly also refers to narratives not only an active, strong, and
her past as a “meat puppet” or prostitute, reliable sidekick for her male partners,
in this way recalling the double role, as Johnny Mnemonic and Case. She comes
soldiers and sexual dolls, allotted to the to the point of saving the life of the first
female replicants in Ridley Scott’s Blade and doing all the hard physical work for
Runner (1982). As she confesses, Molly the second; without her, male success is
needed the money to pay for her implants not possible. The following fragment
but her consciousness was “unplugged” depicts the way Case conceives of Molly
every time she was with a client; she as a version of stereotypical action hero
became a senseless object of sexual actors Bruce Lee and Clint Eastwood,
manipulation: when she has already become his
replacement in physical reality:
“This cost a lot”, she said, extending her
right hand as though it held an invisible She had it: the thing, the moves. And she’d
fruit. The five blades slid out, then pulled it all together for her entrance.
retracted smoothly. “Costs to go to Chiba, Pulled it together around the pain in her
costs to get the surgery, costs to have them leg and marched down 3Jane’s stairs like
jack your nervous system up so you’ll have she owned the place, elbow of her gun arm
the reflexes to go with the gear . . . You at her hip, forearm up, wrist relaxed,
know how I got the money, when I was swaying the muzzle of the fletcher with the
starting out? Here. Not here, but a place studied nonchalance of a Regency duelist.
like it, in the Sprawl. Joke, to start with, It was a performance. It was like the
’cause once they plant the cut-out chip, it culmination of a life-time’s observation of
seems like free money. Wake up sore, martial arts tapes, cheap ones, the kind
sometimes, but that’s it. Renting the goods, Case had grown up on. For a few seconds,
is all. You aren’t in, when it’s all he knew, she was every bad-ass hero, Sony
happening. House has software for Mao in the old Shaw videos, Mickey Chiba,
whatever a customer wants to pay for . . .” the whole lineage back to Lee and
(96, original ellipses) Eastwood. She was walking it the way she
talked it. (135)
Abandoning her own consciousness or
even allowing somebody else—Case—to Meanwhile, the male protagonists also
have access to it are the two most behave in rather unconventional ways,
remarkable transhuman activities Molly which classifies them as materialized
is exposed to, though, over time, they go examples of the fear of weakness many
beyond sexual implications into a men expressed in the 1980s. As
rebalance of gender power. One has to mentioned above, Johnny is described by
guess that Gibson intended the historical Gibson also as a cyborg, a carrier of
irony: with the help of the deadly information he stores in a technological
implants paid with the money she earned device he has implanted in his head.
as a prostitute in her past, Molly turns However, in patriarchal jargon Johnny

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in William Gibson’s Molly Millions

overtly qualifies as a ‘sissy’, to the point Gibson’s fiction helps us to understand

that Molly has to replace him in the further the reasons why he alters the old
ritualist fight where she can finally defeat dichotomies male/female and body/soul in
the Japanese hitman. After that, they will his early narratives. Molly becomes not
stay together for a number of years until only one of the new female heroes from
the Yakuza kills Johnny. In the 1980s, evoking powerful figures from
Neuromancer, Case proves to be also an ancient mythologies or comic books and
anti-heroic male protagonist, incapable of anticipating later cultural figures that
winning any physical fight. In fact, others copy her characteristics.5 The intertextual
inject neurotoxins in his body to cripple or links centered on the figure of Molly
kill him if he does not follow orders. Not extend to Pynchon’s representation of
surprisingly, as happened to Johnny female energy in some of his short stories
Mnemonic, he avoids physical combat and and especially in his first novel, V. (1963).
frequently goes into virtual space leaving I contend that Molly is also Gibson’s
his ‘meat’ behind, a word that not only intertextual version of the Pynchonian
stresses the total abandonment of his Lady V., the emblematic female
body when he enters virtual cyberspace. representative of human and social
The substitution of meat for flesh also —————
suggests that the male protagonist of (1981)—also connecting it to Pynchon’s oeuvre.
Neuromancer changes into a ‘spirit’ that Jung defines the archetype of the anima as
has the ability to solve problems only in follows: “Anima means soul and should
the virtual matrix. Thus, Gibson creates a designate something very wonderful and
sci-fi mythology in his early personal immortal. Yet this was not always so […]. It is
something that lives of itself, that makes us
universe where the Platonic and later
live; it is a life behind consciousness that cannot
Christian binary body/soul has developed
be completely integrated with it, but from
into the reframed binary meat female which, on the contrary, consciousness arises”
fighter (Molly)/virtual male hacker (1971: 26-27).
(Johnny and Case), mixing up the 5 Not only Trinity in The Matrix or the

traditionally positive and negative Princess in Shrek bring to mind Molly’s

connotations of the original binary. influence on contemporary popular culture.
However, along this process of Brian McHale contends that Gibson’s
transformation, Molly is not a mere contemporary fellow writer Kathy Acker
“appropriates and rewrites material” from his
female body behind the male mind or
first novel (1992: 233), including female ninja
soul. In fact, in anthropological grounds, Molly, who would be a model for female
the ‘manly soul’ allegedly represented by protagonist Abhor in Acker’s Empire of the
Case in Neuromancer does not even Senseless. In this sense, Joseph Conte
coincide with the traditional inconsistently argues that in “shifting
representation of the soul as female that attributes from Molly to Abhor, Acker
we see, for instance, in the Christian critiques the fantasies of cyborg sex and
religion and in Jung’s definition of the violence that are rather tightly laced in
Neuromancer and mocks the adolescent male
anima.4 The strong intertextual ethos of
subjectivity that comprises the largest
————— audience for science fiction” (2002, 211; my
4 Direct references to Jung are found in emphasis). Apparently, for Conte adolescent
Gibson’s early fiction—for instance, in his female subjectivity is devoid of sex and
short story “The Gernsback Continuum” violence fantasies.

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energy previously symbolized by Venus 3. Transhumanist Molly in a dystopic

and the Virgin, according to Henry world
Adams’s theory, famously quoted by
Pynchon in his earlier short story With her cybernetic eyes and nail
“Entropy” (1960). As I have stated implants, Molly also becomes the symbol
elsewhere, Pynchon’s oeuvre, from his of the female transhuman cyborg as a
early short stories to his latest novel, new source of replenished energy. Her
Bleeding Edge (2013), embodies life place in the intertextual chain may help
energy—as representation of the Jungian us to explain why Gibson still depicts
anima archetype—in the figures of strong female protagonists in his later
different female characters. No doubt, the narratives but, more specifically, why
first and most influential one of those Molly is not just a sidekick of the male
characters is Lady V., a mysterious protagonist in either “Johnny Mnemonic”
woman who becomes progressively more or Neuromancer. She becomes the
dangerous from Pynchon’s earlier stories essential source of energy for the male
to his novel V., where she finally dies protagonist to be triumphant, and her
after having experienced a long process of achievements are the result both of her
turning into a cybernetic creature. Along mental capacity and of her enhanced
the first decades of the 20th Century, the body. Thus, Molly represents an early
energy used by the human species to invitation to the readers of Gibson’s
colonize and control the planet becomes universe to ponder over the
increasingly dangerous, passing from transhumanist project. However, the aim
electricity to radioactivity, and so does of (bio)technological advancements in his
Lady V., in the different manifestations narratives is not exactly the one shared
that Pynchon draws of her, by adding by believers in current transhumanist
artificial prostheses to her body (see philosophy.
Collado-Rodríguez, 2015: 256-57). It is As it happens when we consider
specifically relevant to point out that gender issues, in Gibson’s fiction
when she dies in Chapter 11 of V., in her transhumanist enhancement constitutes,
manifestation as Bad Priest, Pynchon’s above all, a means to survive amid the
character experiences a process of chaotic remains of civilization; Molly is
ritualistic dismemberment along which a not rich and she uses the money she
number of children start removing her earns in her dangerous adventures to
prostheses. Finally, anticipating Molly’s further enhance her capacities as a
most obvious implant, they “peeled back warrior. As mentioned above, in Gibson’s
one eyelid to reveal a glass eye with the fiction biotechnological implants are used
iris in the shape of a clock” (Pynchon, by prostitutes not to feel what is been
343). Later, energy becomes incarnate in done to them or by mercenaries to become
other female characters of variable better combatants; traces of optimistic
morality, as indication that Pynchon’s transhumanist philosophy and aims are
Lady V. can be, as the Jungian anima, not to be found in the original cyberpunk
good and bad (Collado-Rodríguez: 258- project. Critics frequently argue that
59)… and so can Molly. transhumanist philosophy represents the
continuation of the humanist project; it
does not offer any significant response to

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the damage the human species has done are the outcome of technological
to other species and to the environment in improvements brought about by several
the Anthropocene, as critical centuries of humanism but also of
posthumanism does. On the contrary, thousands of years of human violence
transhumanist believers think that by against themselves and against the
using prosthetic and biotechnological planet. Clark and Rossini argue that
enhancements humans are on their way to transhumanist “prostheses are
perfection. Thus, in their introduction to skeuomorphs of humanism, vestiges of
post- and transhumanism, Robert Ranisch heroic aspirations that preserve rather
and Stefan Lorenz Sorgner openly than challenge the Cartesian mind-body
contend that “transhumanism, according split so definitive of Western modernity
to its self-understanding, is a and the Eurocentric myth of progress as
contemporary renewal of humanism. It technoscientific development” (2017: xiv).
embraces and eventually amplifies However, Gibson’s fiction is not so
central aspects of secular and categorically simple. The mind/body
Enlightenment humanist thought, such binary reaches transhuman combinations
as belief in reason, individualism, science, in Neuromancer that, while apparently
progress, as well as self-perfection or reaffirming the Cartesian humanist
cultivation” (2014: 8). Such optimism binary, also go beyond it until the binary
about humanity’s future is not to be found dissolves. Within the writer’s cyberpunk
in Gibson’s early fiction because it is universe, Simstim technology describes a
based on a dystopic representation of the rather fluctuating reality where gender,
world. As it happens in Pynchon’s fiction, sex, and individuality have been left
Gibson’s characters fit in the influential behind. A Simstim desk allows Case to
understanding of posthumanity that switch into Molly’s perceptual system.
Norbert Wiener started to develop in the That is to say, the technological device
1950s, when he already highlighted the produces in the receiver the simulated
notion that we “are not stuff that abides, responses that the other subject actually
but patterns that perpetuate themselves” experiences in the ‘meat’ world. According
(1954: 96). Our bodies continuously to the narrator, Case feels somehow
experience new physical changes in line superior and disgusted with physical
with the information stored in our DNA, reality, even when it manifests via the
the environment we inhabit, and the device:
circumstances to which we are exposed
along our lives. Accordingly, with each Cowboys didn’t get into Simstim, he
new implant she gets, Molly does not thought, because it was basically a meat
become a more perfected transhuman but toy. He knew that the trodes he used and
a deadlier fighter because she inhabits a the little plastic tiara dangling from a
naturalist world in which only the fittest Simstim deck were basically the same, and
can survive. The posthuman in her is not that the cyberspace matrix was actually a
the transcendental goal pursued by the drastic simplification of the human
optimistic brand of transhumanism, but sensorium, at least in terms of
the more realistic result of her courage presentation, but Simstim itself struck him
when facing the hardships of the world as a gratuitous multiplication of flesh
she inhabits. Certainly, her prostheses input. (39)

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However, Case’s own belief in his not Case’s mere avatar but the active one
superior position—the male ‘mind’ of the dual consciousness involved in the
controlling the female ‘body’—does not process. She is clearly the (dynamic)
resist a merely superficial analysis of protagonist, her technological
what really happens and who is, in fact, enhancements being, in addition, an extra
the one who succeeds in their mission. tool to help her to accomplish their
Although still following Case’s perception mission.
of Molly’s movements, the narrator makes Insistently, some critics have claimed
it very clear who is really the active one that, after all, Molly is a ‘body’ for hire, a
in the technological sensorial physical commodity, both earlier as a
combination: prostitute and later as a bodyguard
(Schmeink, 2014: 227). However, in the
The abrupt jolt into other flesh. Matrix two stories studied here she is always the
gone, a wave of sound and color . . . She active protagonist and actual winner.
was moving through a crowded street, past Nonetheless, at the end important issues
stalls vending discount software, prices felt seem to remain uncertain. Is not Gibson’s
penned on sheets of plastic, fragments of dystopic future the obvious result of
music from countless speakers. Smells of ancestral patriarchal rule? Is not Molly
urine, free monomers, perfume, patties of simply a tomboy, a woman playing the
frying krill. For a few frightened seconds role of a macho man? To answer in the
he fought helplessly to control her body. affirmative would be to condemn
Then he willed himself into passivity, masculine individuals to be the only
became the passenger behind her eyes. (39, violent, and at times perverse, gender in
emphasis added; original ellipsis) the human species, an assumption that
both history and genetics seem to
Fortunately for their mission, Molly contradict. Within the context of a life
remains in control of her body (which understood in naturalist terms, to find a
includes her mind), while Case is relegated definitive answer is not easy.
to being a passive spectator of their Paraphrasing American poet and feminist
technological symbiosis. Of course, the use critic Adrianne Rich, we need to view
of Simstim raises gender issues in the William Gibson in the exact position in
narrative, but the transhuman result which he has been born and educated: he
makes Molly’s role more solidly is 20th-century American-Canadian, white
postfeminist. To this effect, Conte reminds and male, but, despite those
us that as “anyone who has participated circumstances, he has created Molly
pseudonymously in chat rooms, or Millions in the terms debated here. As
Multiple User Dungeons, on Internet Rich affirmed, “A movement for change
services knows, gender, race, age, and lives in feelings, actions and words”
appearance can all be altered, constructed, (1994: 223), and Gibson’s choice of words
or exchanged in virtual reality” (2001: for his characters is clear enough: active
212). Conte also suggests that the belongs to woman.
alteration at will of gender identity may
become politically liberating (212).
However, in this example located at the
beginning of cyberpunk fiction, Molly is

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al. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. WVT. 221-36.
KREVEL, Mojca (2014). “‘Back to the Future’: STATURE, Pawel (2018). “What Was Expected
Technological Singularity in Gibson’s of William Gibson’s Early Fiction: Themes
Sprawl Trilogy”, B.A.S. British and in Negative Reception”, Polish Journal of
American Studies, 20: 27-35. American Studies, 12: 336-49.
LACAN, Jacques (1966). “The Signification of WIENER, Norbert (1954). The Human Use of
the Phallus”, Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Human Beings. London: Free Association
Alan Sheridan. London: Routledge / Taylor Books.
& Francis, 2005. 215-22.

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Of Mutants and Monsters:
A Posthuman Study of
Verhoeven’s and Wiseman’s
Total Recall

Beatriz Domínguez-García1 © Beatriz Domínguez-García, 2021

Universidad de Huelva

Abstract: The abuse and violence exerted on the posthuman bodies of fiction is born from their
resistance to the postulates of the most traditional humanism. The diachronic vision of the figure
of the mutant, as a dehumanized and isolated body from the transhumanist perspective,
anticipates the debates generated in the 21st century about the survival of hierarchy in the
typification of bodies into ‘more or less’ abled. The examples of corporeal alterity are, thus,
manifested as a monstrous, mutant image that warns spectators about the dangers of both
medical and environmental experiments. In this sense, the analysis of the film Total Recall (Paul
Verhoeven, 1990) and its remake (Len Wiseman, 2012), serves as a starting point to offer a critical
vision of the abjection caused by the dismantling of the human form, in the words of Manuela
Rossini. The critique emerges from Feminist Studies but also from other contemporary schools
which also question the hierarchy between bodies such as Queer or Crip Theory. From a
posthuman perspective, the presentation of disabled bodies reflects humanity’s propensity for
their nullification and, therefore, their capacity to be exploited and discarded.
Keywords: mutant, posthumanism, disability, Total Recall (1990, 2012), Paul Verhoeven, Len
Wiseman

1. One short story, two film versions1 exploits common fears of contemporary
societies in relation to our own place in
Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall (1990) them. As a text dealing with inhuman
————— excesses, the position not only of the hero-
1 I wish to acknowledge the funding protagonist but also of his fellow mutant
provided by the Spanish Ministry of Science, companions reflects the fear of the
Innovation and Universities (Research Project dispossessed in what seems to be—
“Bodies in Transit 2”, ref. FFI2017-84555-C2-1- according to popular cinema—the future
P), the European Regional Development Fund, of humankind. Manuela Rossini states
and the Spanish Research Agency for the that,
writing of this essay. Also, the funding provided
by the Regional Ministry of Economy,
Literature, and science fiction in
Knowledge, Enterprise and Universities of
particular, is an important cultural
Andalusia, and the European Regional
Development Fund for the writing of this essay. resource for dealing with advances in
Project “Embodiments, Genders and Difference: medicine, biotechnologies, and informatics.
Cultural Practices of Violence and But literature does not merely react to
Discrimination”, ref. 1252965. technological development and offer ethical

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guidance. Rather, there is a double with examples of the marginalization of

movement: the technological potential will these human beings whose classification
affect the way the human body/subject is puts them outside the human realm.
defined but these new meanings (produced The two films analysed here are
in texts and images) will influence, if not adaptations of Philip K. Dick’s short story
our actual use and even development of “We Can Remember it for you Wholesale”
them, our handling of technologies. (1966). The films, situated in a near
Imagineered in “scientifictive” texts, I future, introduce a protagonist obsessed
suggest, such embodied subjects can be by the nightmares in which he is not the
seen as cultural prefigurations of future factory worker he seems to be. In both
human beings in the ‘real’ world. (2016: versions, this obsession gets the
164-65) protagonist, Quaid (Arnold
Schwarzenegger and Colin Farrell,
Len Wiseman’s 2012 version reinforces respectively), to Rekall, a company where
the divide among those beings which memories can be inserted in human
usually blur the category human by brains as ‘vacations’ that cannot be
erasing the mutants of Verhoeven’s film. afforded in the flesh. Once the
Yet both films still expose this divide by protagonists buy a set package of
asserting not only who can be defined as memories involving a spy adventure, they
human but also who is worthy of seem to recover their real identities as
inclusion in the category. As Ferrando spies whose memories have been
explains in “Posthumanism, tampered with to forget their missions. In
Transhumanism, Antihumanism, Verhoeven’s film, Quaid
Metahumanism, and New Materialisms: (Schwarzenegger), goes to Mars to find
Differences and Relations”, the truth about his supposed past as the
spy Hauser and what was done to his
In the West, the human has been memory, eventually joining the mutated
historically posed in a hierarchical scale to Martians fighting against the corporate
the non-human realm. Such a symbolic businessman Cohaagen (Ronny Cox), who
structure, based on a human governs Mars. Cohaagen seems to have
exceptionalism well depicted in the Great hidden a possible solution for Mars’ lack
Chain of Being, has not only sustained the of oxygen and Quaid is presented as the
primacy of humans over non-human person whose technological know-how
animals, but it has also (in)formed the could help restore the balance broken by
human realm itself, with sexist, racist, Cohaagen. The mutants are, as it turns
classist, homophobic, and ethnocentric out, a result of the oxygen deprivation
presumptions. In other words, not every which Cohaagen controls and uses to
human being has been considered as such: impose his authority over the human
women, African-American descendants, colony on Mars.
gays and lesbians, differently-abled people, In Wiseman’s remake, Mars is no
among others, have represented the longer present and the 2012 Quaid (Colin
margins to what would be considered Farrell) lives on an Earth devastated by
human. (2013: 28) chemical warfare where only two
geographical areas are still populated by
The current cultural climate abounds humans: the Colony, occupying the

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Australian area, and the United provided only ‘cheap domes and no way to
Federation of Britain, the former United clean out the rays’” (6).2 Even though the
Kingdom. Both areas are connected by a status of these mutated humans as full
means of transport through the Earth’s citizens of Mars is questionable,
core, named the Fall, which allows people considering that they live at the margins
from the Colony to commute to the UFB of civilization and are regarded as part of
for work. The protagonist moves easily Mars’ “freak show”, Ndalianis is right to
between both areas so that he can find point out that the mutations are a
the answers he is looking for, and enters consequence of the careless consideration
the lowest ranks of society to find the of the needs of the lower stratum of
leader of the resistance against society. The mutants live far off the main
Chancellor Cohaagen (Brian Cranston). colony dome, as the train trip to
Cohaagen is eager to get more land to Venusville shows, in a futuristic ghetto
allow for expansion and Quaid needs to intended for the tourists to gawk at with
destroy the army of robots, named the no second thought about what caused
Synthetics, which Cohaagen plans to use their mutations.
on the Colony. Ndalianis concludes her analysis of
Whether we agree or not with Verhoeven’s film stating how the movie
Ndalianis when she states that seemingly articulates in its ending a
“underlying the futuristic themes of the warning against technological advances
fantastic and the illusionistic splendours and media environments which consists
of effects spectacles, RoboCop, Total of not forgetting “to allow room for
Recall, Starship Troopers and Hollow humanity in these new social spaces” (8).
Man confront the viewer with a critique of As I mentioned earlier, this could be the
current socio-political issues” (2001: 2), it reason why in Wiseman’s version, the
is clear that Verhoeven’s treatment of mutants disappear to make room for
these issues is particularly relevant for another nonhuman category, according to
the movie by the Dutch director analysed the film’ discourses (as I will explain
here. As Ndalianis puts it, “as we later): the colonized. Whereas the
progress from RoboCop to Hollow Man, Martians in Verhoeven’s film where once
we track his growing concern with the ‘normal’ humans born in Mars, who now
effects of ever-advancing, technologically show the effects of the oxygen deprivation
mediated realities on the construction of Cohaagen (Ronny Cox) imposed on them,
subjectivity, and the intensification of the colonized in Wiseman’s version are
globalisation and multi-national
corporatism” (2). Borrowing from the —————
theories exposed in “Totally Recalling 2 In his article, Glass suggests that “the
Arnold: Sex and Violence in the New Bad mutants’ inhuman bodily appearance is a
Future” (1990) by Fred Glass, Ndalianis continuous reminder to the viewer of
states that the “effects of the economic, technological issues: control over the most
important technologies on the planet, the air
political and social dynamic are dispersed
machines and domes, as well as a reminder of
across the collective body. Citizens, for the real inhumanity of their oppressor, is part
example, are also mutants (physical and of the mutant make-up. […] Mutants
psychic) and their mutations are the represent the distortion of human potential
direct result of a government which under authoritarian rule” (1990: 5).

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portrayed as the normal-bodied, for living space. The elimination of the

dispossessed and powerless inhabitants of mutants from the 2012 version does not
a much-coveted territory. Since the latter erase the fight but tries to create a
lack any repulsive features, the cautionary tale about the excesses of
traditional “freak show” seems to be neoliberal market economies and the new
absent from the plot, yet the threat of threat of chemical war. Moreover, it bases
bodily excess is still present in the its critique on the presentation of future
multicultural and multiracial population. working conditions in which 20th gains
In posthuman terms both Verhoeven’s are erased. In fact, as Stewart
Martian mutants and Wiseman’s convincingly argues,
colonized people embody the nonhuman
alignment. By reading Wiseman’s Labor is outsourced there [in the Colony],
depiction of the inhabitants of the colony but via warp-speed transport rather than
in postcolonial terms (see Sardar, 1999) networked transmission (as in the normal
and bringing Said’s definition of course of an offshore service force). This
orientalism (1978) to the table, it seems involves a further dodge of global warming
that the colonized inhabitants of fears—when the antipodal labor squads
Wiseman’s story can be paired with make their daily commute through the
Verhoeven’s repulsive mutants, for “the earth’s burning core: an endurance test
human needs the nonhuman to come into thousands of degrees more intolerable,
the mode of its own becoming” (Clarke, even though heat-shielded, than the worst
2016: 150). vulnerabilities of an atmospherically
Wiseman’s adaptation unrealistically depleted terrestrial surface. Everything
continues some of the plot dynamics urgent is fictionalized into a haze of
Verhoeven’s exploited. There is a female defused planetary premonition, including
partner for each side of the hero that sits an imputed terrorism which is really
in opposition to the Quaid/Hauser (Colin revolution—and which succeeds in the end,
Farrell) pairing: the meeker the hero, the thanks to our hero, only when the most
more savage the female partner. dramatic political threat, panoptic
Likewise, the dreams of an alternative coercion, is reversed. (2012: 9-10)
reality are a burden for the meek Quaid
incarnation although the locations have Both texts, then, present the same
changed. The most extreme change, abuse and oppression by one powerful
however, is the change from the nuclear segment of the population over the other.
threat that is at the core of Verhoeven’s At the same time, the regime creates a
version to the threat of overpopulation divide among human beings that
and the scarcity of resources on an Earth classifies them according to their status
devastated by a chemical war. However, within the societies presented as more or
this fundamental change from the less human. Venusville, the dwelling of
previous version just reinforces the same the mutants in Verhoeven’s version, and
political agenda present in Verhoeven’s the Colony in Wiseman’s are presented as
film and embodied in the Quaid/Hauser a dystopic evolution of present-day slums.
dilemma, which still clearly represents If, as Shaw has noted, “the imagination of
the fight between the oppressors and the another world is an exercise in urban
oppressed for vital resources, in this case planning” (2018: 36), both texts manifest

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the indestructibility of the peripheral and the posthuman beings portrayed in the
marginal neighbourhood which creates texts are discussed in the nonhuman
categorizations of humanness among city category which the films places them in to
dwellers. And what these neighbourhoods facilitate the lasting dualism they rely on.
have in common is the depiction of However, given that the texts seem closer
oppressed members of society easily to transhumanism than to
forgotten and disposed of by the powerful posthumanism, the posthuman
elite that rules. Hence, through an encompasses the characters presented as
analysis of Cudd’s study on oppression nonhumans, the mutants and the
(2006) together with an introduction of colonized, embodying thus the posthuman
Tyler’s concept of revolting subjects (2013) inclusivity that Ferrando aptly advocates
and Shaw’s study of the parasite in (2016: 220). Moreover, the Cartesian
posthuman urbanism, it is my contention distinction between body and mind no
that both films base their main plot line on longer holds, as seen in the protagonists’
the traditional hierarchical distinction of dilemma together with the presentation
humanness. By positioning the hero in of a physicality that transcends the
league with what both films portray as the human. By establishing the category
nonhumans, both play with current fears nonhuman as an equivalent of disposable,
of dispossession and human oppression the analysis that follows tries to advocate
resulting in a technophobic ideal of the for an inclusive understanding of human
future. In this sense, Ellis states: that critically signals the unethical
position of the dominant set of the
In this construction of the fantastic’s population depicted in the films.
hesitation, the audience can become
identified to themselves as cultural
dreamers, and in their dream-text (their 2. ‘Waste populations’: The parasite
reading of the film) flows forth displaced (to
a Martian future) and condensed cultural In her ground-breaking work
anxieties that they possess concerning the Philosophical Posthumanism, Ferrando,
unfolding of multi-national, globalised late in a diachronic reading of de Beauvoir,
corporate capitalist practises, involving a Irigaray and Butler, affirms that “the
deep-seated disruption of established human, in tune with de Beauvoir, is not
expectations concerning industrial inertia. an essence, but a process; one is not born,
(1995: 88). but rather becomes human through
experience, socialization, reception, and
Thus, current fears of “globalised late retention (or refusal) of human normative
corporate capitalist practises” permeate assets” (2013: 71). Ferrando continues her
texts covering roughly a period of over theory by stating:
thirty years, as the two films under Simultaneously, revisiting Irigaray, the
analysis here show in which the position of human has been established in the
the humans is threatened by market ontological denial of the nonhuman; the
value. recognition of the human has been
Hence, these texts can be and should sustained by a negative reduction of the
be dissected with a feminist posthumanist others—or better, by the absence of a real
critique. Throughout the following pages, acknowledgment of embodied alterity and

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onto-epistemological plurality—through been placed, more than as the antithesis

related concomitant exclusions, marked as of ‘man’, as another gradient in a
the inhuman, the subhuman, the less-than- hierarchy which would pose a whole
human, and so on. (71-72) spectrum of human others between the
animal and the human, so that women,
This rightful appropriation of de nonwhites, queers, ‘freaks’, among others,
Beauvoir’s claim clearly indicates the would be placed accordingly” (2013: 74). I
struggles seen in post-apocalyptic films am interested here in the inclusion of the
such as Wiseman’s. From the visual word ‘freaks’ by Ferrando when defining
adaptation of the Hunger Games saga to who are ‘the’ nonhumans, even though
Korean action thriller Time to Hunt, her discussion continues to point out the
recent science-fiction and dystopian absence of the category woman in
films—among other fantastic genres—are Agamben’s theory. Yet, her classification
keen to continue the thread and the of human others as, in her vocabulary,
threat of how the neoliberal human nonhumans is useful to establish how the
enhancement and resource appropriation mutant population in the Mars colony are
result in post-apocalyptic plots in which articulated throughout Verhoeven’s movie
20th and 21st centuries anxieties about the and how their articulation ‘contaminates’
neoliberal climate transform Western the hero.
idealization of democracy into oligarchies The lack of power of the mutants and
centred around the exploitation of the members of the Colony in each movie
resources by a powerful elite. Be the cause is quite evident. The control over oxygen
medical, technological or agrarian in Verhoeven’s film and over the Fall in
resources, the result resembles the 19th Wiseman’s version establish not only the
century class struggle. unequal situation of these social groups
This exploitation of resources also but also their dependence on the
includes human beings that, by their governing oligarchies. This presentation
transformation into assets, are not only of the two oppressed social groups
disposable but also dispossessed of their reinforces the anxieties of contemporary
humanness. In this respect, the societies about their disenfranchisement,
oppression suffered emanates from the dependence, and dehumanization. In
dehumanization of this human group posthuman terms, inequality and
which not only helps create the oppression are perceived as the basis for
atmosphere in which current social inhuman treatment and classification. In
distinctions are presented but also fact, Ferrando’s discussion of feminist
establishes the obvious link between epistemology and the possible “starting
oppression and dehumanization, which point of knowledge production” is also
according to Ann E Cudd is one of the grounded in terms of oppression and
harms suffered by oppressed populations applies to the mutants and the colonized:
together with “inequality” and
“limitation” (2005: 22). Drawing from Since marginalized and/or oppressed
Agamben’s definition of the individuals and groups must learn the
‘anthropological machine’, Ferrando views of those who belong to the privileged
explains that “in the historical process of hegemonic positions, they can be
humanizing the human, the animal has considered bicultural; therefore, their

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perspectives may be seen as more objective from within, but which the system cannot
than the views of the people located at the fully expel as it requires this surplus both
center of the hegemonic discourse, who are to constitute the boundaries of the state
not required to learn about the margins. and to legitimize the prevailing order of
(2013: 151) power” (20). Interestingly enough, Tyler is
analysing media coverage of marginalised
Although this group of oppressed groups’ expulsion from the city and/or the
individuals may be bicultural, as land. Moreover, both the mutants and the
Ferrando establishes, they are also, by inhabitants of the Colony are positioned
means of the oppression they suffer, in this spatial marginality for, as she
regulated as nonhuman subjects that do further argues, “Waste populations are in
not belong to the privilege/mainstream this way included through their exclusion,
group, as her discussion of the position of and it is this paradoxical logic which the
women as oppressed reflects later (151-2). concept of abjection describes” (19,
Bringing this idea to the analysis of these original emphasis). In Verhoeven’s film,
marginalised groups in the films under the mutant leader Kuato personifies the
discussion here reinforces the issue of abject and with him both the mutant
their marginalization and oppression, and population and Quaid himself, as it has
the need for rescue both films express. By been widely discussed before.
becoming a member of the marginalized In Wiseman’s version, the abject is
group of oppressed nonhuman beings, and constructed as the racialized and
by virtue of his understanding of both culturally distinct other, as the
cultures according to Ferrando, the hero inhabitants of the Colony, on the one
Quaid also assumes his bicultural hand, and, at the same time as villainous
position, after his encounter with both the Chancellor Cohaagen, on the other.
oppressor and the oppressed groups. The According to Kristeva, “It is thus not lack
fact that his new positioning is the result of cleanliness or health that causes
of tampering with his memory reveals abjection but what disturbs identity,
how the hero is portrayed as the system, order. What does not respect
possibility of human redemption from the borders, positions, rules. The in-between,
excesses granted by the neoliberal market the ambiguous, the composite” (1982: 4);
presented in the movies. hence, for each populated area the other
In this respect, it seems useful to bring is the abject. The comparison in the
to the analysis British sociologist Imogen movies reflects this anxiety of
Tyler’s study of non-privileged subjects dispossession, which recalls the ideology
published in her volume Revolting so well-articulated in the extreme-right
Subjects (2013). In her definition of the political discourses of the early 21st
concept of “social abjection”, Tyler, after century as it is eerily exposed in the films.
defining abjection as a process “that strip In the two scenes from the films in
people of their human dignity and which typically the villains explain at
reproduce them as dehumanized waste” length their motivations, these issues of
(21), indicates that “The disciplinary marginalization and oppression are
forces of sovereignty, its processes of articulated by means of power dynamics.
inclusion and exclusion, produce waste Both in Verhoeven’s 1990 and Wiseman’s
populations: an excess that threatens 2012 versions, the Cohaagen character is

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painted as the puppet master—in alliance the hero have been imposed on the
with Hauser in Verhoven’s version—of marginalized and oppressed populations
the Quaid character. In both cases the as the bicultural member(s) of society
villains is the creator of the plot to bring Ferrando mention(s) under cover of a
Quaid to existence by making Hauser convenient memory loss which allowed
first infiltrate the resistance and then by them to mingle with the outcasts and
making him forget their existence. Thus, become part of the nonhuman population.
the hero, Quaid, is a double agent who Moreover, it seems that these two Quaids
does not know that he is a double agent are the embodiment of these “waste
and, at the same time, a willing populations”, these social “parasites”,
fabrication by his alter ego, Hauser, as which need to be eradicated and
the 1990 Cohaagen tells him. By his own eliminated, since the two Cohaagens—
ignorance of the scheme, once he has lost and Verhoeven’s Hauser—reclaim their
his memory as Hauser, Quaid’s position human bodies and expect to eliminate
as part of the resistance is constructed as their bicultural consciousness and
the perfect disguise for a double agent, in nonhumanness by re-installing their
that he is not aware of his own duplicity; previous selves.
hence, his heroic role as saviour of the The nonhuman categorization of the
oppressed, marginalized group of mutants mutant or the Colony’s population, also
is destroyed. His embodiment as a classifies them as both “parasites” and
rightfully “moral outcast”, in the sense “scavengers”, incorporating here Shaw’s
used by Tyler, disintegrates the moment definition and theorization in her
the fabrication of the person Quaid is Posthuman Urbanism (145). This
exposed by the 1990 Hauser, in categorisation, which emanates from both
Verhoeven’s film, when Hauser, that was Cohaagens’ villainous discourses in the
thought have disappeared by memory films, clearly problematises their right to
tampering, states “it’s my body that you humanness. Labelled as terrorists, the
have there, and I want it back” to a Quaid utmost inhuman aberration of our
too much astonished to react in the scene present-day anxieties in both films, these
in which Cohaagen confronts Quaid. populations—and the leaders who
Quaid’s turn to nonhumanity is thus represent them—have to ascertain the
constructed as a ploy by Cohaagen to rightfulness of their fight and plight to
achieve his desired totalitarian authority the hero, and, for the benefit of empathy,
by undermining the mutant resistance. to the audience. By convincing the hero of
Besides, Quaid’s chosen role as “moral their right to fight for their place in the
outcast” is proved to be the “logical” result human hierarchy that excludes and
of Cohaagen’s tampering with his memory marginalises them, Quaid then moves
and not a real ethical choice. towards parasitism and aligns himself
In a similar way, Wiseman’s Quaid against the system “which fears
acts as the double agent which gives the parasites” (Shaw, 2018: 152). At the same
location of the resistance headquarters to time, the location of these parasites in
Chancellor Cohaagen, an act of betrayal underdeveloped urban areas (in
which precipitates the death of the Wiseman) or outside them (in Verhoeven)
resistance leader Matthias and the characterizes them as “the abjected
invasion of the Colony. Both versions of other”, following the ground-breaking

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work by Julia Kristeva; as Shaw points renouncing his position in the oppressor
out, the parasite is excluded from this group since, as this theorist states, “to be
hierarchy and, at the same time, “both an oppressor, one needs to be a member of
unacknowledged and essential to the a privileged group, to gain from oppression
maintenance of both the myth itself and of another social group, to intend to so
the bodies that perform it” (36). gain, and to act to realize that intention by
It seems clear, following Shaw, that contributing to the oppression of the
“capital is a parasitical system which fears oppressed group from whose oppression
parasites. The more unstable the system, one gains” (2005: 23). Yet, the
the more parasites are feared, and the personification of both heroes as saviours
more energy is expended to find and simplifies the complex dynamics the films
destroy them” (152). Thus, the two are required to depict. Neither Quaid can
Cohaagens, together with their villainous successfully be the heir to the murdered
side-kicks, become aware of their own resistance leaders, neither world can
fragility and set out to destroy the successfully erase the distinctions that
“parasites”. By enacting this misdeed, created them.
their fellow humans, mutated or not, are Once the alien technology which
sunk further into nonhuman categories Cohaagen was hiding from the Martians in
which position the hero(s) among them. Verhoeven’s film is switched on, the new
This dehumanization strengthens their green Mars recalls Earth; however, the
oppression and the precariousness of their people that inhabit it comes from Earth,
lives and places the two Quaids in the the distance between the tourist resort and
uncomfortable position of hypocritical Venusville is still intact. Once the Fall, the
heroes. Likewise, the reclaiming of the transport that united the Colony and the
heroes’ bodies to restore them to their UFB, is destroyed in Wiseman’s version,
previous consciousness also places each the Colony stays the same. It is true that
Quaid in this nonhuman category and, at the threat represented by the uber villain
the same time, shows how precarious their Chancellor Cohaagen has been eliminated,
lives are. As Judith Butler puts it, these yet there is no real ethical change unless it
nonhumans/others are placing demands on is accepted that the individual change of
the hero to ethically end the oppression and the heroes can facilitate the collective
rejection that makes them disposable (131). ones. In fact, it could be contented that by
However, the constraints of the popular absorbing “the identity of the other”
genre the films belong to prevent the (Sardar, 1991: 195) in their own heroic
successful resolution of the social conflict. discourses what really happens is that the
According to Fernández-Menicucci, “in others are ridiculed and presented as “an
Verhoeven’s film the marginal, the ahistorical identity-less mass isolated and
excluded—the Others, in short—must excluded from representing the existing
gather again in grateful awe around heroic social and political powers” (Sardar: 201).
manhood, their saviour and protector. Thus, the two Quaids trivialize the
Gender and class divisions are still most nonhumanness and precariousness of
evident, but they have magically ceased to those others by enacting their only
matter” (2014: 15). In this sense, bringing possible role as the lonely patriarchal hero
back Cudd’s analysis of oppression, Quaid of popular cinema who saves the world and
ceases to be an oppressive agent by whoever they choose to protect.

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3. ‘Symbolic dehumanization’: The entity, but represents the bridge, the

freak show, the Synthetics and the dissolution of strict binaries” (2019: 80).
grotesque body As a result, as they can’t be labelled “a
‘normal’ human”—that is “a body that
In Verhoeven’s ‘freak show’ the grotesque had been posed as the human norm in
bodies of the mutants seem to exist in separation from other less-than, or more
order to allow “the sensationalism of the than, human bodies” (80)—both the
spectacle”3 (Sardar, 1991: 196) of the mutants and the inhabitants of the
traditional freak show, rather than to Colony, as Fernández-Mendicucci has
show the consequences of utter stated, have to look up in awe to the
oppression, exploitation and rejection. In heroes’ accomplishment. Even though it
contrast, in Wiseman’s multicultural seemed that the heroes aligned
Colony the grotesque bodies of its themselves with the dispossessed, in the
inhabitants, as multiracial and end in their isolation from the rest of the
multicultural ones, allow a similar members of this (non)human group, they
proposition.4 The nonhuman maintain their distance and the hierarchy
categorization of these human beings is of humanness and of able bodies. In sum,
not questioned when the heroes’ tasks Verhoeven’s Quaid transforms himself
focus on destroying both Cohaagens and from a nonhuman body into a
their assistants. However, as Ferrando superhuman one which sets him apart
asserts, “the freak has historically from the rest of the inhabitants of the
challenged the us/them paradigm”; and as worlds introduced and prevents the
she continues, “the symbolic significance hierarchy of humanness to disappear.
of the ‘freak’ in Western culture, as that This hero’s body clearly stresses the
human which cannot be reduced to a fixed distinction between his body and the
bodies of the mutated human beings, for,
————— as Bakhtin affirms,
3 Sardar quotes David Harvey who in The
Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into The grotesque ignores the impenetrable
the Origins of Cultural Change (1989) states: surface that closes and limits the body as a
“the immediacy of events, the sensationalism separate and completed phenomenon. The
of the spectacle (political, scientific, military, grotesque image displays not only the
as well as those of entertainment), become the
outward but also the inner features of the
stuff of which consciousness is forged” (54).
4 My understanding of ‘grotesque bodies’
body: blood. bowels, heart and other
follows here the one proposed by Bakhtin in organs. The outward and inward features
Rabelais and His World, “Not only parody in are often merged into one. (1984: 318)
its narrow sense but all the other forms of
grotesque realism degrade, bring down to Dehumanization is brough a step
earth, turn their subject into flesh. This is the further in Wiseman’s remake. This time,
peculiar trait of this genre which differentiates the leader of the resistance wants to
it from all the forms of medieval high art and destroy the synthetic army of robots
literature. The people’s laughter which
which Chancellor Cohaagen has created
characterized all the forms of grotesque
realism from immemorial times was linked
with the sole purpose of conquering the
with the bodily lower stratum. Laughter Colony—at whatever cost. These
degrades and materializes” (1984: 20). machines are not imbued with life as

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others are in current popular texts, yet first”, he argues. It is quite interesting
their role in the narrative agrees with that the resources that could be used on
Rutsky’s proposition in that humans are used on machines, and that
those machines are what Quaid is
The starkness of this opposition between professionally involved with as a
‘good’ and ‘bad’ technologies seems to mechanic. This police force is not only
affirm the idea that the dividing line introduced early in the narrative, policing
between technology and humanity must the public areas after the terrorist attack,
always be upheld; technology must know but a little later when Quaid gets to work
its ‘proper’ place, even when—or especially in the assembly line. The extra shift the
when—it comes to life, as can be seen in workers are to complete, together with
the long series of artificial beings, sentient the extra resources the Chancellor
machines, robots and androids, cyborgs, announces he is going to devote to this
and artificial intelligences portrayed in police force, are a clear indicator of the
literature, films, and other media that less than human status of the Colony’s
have threatened to destroy, enslave, or inhabitants in comparison with the
replace humanity. (2016: 182-83) Synthetics, that is, the robotic army.
The white metal perfection of the
The 2012 Quaid seems to be the only Synthetics, their smooth features
one who knows the kill switch that can contrasts not only with the aggressive
stop these robots. The machinations weaponry they display but also with the
orchestrated by Chancellor Cohageen are disarray of diverse human bodies that the
the same ones that Verhoven’s Cohaagen Colony contains. The Synthetics’
intended: to create the perfect double immaculate bodies are modelled on the
agent. In the traditional ‘villain-explains- classical study of the human body: lean,
himself’ scene, the 2012 Cohaagen not male, self-contained—as Bakhtin
only informs Matthias, the resistance described in his study Rabelais and his
leader, that there is no kill switch for the World:
synthetic army, but also tells Quaid how
he was implanted with a “memory cap” to The new bodily canon, in all its historic
find the resistance headquarters and variations and different genres, presents
their leader. Like the Quaid in an entirely finished, completed, strictly
Verhoeven’s film when he faces Hauser, limited body, which is shown from the
Wiseman’s Quaid is left speechless and, outside as something individual. That
although this time there is no visual which protrudes, bulges, sprouts, or
recording of Hauser claiming back his branches off (when a body transgresses its
body, Hauser’s memory is preserved in a limits and a new one begins) is eliminated,
drive which will be used to return to it. hidden, or moderated. All orifices of the
Dehumanization is secured as well by body are closed. (1984: 320)
the introduction of a “synthetic federal
police force”. In Wiseman’s film, Nonhuman bodies, such as the ones
Cohaagen withdraws humanitarian help the Synthetics exhibit, are portrayed as
“to clean up the Colony” because of the perfection, adding then a new category to
“terrorist attacks” since “the protection” Ferrando’s typification of nonhumans
of the citizens from UFB should “come quoted above. These artificial bodies sink

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the nonhuman inhabitants of the Colony nonhuman than human in the

further down this hierarchy and highlight imperfection that the wounds inflicted by
the similarities between the grotesque the Synthetics cause. In this respect, it is
bodies of the mutants and these ones from quite interesting that the Frankensteinian
the Colony’s population. Additionally, one ‘father’ of the Synthetics, Chancellor
black Synthetic, with superhuman Cohaagen, perishes too, leaving an open
strength, is positioned against Colin question about what is going to happen to
Farrell’s Quaid in the final scenes of the the factory where this police force was
movie. Quaid’s body then is also labelled being assembled.
as imperfect, nonhuman in both its lack of Yet, there is another instance of
strength to overcome the threat and his dehumanization that results quite
positioning against the society the problematic and that requires further
Synthetics, and the Chancellor, stand for. analysis: the two female agents and two
Thus, the representation of the perfect resistance fighters that create a
body as the body of the Synthetic also continuum in the two films. In their
reinforces human imperfection as ability to fight and the physical prowess
undesirable. As the mutants were both pairs exhibit, these characters may
ridiculed in Verhoeven’s 1990 Total Recall, well be equated to the anonymous
and the enhanced psychical abilities that Synthetics in Wiseman’s text. The first
came with mutated bodies disregarded, the fighter in Verhoeven’s film, Lori (Sharon
bodies of the members of the resistance Stone), deserves critical attention in her
and the bodies of the inhabitants of the categorization as a patriarchal projection
Colony in Wiseman’s are ridiculed and of the femme fatale and traditional fears
almost discarded. The ‘terrorists’ are no about sexuality, whereas her counterpart,
match for a police force with superhuman Melina (Rachel Ticotin), projects the
abilities as the colonists discover. To turn necessary sexual innocence becoming the
to a perfect body whose features mark it hero’s heterosexual partner (Fernández
clearly as superhuman is to relegate the Menicucci, 2014: 19; Palumbo, 1991: 70;
human body to a subhuman Tybjerg, 2016: 5; Wood, 1997: 35-36;
categorization, especially if the synthetic among others).
body does not obey your orders and is keen The two Loris (Stone and Kate
to destroy you. It could be understood, Beckinsale) could be modelled after what
then, that the only able human bodies are Ferrando calls “human ‘monsters’”,
the artificial ones created in the assembly together with the freaks, a concept she
line. With this proposition in mind, adapts from Braidotti and defines as “the
Wiseman’s film relies on current fears manifestation of these not normalized
about technological invasion as many embodiments to supernatural causes,
others have done during the last fifty years such as women’s power to create—and
or so. Furthermore, it could be contended consequently deform—life” (2019: 80),
that if Quaid’s body in Verhoeven’s was even though their role in the narrative is
the measure by which the bodies of the not to deform life—unless its destruction
mutants were found lacking, in Wiseman’s is considered as such. Glass affirmed, in
there is not a single human body that can his article “Totally Recalling Arnold: Sex
be defined in these terms; all the bodies and Violence in the New Bad Future” that
that survive in the end are more “we fear what we cannot control” (1990: 9)

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and, in this sense, the two Loris seem to that search to destroy. This traditional
embody that (male) fear in their categorization of the female villains in
continuous pursuit of the two Quaids; both movies (surprisingly enough
even though arguably 2012 Lori absorbs Wiseman continued this trend in his 2012
in her role the male agent who version) spanning more than thirty years
relentlessly hunts Verhoeven’s Quaid draws attention not only to their
together with Stone’s Lori. Both Loris, commodification as sexual partners in
posing as Quaid’s wife, possess perfect their professionalization as agents but
bodies for the hunt, both as hunters and also to their monstruous nature as killing
as prey in their performativity of the machines. Against the Melinas (Rachel
femme fatale identity, as the emotional Ticotin/Jessica Biel) and the nonhuman
involvement of the two Quaids population of the films, the Loris project
demonstrate. This body perfection is male fears of female castration, as it has
opposed not only to the other female been widely discussed elsewhere.
Quaid does not remember being attached However, their perfected bodies resemble
to, Melina, but also to the rest of the those created in the assembly line and
bodies presented in the two movies. position them as mere instruments. The
The two Loris’ bodily perfection, then, films prove, as Ferrando states, that “the
positions them closer to the Synthetics. establishment of a discourse of perversion
Moreover, their lack of emotional traits in […] and the consequent practices of
their pursuit of their supposed husbands normalization of the perverse […] are
make them closer to that absence of human embedded to its genealogy, in a recurring
feelings the Synthetics exhibit as well. It is paradigm of human abjection” (2019: 81).
interesting then to bring here Ferrando’s The sexy but lethal female body of the
analysis of the witch hunt as an “almost” Loris symbolizes the monstruous within
human instance. According to her, the feminine that can only be tamed by
the heterosexual affection of both Quaids
The witch hunt proved superstition as one and of the resistance leaders, as the
of the hidden forces behind law-making Melinas in the films reveal. Once their
apparatuses, next to biological monstrosity is exposed, their destruction
determinism, scientific racism, and is as desirable as the destruction of the
ethnocentrism, proving another synthetic bodies of the police force in
discontinuity within the human frame: not Wiseman’s version. The dehumanization
only the lives of those humans considered of the female body places them outside
inferior should be taken, but also the ones the human paradigm and closer to the
of those who were believed to have inhuman one in that their lack of ‘human’
supernatural powers shall be sacrificed, in feelings create the monsters that have to
order to keep the human realm safe. (2019: be destroyed. Finally, as their brutal
80) deaths mirror the one the synthetic
bodies endure, it is worth noting how the
Witches, femme fatales, monsters, the female agents of both Cohaagens are
popular imaginary is full of images of ultimately positioned as nothing more
women with supernatural abilities to that useful instruments which are
control men and, once the control is endowed with superhuman endurance in
broken, their stubbornness as ‘machines’ their inhuman imperfection:

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While the monster and the supernatural Rekall, trying to create an ambivalence
stand as social and mythical archetypes and complexity which is completely at
delimiting the domain of the odds with the stereotypical characters
comprehensible body, it can be argued that and the extreme violence which
the “human” project has formed, historically accompanies them. In all, as Rutsky
and theoretically, through the construction exposes, “the post-humans that they
of the “Other”: animals, automata, children, envision are merely enhanced or
women, freaks, people of color other than augmented human subjects, humans with
white, queers, and so on marking the added ‘superpowers’” which offer little to
shifting borders of what would become “the the average (non)human apart from a
human” through processes of performative mortal threat (2016: 191). Furthermore,
rejections. (Ferrando, 2019: 81) the presentation of the mutants and the
Colony’s inhabitants as “waste
This “symbolic dehumanization” does populations” which can be exploited and
not only point out to the marginalized disposed of does little to transform the
inhabitants of Venusville and the Colony, traditional viewpoints about a
but also to the distorted image of technological future in which humans
autonomous femininity that the films have to accommodate existing life forms
encode as monstrosity. with their own fantastic creations.

4. Conclusions Works Cited

It has been argued that Total Recall BAKHTIN, Mikhail (1984, 1965). Rabelais and
presents the audience with a complex His World. Translated by Michael
interplay between dreams and reality, Holquist. Bloomington: Indiana UP.
and that the issues raised in the movie BUTLER, Judith (2004). Precarious Life: The
are not really resolved in the end. In fact, Powers of Mourning and Violence. London:
the two versions of the story present Verso.
stagnant constructions of a world which ELLIS, R. J. (Autumn 1995). “‘Are You a
has not evolved since the twentieth Fucking Mutant?:’ Total Recall’s Fantastic
century. Even though the 1990 film was Hesitations”, Foundation, 65: 81-97.
celebrated, as Tybjerg analysed, for its CUDD, Anne E. (2006). Analyzing Oppression.
playfulness with the concept of New York: OUP.
(prosthetic) memory—see his critique of — (2005). “How to Explain Oppression:
Landsberg’s celebratory theory about Criteria of Adequacy for Normative
Quaid’s choice to stay as Quaid (2016: Explanatory Theories”, Philosophy of the
5)—, the 2012 version, having little else to Social Sciences, 35.1: 20-49.
add, just abuses the fear of technology by CLARKE, Bruce (2016). “The Nonhuman”,
presenting the Synthetic robotic police Bruce Clarke & Manuela Rossini (eds.),
force. It is true that the two versions play The Cambridge Companion to Literature
with audiences’ expectations by and the Posthuman. Cambridge:
presenting the same elements throughout Cambridge UP. 141-152.
the plot, regardless of their position FERNÁNDEZ-MENICUCCI, Amaya (2014).
before or after the protagonists’ visit to “Memories of Future Masculine Identities:

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of Verhoeven’s and Wiseman’s Totall Recall

A Comparison of Philip K. Dick’s ‘We Can the Posthuman. Cambridge: Cambridge

Remember it for you Wholesale,’ the 1990 UP. 182-195.
Film Total Recall and its 2012 Remake”, SAID, Edward (1978). Orientalism. New York:
Between, 4.8: 1-25. Pantheon Books.
FERRANDO, Francesca (2019). Philosophical SARDAR, Ziauddin (1991). “Total Recall: Aliens,
Posthumanism. London: Bloomsbury. ‘Others’ and Amnesia in Postmodernist
— (2013). “Posthumanism, Transhumanism, Thought”, Futures, 23.2: 189-203.
Antihumanism, Metahumanism, and New SHAW, Debra Benita (2018). Posthuman
Materialisms: Differences and Relations”, Urbanism: Mapping Bodies in
Existenz, 8.2: 26-32. Contemporary City Space. Rowman &
GLASS, Fred (1990). “Totally Recalling Arnold: Littlefield.
Sex and Violence in the New Bad Future”, STEWART, Garrett (2012). “Surveillance
Film Quarterly, 44.1: 2-13. Cinema”, Film Quarterly, 66. 2: 5-15.
KRISTEVA, JULIA (1982) Powers of Horror: An TELOTTE, J.P. (1999). “Verhoeven, Virilio, and
Essay on Abjection. Columbia University ‘Cinematic Derealization’”, Film Quarterly,
Press, 1982. 53.2: 30-38.
LANDSBERG, Alison (1995). “Prosthetic TRINDER, Stephen (2020). “Questions of Space
Memory: Total Recall and Blade Runner”, in Contemporary Hollywood Cinema”,
Body & Society, 1.3-4: 175-189. Open Cultural Studies, 4.1: 1-11,
MIKLITSCH, Robert (1993). “Total Recall: [Link] 1515/culture-2020-0001
Production, Revolution, Simulation- TYBJERG, Casper (10 March 2016). “Refusing
Alienation Effect”, Camera Obscura 11.2 the Reality Pill: A Film Studies Perspective
#32: 4-40. on Prosthetic Memory”, Kosmorama,
NDALIANIS, A. (2001). “Paul Verhoeven and his [Link]
Hollow Men”, Screening the Past, 13: 1-17. /artikler/refusing-reality-pill-film-studies-
PALUMBO, Donald (1991). “‘Inspired... by perspective-prosthetic-memory
Phillip K. Dick’: Ambiguity, Deception, and TYLER, Imogen (2013). Revolting Subjects:
Illusion in Total Recall”, Journal of the Social Abjection and Resistance in
Fantastic in the Arts, 4.1 #13: 69-80. Neoliberal Britain. New York: Zed Books.
ROSSINI, Manuela (2016). “Bodies”, Bruce WILLIAMS, Linda (1991). “Film Bodies: Gender,
Clarke & Manuela Rossini (eds.), The Genre, and Excess”, Film Quarterly, 44.4:
Cambridge Companion to Literature and 2-13.
the Posthuman. Cambridge: Cambridge WOOD, Robert E. (1997). “Remembering the
UP. 153-169. Body: Ideological Ambivalence in Total
RUTSKY, R. L. (2016). “Technologies”, Bruce Recall”, Studies in the Humanities, 24.1:
Clarke & Manuela Rossini (eds.), The 33-42.
Cambridge Companion to Literature and

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Posthuman Worldbuilding
in Nalo Hopkinson’s
Midnight Robber: An
Exploration of the Techno/
Natural Divide

Lidia María Cuadrado Payeras © Lidia María Cuadrado Payeras, 2021

Universidad de Salamanca

Abstract: This article draws heavily on Francesca Ferrando’s Philosophical Posthumanism (2019)
to analyse the ways in which the contrast between ‘techno-driven’ and ‘nature-driven’ civilisations
in Nalo Hopkinson’s Midnight Robber (2000), while initially seemingly portrayed in accordance
with roughly canonical science fiction tropes, can be made to show the tension at the perceived
fracture between technology and nature (and, in a parallel fashion, discourses of progress and
backwardness) that has been a staple of classic science-fiction writing. A posthuman critical
perspective on Hopkinson’s worldbuilding, with its blend of mythology, fantasy and science fiction,
serves to provide a new outlook on sf as a literary genre. Hopkinson’s novel also serves to
illustrate how a posthuman discourse on these themes (nature, culture, mythology and science),
through the application of Haraway’s ‘naturecultures’ (2003) and the turn towards non-Western
epistemologies, provides much-needed nuances to explore these topics in relation to postcolonial
speculative fictions.

Keywords: posthumanism, science fiction, fantasy, Nalo Hopkinson, Midnight Robber

1. Introduction well as garnered commercial success. Her

fictions have not only been popular with
Jamaican-Canadian author Nalo readers but have also received much
Hopkinson is one of the most acclaimed critical acclaim and scholarly attention
contemporary English-speaking black for the way she weaves her Caribbean
science fiction writers. She has been heritage into her work, creating
recently named the 37th Damon Knight countercultural decolonizing science
Grand Master (SFWA, 2020: n.p.)—a fictions that foreground subject positions
lifetime achievement award conferred by typically marginalized in Western sf by
the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers non-white, non-heterosexual, female
of America Association—and her short authors. The explicit engagement of
stories have consistently featured in Hopkinson’s writing with queerness and
science fiction and fantasy anthologies as race has often resulted in its being

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analysed as a site of resistance against a the presence and agency of black bodies in
genre that has historically been science-fictional imaginaries beyond
dominated by white, male authors and stereotype, tokenism or de-humanization.
has predominantly featured white, male- The Afrofuturist vindication of black
centred narratives (Rutledge, 2001). At epistemologies is one of the reasons that
the same time, this has complicated the in my view help pose critical
definition of her work as classic science posthumanism as a framework from
fiction, because her novels borrow from which to explore the intricacies and
and weave together such diverse sources multiplicities inherent to black science
as cyberpunk, mythology, folklore, fiction. Insofar as critical posthumanism
magical realism and fantasy in the defines itself as post-dualistic and is
configuration of hybrid, politically cognizant of its debt to non-Western
engaged narratives. This has led a epistemologies in its self-configuration as
number of critics to approach her work such (Ferrando, 2019: 60-61), it is possible
from the lens of Afrofuturism. Indeed, to use it as a tool to explore the crossing
many have considered her a and blurring of boundaries in Afrofuturist
quintessential or foundational figure of fiction, using interstitial cyborg
the genre, among which Marleen S. Barr methodologies (Haraway, 1991) to bring
(2008), whose anthology Afro-Future to light the same interstitiality of black
Females, tracing the development of women’s Afrofuturist tales (Thomas,
Afrofuturism through female science 2020: n. p.). This fundamental
fiction, already includes and studies characteristic of Afrofuturism, and
Hopkinson’s narratives. Afrofuturist fiction written by women in
As defined by Mark Dery (1994: 180), particular, is already present from its
under the label of Afrofuturism falls any earliest iterations, for instance in the
“[s]peculative fiction that treats African- works of Octavia Butler, where she
American themes and addresses African- creates “worlds that uncannily reflect
American concerns in the context of reality and deflect and undermine it and
twentieth-century technoculture.” the same time by generating subjects who
Afrofuturism “profoundly challenges ideas improve on the available human models”
about science, technology, and (Spillers 2008: 4), and question, in so
knowledge,” which is why “many doing, a uniform and exclusionary
Afrofuturist texts do not fit neatly into conception of the human as an embodied
the conventions of science fiction and subject.
actually borrow from other speculative A philosophical or critical
genres” (Faucheux, 2017: 563). As a posthumanist approach should not be
genre, Afrofuturism displaces taken uncritically, however. As Ferrando
predominantly white forms of knowledge notes, “[i]n order to postulate a post- to
that have historically shunned black the human, the differences which are
intervention, such as the “hard” science constitutive to the human […] have to be
on which traditional science fiction is acknowledged” (2019: 25). Post-dualism
principally based (Shawl, 2018: n.p.). cannot, in this case, equate to colour-
Afrofuturist texts seek to move towards blindness. Hopkinson’s Midnight Robber
and represent eminently black forms of and, I would argue, black speculative
knowledge creation that also vindicate fictions in general can be used to make

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the case for a black critical posthumanism insights from both Afrofuturist and
that takes the post-dualistic and affective posthumanist philosophies to explore
ethos of philosophical posthumanism and some of the ways in which such processes
applies it to the construction of fictional may be said to be taking place in Nalo
worlds that are not only cognizant of the Hopkinson’s Midnight Robber (2000).
whitewashed history of science fiction but This novel narrates the story of Tan-Tan,
remediate the racial and epistemological whom we meet as a young girl on planet
gap left in their wake. This project would Toussaint, colonised by Caribbean people
highlight the insufficiencies of the at an unspecified time in the past in an
humanist rational project with regards to attempt to forge a better life for
its multiple subalterns—again, in our themselves.
case, queer, female, and black—and Toussaint’s citizens depend heavily on
develop a hybrid subjectivity that centres the use of technology: every house has a
around them. This is not an virtual assistant or house eshu, and
unprecedented project (cf. Lillvis, 2017) citizens themselves have their own eshus
and neither is it, I believe, necessarily at implanted at birth. With these, they are
odds with other posthumanist approaches connected to a vast network that includes
to black speculative fiction that may focus all inhabitants in Toussaint and which is
on other aspects of interest to posthuman controlled by Granny Nanny, an artificial
theory. Among these approaches, I am intelligence set up by the Marryshow
particularly interested in that which Corporation, which, in turn, holds
borrows a page from the transhumanist supranational governmental control.
book to examine the ways in which our After Tan-Tan’s father, Antonio,
relationship with technology is both accidentally kills his wife’s lover in a duel,
racialized and gendered, and speaks to he is given a chance at escaping life
the continuation of systems of oppression imprisonment by Maka, a pedicab driver
that disproportionally affect black who had provided Antonio with the poison
subjects. In this case, it bears noting that that ultimately killed his enemy. Maka
I myself, following Ferrando (2019) and entrusts Tan-Tan with a device capable of
others, define transhumanism as a overriding the prison’s security protocols,
separate project from that of critical which she manages to get to her father,
posthumanism, insofar as be sneaking into the police car as he is
transhumanism is heir to the project of arrested. With Maka’s help, then, Antonio
humanism; so, unlike critical takes Tan-Tan and both flee across
posthumanism, it is still embedded in its different dimensions to New Half-Way
hierarchies, which it does not seek to Tree, which, unlike Toussaint, has an
contest. If anything, transhumanism astounding ecological diversity, and
creates new techno-centred hierarchies where exiles from Toussaint are sent in
that, because of the current unequal lieu of serving time for their crimes.
global distribution of technology as well Although Antonio ostensibly seeks a new
as the biases in its operation and life in his flight to New Half-Way Tree,
development, arguably not only soon the patterns of abuse which had
perpetuate but widen existing been at play in his family life at
inequalities. Toussaint re-emerge. Antonio sees Tan-
The aim of this article, then, is to use Tan as an extension of his wife in

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Toussaint and repeatedly rapes her until, division between the ‘natural’ and
one day, Tan-Tan kills him in self- ‘technological’ worlds as represented in
defence. She is then forced to leave the Midnight Robber by analysing the two
human settlement at New Half-Way Tree planets at each side of the dimension veil,
and explore new ways of living in the wild New Half-Way Tree and Toussaint. My
outskirts of the planet, creating a persona analysis through the next pages identifies
for herself, that of the Robber Queen, who New Half-Way Tree as the nature-
embarks on a quest to fight for the oriented world and Toussaint as
underdog and right the wrongs of the technologically driven. This analysis,
unjust governmental systems of New however, must always be prefaced by the
Half-Way Tree. acknowledgement that a critical
In the pages that follow, I look at the posthuman methodology such as that on
contrast between the ‘natural’ and which much of my study is supported is
‘technological’ worlds in Hopkinson’s wary of the existence of a blanket binary
novel, a divide that is precisely between the natural and the
represented by the different planets in technological, if it acknowledges that
which the story develops. I draw on there is such a thing as ‘the natural’ and
contemporary radical philosophies, ‘the technological’; these caveats will be
namely critical and philosophical addressed further on. In this section, I
posthumanism, and new materialism, to understand the technological,
explore some of the ways in which the particularly, in terms of the digital, which
contrast between the ‘natural’ and in this case generally accounts for
‘technological’ worlds of Nalo Hopkinson’s information technologies, and, more to
Midnight Robber may be interpreted, and the point, the software and programming
how these different although connected technologies on which they rely.
strata create fictional worlds within the Within a consideration of how
novel that are representative of the informatics pertains to the worlds of
complexities of black science fiction. More Midnight Robber, immediately salient in
than twenty years past the original date the planet Toussaint is the fact that this
of publication of Midnight Robber, these is a world where the singularity has
interconnected layers of meaning and happened. The singularity, as defined by
criticism still offer critical ways of Vernor Vinge in his influential 1993
engaging with the challenges of homonymous paper, is “the imminent
technology for the bodies that neoliberal, creation by technology of entities with
white-centred and patriarchal greater than human intelligence” (12).
governmentality places under the Although, according to Vinge, the
category of the subaltern—and, more singularity may be achieved in a number
generally, of addressing the technocratic of ways, its most prevalent representation
reality of contemporary Western societies. in science-fiction narratives, which has by
now reached the status of one of the
genre’s tropes, is “[t]he development of
2. Toussaint: Technology and the computers that are ‘awake’ and
surveillance state superhumanly intelligent” (1993: 12). In
Midnight Robber, the singularity is
Broadly speaking, we can establish a presented in the form of the AI known as

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Granny Nanny, which oversees any and In the figure of the pedicab runners,
all activities in the planet by way of its the ability to bypass surveillance is
implantation at birth in the citizens of simultaneously linked to a rejection of
Toussaint through an “earbug” that technology and proficiency in it. The
connects them to Nanny’s network. We technological expertise that allows them
are told that, after Granny Nanny was to override Granny Nanny’s earbug
developed, one day programming is contrasted with the
traditional forms of living that they
[S]omething start to go wrong. It get to choose to engage in. These include doing
where the programmers would ask Nanny the “back-break” labour (8) that has been
a question, and she would spew mako bloks eradicated in Toussaint— as it is now
of pure gibberish. […] She brain didn’t intelligent machines that perform any
spoil, it just get too complex for Eleggua physically strenuous work—and living in
[the code in which she was written] to “headblind” (9) houses, that is, analogue
translate the concepts she was or low-tech compounds lacking in digital
understanding no more; after Nanny was domestic technologies such as robots or
seeing things in all dimensions. virtual assistants of different sorts. Most
(Hopkinson 2000b: 51) notably, pedicab runners rely on
traditional forms of knowledge that
The awakening of Granny Nanny to a include and are made possible by the use
greater understanding of the world beyond of paper and writing, or “[c]ode that
what was provided in her code initiates a Nanny couldn’t automatically read” (51).
series of attempts to make her “gibberish” The prospect of a life within Toussaint
understandable. This project, led by but outside of the system is then tied to
Marryshow of the Marryshow Corporation elaborate forms of code production at each
that shall govern over Toussaint, is side of the digital spectrum that
ultimately successful and saves the AI’s circumvent the expectations of Granny
memory from being deleted. Through the Nanny, which, although super-intelligent
translation of her new language into by singularity standards, is nevertheless
“nannysong,” Granny Nanny is able to bound to her programming. In the
persist as the overruling Toussaint fascination of some of the characters at
intelligence, although the version of her the chance of a life outside the AI’s
language accessible to the population is oversight, we see how the matter-of-
“basic” compared to her real communication factness of the AI’s control over the life of
capabilities (52). Only a small community of their citizens has standardized modes of
pedicab runners, descendants of a living that make possible the continued
programmer clan, are able to access a oversight of Granny Nanny, and immerse
greater number of commands through their their subjects in a technological feedback
better knowledge of nannysong. This loop which goes, for the most part,
affords them some privacy, that “most unquestioned. Therefore, in spite of the
precious commodity of any Marryshevite” utopian drive at the heart of Toussaint,
(10), as it means that they can use Granny life on the planet still grapples with the
Nanny’s programming language to old privacy-security debate, which
momentarily carve some space away from questions what may be an optimal
the AI’s oversight. amount of control of the technocratic state

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that ensures the safety of their citizens by look at the implications of Granny Nanny
their more or less wilful surrender of data as a female-coded, black AI. Race and
and so of unimpeded action. As gender cannot be wholly separated in this
Hopkinson acknowledged in an interview analysis as Granny Nanny is named after
Nanny of the Maroons, an 18th-century
It isn't perfect; the person who invented Jamaican leader who successfully led the
the system saw the high level of benign Windward Maroons against the British
surveillance as an acceptable trade-off for and would go on to found one of the most
the kind of safety and high quality of life important black settlements in Jamaica.
that the people would have. There are no While many critics have read Hopkinson’s
poor people on Toussaint, and no wage Granny Nanny “as a role model of Black
slaves. And though Granny Nanny female empowerment that subverts
perceives all, she doesn't tell all, unless she patriarchal images of the enslaved Black
thinks it's an issue of someone's safety. It woman” (Martín-Lucas 2017: 112, original
really does feel like being mothered, and capitalised initials) I agree with Martín-
sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes Lucas that there is a strong case for a
it's a smothering thing. (Hopkinson, 2000a: more nuanced interpretation of the AI, as
n.p.) it still works “within the structure of the
corporation and the violent genocide of
There are many things to unpack in indigenous populations this produces”
the author’s commentary. The fact that (112). Although the subversive potential
there are no poor people in Toussaint, for of Granny Nanny is not to be
instance, does not mean that there is no understated, Hopkinson’s Nanny also
disenfranchisement, nor a social brings to light the intrinsic violence
hierarchy. Although ultimately within any coloniser system.
supervised by Granny Nanny and the Granny Nanny both denounces and
Marryshow Corporation, some form of perpetuates a legacy of violence that is
local political organisation far from the stored in traditional science fiction tropes
utopian egalitarian dream still persists, (Sorensen, 2014: 277) and that, arguably,
and the ostracizing of pedicab runners is is perpetuated by the transhumanist
representative of how the emancipatory projects of the Marryshow Corporation’s
power of the digital has not been fully techno-state. For the implementation of
realised but has instead configured Granny Nanny and of the technological
technology as the new frontier: if infrastructure that allows for the relative
advanced technologies have enabled the ease of life in Toussaint, the planet had to
possibility of life in Toussaint, in be stripped of its original environmental
imposing themselves they have also landscape and so of its ecological
created a number of naturalised others diversity, which creates the first point of
that cannot or do not wish to conform to division between Toussaint and New
the new techno-standards. Naturalised, Half-Way Tree and establishes the first
sexualised and racialised others are the otherised subject within transhuman
by-product of the perpetuation of standards, nature: “New Half-Way Tree is
humanistic value hierarchies that turn how Toussaint planet did look before the
into biopolitical differentiation markers, Marryshow Corporation sink them Earth
so, in this context, it is also worthwhile to Engine Number 127 down into it like God

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entering the woman; plunging into the persona of the Robber Queen that gives
womb of soil to impregnate the planet the novel its title. Because adhesion to
with the seed of Granny Nanny” the Granny Nanny network is not
(Hopkinson, 2000b: 2). The seeds of voluntary, the perpetuation of state
Granny Nanny, in this case, are digital: control via technological surveillance
the nodes of a surveillance web that spans necessitates of the violation of the bodies
the entire planet and cover not only the of its citizens; as has been noted, bodies
physical but the mental bodies of its both physical and mental, for the
citizens. The metaphor of impregnation artificial intelligences implanted at birth
and the use of biological processes to (the eshus) appear in the ‘mind’s eye’ of
describe the implantation of the network individuals. Impregnation and the
clashes with the artificial nature of the ‘smothering’ motherly conceptualisation
latter. This dissonance parallels that of of Granny Nanny also perpetuate
the fact of colonisation, which ostensibly damaging gender and familial dynamics,
creates a better world—for the which are also a fixture of the novel both
colonisers—at the expense of defacing the in Tan-Tan’s abusive relationship with
planet, and these parallels ask what other her father and in his dysfunctional
dissonances or compromises are made in marriage to Tan-Tan’s unconcerned
the actualisation of the colonisers’ mother Ione. Granny Nanny, as the
utopian dreams. For as much as Granny embedded and embodied panopticon1 in
Nanny “creates a discursively egalitarian the lives of their citizens and the ultimate
community […] unmarked by racial measure of state control since it is
difference and freed from a life of labor” inseparable from the materiality of its
(Fehskens, 2010: 138), the inception of subjects, becomes fully realised in the
Toussaint is founded in the putting into playing out of these familial dynamics.
action of unequal power dynamics that The totalising state and technological
subjugate both citizens and the earth to project culminates in Tubman, Tan-Tan’s
the discourses of techno-thanatological
machinery. —————
The sexual vocabulary used to describe 1 “Panopticon” refers to Jeremy
the simultaneous processes of colonisation Bentham’s (1995) conception of a circular
and the establishment of Granny Nanny building designed to allow for close monitoring
of all residents (whether inmates, patients,
is also evocative of non-consensual
pupils, etc.) from a structure at its center, so
intercourse. With her choice of words, that all could be kept in view at any given
Hopkinson is able to connect colonialism time. Most famously, it has been reelaborated
as an important science-fiction trope to by philosophers Michel Foucault (1995) and
the real histories of colonisations, which Gilles Deleuze (1990), who have used
pass through the exploitation of women Bentham’s panopticon as an image to describe
and land to bring to fruition the colonial the ways in which societies are able to exert
dream. These, incidentally, foreshadow discipline and control through means of
surveillance. Scholar Shoshana Zuboff (1995,
the repeated rape of the novel’s
2019) in recent writings has more explicitly
protagonist, Tan-Tan, by her father linked these means of surveillance to the rise
Antonio, which becomes a climactic point of capitalism and advanced digital
in the novel as it leads to Tan-Tan’s technologies, which more accurately describes
killing of her father and her adopting the Nalo Hopkinson’s Granny Nanny.

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son by her father, as Tubman is the first state. This vocabulary brings to mind
individual to be connected to Granny Giorgio Agamben’s work on the figure of
Nanny without the need for prosthetics. the homo sacer (1998). Agamben describes
Tubman, who has not received the ear the homo sacer in contemporary societies
implant connecting him to Granny as an individual condemned to a bare life
Nanny, can nevertheless communicate outside state protection and
with her, and so his body becomes “one acknowledgement, and yet considered
living connection with the Grande Anansi within the state’s political organisation
Nanotech Interface” (Hopkinson 2000b: insofar as their ban from the state
328). Potentially, Tubman inaugurates a articulates the state of liminality to which
lineage of individuals who, unlike Tan- the biopolitical modern state submits its
Tan in New Half-Way Tree, cannot escape subjects and so makes generally
control of the artificial intelligences to applicable the exception that allows the
which they are subject, and so initiates homo sacer to exist. As the planet of the
the move from a cyborg existence to a one disenfranchised and the dominion of
of complete digital embodiment. naturalised others since it retains the
ecological diversity lost in the colonisation
of Toussaint, I propose a analysis of New
3. New Half-Way Tree: Necropolitics Half-Way Tree in terms of its relationship
and naturecultures with Toussaint by means the exclusion of
its citizens from it, and in terms of the
New Half-Way Tree is said to be the perseverance of nature against the
“mirror planet” of Toussaint, where “we ecological effacement of Toussaint.2
send the thieves-them, and the Like Toussaint, New Half-Way Tree
murderers” as well as “the drifters, the also opens up questions of surveillance
ragamuffins-them, the ones the think the and state power. New Half-Way Tree,
world must have something better for
them, if them could only find what part it —————
is” (2). For, although Granny Nanny had 2 I am grateful to my reviewers for
ostensibly been designed with some pointing out that there is indeed a connection
flexibility in mind, “to tolerate a variety of to be made between the different distribution
human expression, even dissension” (10), of political systems in Nalo Hopkinson and the
similar power politics in Ursula K. Le Guin’s
there still seem to be behaviours that
The Dispossessed (1974). Colonialism is of
warrant expulsion from Toussaint’s course a pervasive theme in the history of
Garden of Eden. For what is supposedly a science fiction to which often underlies a
realised utopia, it is striking to see how strong utopian current (i.e., searching new
expectations of a better future, which worlds that may serve as political laboratories
echo the novel’s diasporic roots as well as for social improvement strategies). As has
traditional science fiction narratives and been noted, however, in Hopkinson this is
the trauma of colonization, seem to also approached from an explicitly Afrofuturist
perspective; as other scholars have pointed out
be perceived as a threat. Furthermore,
and have extensively analysed, the planet
those who are shunned to New Half-Way Toussaint and the AI Granny Nanny, as other
Tree are euphemistically spoken of as the elements in the novel, are named after
“departed” (19), equating death to a life important figures of the African diaspora, and
lived outside of the confines of the techno- the colonized become the colonisers.

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however, stands as the necropolitical3 figures that are exiled from Toussaint,
counterpart of Toussaint’s techno- but rather is unwillingly transported to
biopolitical logic. These necropolitical New Half-Way Tree by following her
logics function in great part from the father, still Granny Nanny takes it upon
standpoint of the government of herself to recover her subject. The fact
Toussaint, but they are also natively that Tan-Tan is an unsuspecting homo
operative in New Half-Way Tree. Junjuh sacer makes her inhabit a doubly
Village, the human settlement where marginal position, within and without the
Tan-Tan and her father eventually system both in her former and current
establish themselves, is ruled by a homes. This becomes further complicated
bloodthirsty sheriff whose “rules don’t as she violates the hospitality of her hosts
have no mercy” (Hopkinson 2000b: 169) in New Half-Way Tree after Tan-Tan
and who condemns trespassers to murders her father. Her act of violence
physical punishment and death by makes her carry “a double shame […]: she
hanging. Although, as a planet of homini is a banned figure in the human and
sacer, New Half-Way Tree should fall douen worlds [the world of New Half-Way
outside of the scope of the biopolitical Tree]” (Fehskens 2010: 147). The murder
powers of Toussaint, its inclusion—by its of Antonio and Tan-Tan’s later accidental
exclusion—in Toussaint’s state power revealing of the settlement where she was
allows for a measure of Granny Nanny’s living under the protection of the douen, a
oversight to continue in New Half-Way bird-like alien species native to New Half-
Tree. In the novel, Tan-Tan is transported Way Tree, force her to live an uprooted
to New Half-Way Tree not by virtue of her existence.
having effectively committed a crime, but This instability is mirrored in the
by her attempt to rescue her father from duplicity of Tan-Tan’s character, who is
life imprisonment, affording him a chance both Tan-Tan the human and the
of living “he life in he own terms” (66). As mythical Robber Queen, a persona which
Tan-Tan is not one of the antagonistic she takes on after the killing of her father
through which she dissociates herself
————— from her traumatic past experiences and
3 Necropolitics is a term coined by seeks to impart justice. In this double
Cameroonian philosopher Achille Mbembe existence, her body is both a site of
(2003). Mbembe builds from Foucault’s notion
empowerment—as she takes on a heroic
of biopolitical power to assert that sovereignty
resides not only in controlling the bodies of persona of the Trinidadian carnival that
citizens, but in controlling the possibility of connects her both to the thriving
their very existence, i.e. determining who can Jamaican cultural heritage and the Black
live and who must die. Mbembe also links pride that could be freely experienced in
these concepts to the state of exception and the streets of Toussaint—while
the state of siege, which are likewise crucial to simultaneously allowing her to stand for
Agamben’s definition of the homo sacer. I see the dispossessed, and oppression, being as
both Foucault’s biopolitics, Mbembe’s
she is made to bear her father’s child and
necropolitics and Agamben’s homo sacer as
related phenomena that allow us to form a
perpetuate with him also the techno-
complete picture of the ways in which thanatological legacy of her native planet
governmental practices police completely, but both through the violence inherent to the
from different angles, the bodies of subjects. rape and in birthing a child that is

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inescapably connected to the surveillance [and] came back from the dead as jumbies
technologies that policy life and colonise with their heads on backwards” (93).
bodies and planets. Among the douen stands out Chichibud,
It is important to think about how all Tan-Tan’s friend and protector, offering
systems of oppression in Toussaint find her a place of shelter after the murder of
resonance in New Half-Way Tree. As her father forces her flight from Junjuh,
Fehskens (2010: 141) argues, Antonio’s where “murder must always get repaid
“repeated attempts to turn Tan-Tan into with murder” (151).
another Ione [his wife in Toussaint], via A posthuman critical framework can
sexual violation and molestation, on New aid us in addressing how Hopkinson
Half-Way Tree domesticates that criminal creates New Half-Way Tree as a
space into a new version of his home in counterpart to the heavily technologized
Toussaint.” If, in Toussaint, Granny and environmentally barren Toussaint.
Nanny was able to represent forms of For this, I draw on Donna Haraway’s
colonial and techno-engendered violence, work, particularly her conception of
it is also worth noticing that these “naturecultures” (1991), which
domesticating violences include inextricably links the social and the
environmental violence, from which the natural in the formation of ecologies and
worlds of Midnight Robber seem to find a so puts into question, among others, the
respite in New Half-Way Tree. Because natural/artificial, cultural/environmental,
advanced technologies have not arrived at technological/ecological binaries. The
New Half-Way Tree, nor could the grasp blurring of dichotomic separations is also
of Granny Nanny reach it prior to the a central feature of philosophical
birth of Tubman, New Half-Way Tree has posthumanism. Martín-Lucas, in her
safeguarded the ecological diversity that critical posthumanist analysis of
seemed to have also characterised other Midnight Robber, has argued that
planets in the novel’s system. This is a Chichibud “gives voice to a posthuman
planet where “the mongoose still run critique of the anthropocentric humanist
wild, the diable bush still got poison obsession with hierarchical taxonomy”
thorns, and the mako jumbie bird does (2017: 111). Characters like Chichibud,
still stalk through the bush” (Hopkinson, then, exemplify the blurring of ontological
2000b: 2). Thus, the conservation of boundaries that is at the heart of an
ecology is also tied to the preservation of ethical posthumanist reading of
magical, folkloric elements such as Hopkinson’s novel. At the same time, a
talking non-human, natural species (as worldbuilding that rests on black folklore
opposed to the artificial intelligences of and magical imaginings and which exists
Toussaint) that vindicate black tradition within a context of ‘hard’ science fiction
and experience. Among the most relevant (i.e. departing from and exploring the
figures in these black folkloric ecologies, consequences of technoscientific
we might mention the douen, a bird-like developments) questions a purely rational
alien species living in the planet conception of science: among other
Toussaint of whom Tan-Tan had only factors, “[t]he fine line between analogy
heard of in her nursery stories, that […] and genuine animal-person cross-
painted them as “children who’d died overs in [Hopkinson’s] ceremonial worlds
before they had their naming ceremonies also separates rigorous ‘scientific’

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taxonomies” (Dillon, 2007: 33). With imaginary that attacks black bodies and
regard to the construction of new configures them as the subaltern of
taxonomies, and although there are many existing power structures.
examples of naturalcultural integration
that could be analysed in the novel, I
would argue that one of the most 4. Conclusions
significant symbols for naturalcultural
processes in Midnight Robber scholarship In my analysis of the uses of technology
are trees, which are a recurring image in in Midnight Robber, I have looked at how
the novel. Trees, as a mode of organising mechanisms of technocratic governance,
information that imbricates digital logics in particular the operation of an all-
with the vocabulary of biology and witnessing AI, complicate an
ecology, are representative of the emancipatory reading of what is to be
ubiquitous character of technology the initially interpreted as the fulfilment of a
inseparability of natural from social utopian dream of black enfranchisement.
ecologies. Trees are also homes and Because the technocratic Toussaint state
sheltering places, be it for the douens in is still heavily involved in the policing of
New Half-Way Tree than the pedicab its subjects and is born of the same
runners in Toussaint, and stand for ways violent colonising impulses, a biopolitical
of living that are connected to traditional reading of Granny Nanny in terms of its
practices and an ecological ethics surveillance operation acknowledges the
cognisant of the particularities of the perpetuation of hierarchies of control
Black folkloric experience. within systems that, though initially
In the novel, trees serve as community conceived to empower, ultimately are
spaces that house and enable subversion designed to oppress.
in many forms. It is telling, for instance, In doing so, it brings to the fore
that pedicab drivers seek to live in tree questions of the possibility of utopian
houses which directly oppose the high- actualisation, when the boundary
tech compounds in the rest of Toussaint. between utopia and dystopia is often
Similarly, the imbrication of the douen ambiguous. A similar case of diffuse
and their home trees, which the boundaries occurs in the case of the social
community is bound to protect and hide and natural organisation of New Half-
from the rest of the settlements in New Way Tree, where violence inside and
Half-Way Tree, signals a reverence for outside state structures threatens the
the natural environment that goes establishment of ethical relationships
against the exploitative logic that humans that allow for the institution of the
still employ in their strongholds in the congenial, reciprocal, transspecies bonds
planet. In keeping with a nonbinary on which the planet’s ecosystem is set to
posthuman logic, however, Hopkinson thrive.
also makes trees a threatening figure in Midnight Robber plays with echoes
Midnight Robber, since they also stand and parallels both in Toussaint and New
for the necro/biopolitical power of Half-Way Tree. The reverberations of
governments, as trees are the site of multiple marginalities—black, woman,
hangings that function as a warning for natural—against each other are not only
trespassers and take up the colonial a measure of the rhythm of the novel,

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Midnight Robber: An Exploration of the
Techno/Natural Divide

which has so fruitfully been analysed by of black and female bodies and the
Leif Sorensen (2014) in musical terms, extraction of natural resources—and
but also themselves a representation of new— like the establishment of practices
the necessarily non-dichotomous of state control and surveillance aided
character of Nalo Hopkinson’s fiction, and abetted by technological
whose science fictions betray a critical developments. This conception of science
posthuman sensibility. This is attuned to fiction recuperates histories hitherto side-
multiple individual and collective lined by its mainstream and vindicates
becomings as they are understood by marginalised epistemologies within and
posthumanist philosopher Rosi Braidotti without its narratives that highlight the
(2002), who, also in tune with the new vital importance of thresholds as well as
materialist thinking for which she is a their osmotic qualities, like those of
foundational figure and point of reference, Midnight Robber’s very own dimension
highlights the importance of states of veil.
change and flow in the configuration of
subjectivity against essentialist,
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‘Nansi Web”, Science Fiction Studies, 34.2, MBEMBE, Achille (2003). “Necropolitics”, Libby
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38.2, 105-115. New York: Public Affairs.

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Experiencing the
Posthuman: The Cinematic
Clone in the 21st Century

Rocío Carrasco Carrasco1 © Rocío Carrasco Carrasco, 2021

COIDESO, Universidad de Huelva

Abstract: The clone, especially in its audiovisual version, has often been treated as a
marginalized being and its body understood as a repository of violence and pain, especially since
its mere existence has traditionally been subjected to maintaining the integrity of the ‘original’
human body. This is visible in films in which we observe the figure of the clone treated in ways
contrary to the critical posthumanism postulated by Braidotti, Ferrando or Vint, among others.
The Island (2005), Never Let me Go (2010) or the animated series World of Tomorrow (2015, 2017,
2020) make us reflect on our responsibility toward the consequences of certain uses of
biomechanical technology. A process of social denunciation is carried out through the emphasis
that these films give to posthuman subjectivity, and thus these clones show their concerns and
make viewers participants in their marginalized experience. Viewers see life from their
perspective, we share their biological consciousness and their very existence leads us to reflection
and denunciation.

Keywords: cloning, posthuman, film, animated TV series, The Island (2005), Never Let me Go
(2010), World of Tomorrow (2015, 2017, 2020)

1. Introduction1 contemporary cinema, and the spectators’

engagement with this marginalized
This contribution concerns the experience. The clone characters
posthuman subject as enacted by the presented here revolve around the
figure of the disposable clone in embodied presence of screened
posthuman beings. It is my intention,
—————
1 I wish to acknowledge the funding
then, to contribute to the understanding
provided by the Spanish Ministry of Science,
of posthuman subjectivities and their
Innovation and Universities (Research Project representation in contemporary cinema.
“Bodies in Transit 2”, ref. FFI2017-84555-C2- As argued here, in the last few years, the
1-P), the European Regional Development cinematic figuration of the disposable
Fund, and the Spanish Research Agency for clone has offered spectators the possibility
the writing of this essay. Also, the funding of positioning on the side of the other,
provided by the Regional Ministry of Economy, contributing to grasp difference and
Knowledge, Enterprise and Universities of
activate critical mechanisms to denounce
Andalusia, and the European Regional
Development Fund for the writing of this
certain discriminatory practices at work
essay. Project “Embodiments, Genders and in our contemporary societies.
Difference: Cultural Practices of Violence and In our posthuman times, it is of
Discrimination”, ref. 1252965. paramount importance to find new

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strategies with which to assess our world, the enhancement of the body and to ideas
our bodies and ourselves. Critical of immortality. Transhumanist thinkers
posthumanism—advocated by Rosi defend the idea that human beings will
Braidotti, Sherryl Vint or Francesca become posthuman in the future as a
Ferrando, among others—has offered result of using technology and science to
engaging tools for the understanding of enhance their bodies and minds. Bostrom
the challenging times humanity faces in considers humanity as a work in progress
the age of the Anthropocene, defined by (2005: 4). In broad terms, transhumanism
Paul Crutzen as our current geological encourages the evolution of the human
era dominated by human action through into something superior to our critical
technological mediation (2002: 23). By condition. Thus, the notion of the
proposing an embodied subjectivity, posthuman coined by transhumanism
theorists on the posthuman put forward a still adheres to the idea of an unfinished
hybrid, fluid and complex body. Critical humanist being seeking perfection and is
thinkers offer a vitalist approach to the rather different from that of critical
posthuman subject, that is defined as “a posthumanism.
relational subject constituted in and by Science fiction has long speculated on
multiplicity” (Braidotti, 2002: 49). In the the posthuman, becoming a medium of
same line of thought, Ferrando argues reflection, as well as of denunciation. As
that “posthumanism offers an invitation Vint argues, “science fiction is
to think inclusively, a relocation of particularly suited to exploring the
humanity within multiversality, it opens question of the posthuman because it is a
to alterity and extensions of diversity, discourse that allows us to concretely
and reflects on alternative human imagine bodies and selves otherwise”
embodiments” (2016: 220). The dilemma (2017: 19). In the introduction of their
with the posthuman body, Ferrando edited volume The Palgrave Handbook of
notes, is that the concept “body” is a Posthumanism in Film and Television
“shifting etiquette which has been (2015), Hauskeller, Philberck, and
historically ascribed within the frame of Carbonell argue that posthumanism as a
specism, racism, sexism, heterosexism, discipline acts upon the premise that
ethnocentrism, classicism, ageism and technoscience provides a material means
ableism, among other-isms” (Ferrando: to challenge social categories (3). In this
222-3). sense, science-fiction films offer
Braidotti (2013), Herbrechter (2013), posthuman scenarios, sometimes used as
and Vint (2008) insist on a serious powerful metaphors of the vitalist and
concern for the posthuman body, and affirmative idea of the posthuman subject
warn us about the temptations of radical advocated by critical posthumanism,
dematerialization, disembodiment and sometimes as a means for the exploration
dehumanization. It is precisely this of the limitations of the version of the
emphasis on embodiment what posthuman evoked by transhumanist
differentiates critical posthumanism from thinkers.
transhumanism—advocated by Nick This article deals with the disposable
Bostrom, Hans Moravec, Max Moore or cinematic clone, understood here as a
Vernor Vinge, also referred to as utopian genetically created being whose only
posthumanism—a movement linked to purpose for existing is to endure

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humankind and avoid its physical pain, and enhance “human intellectual,
disease, suffering, ageing or death. physical and psychological capacities”
Movies like The Island (2005), Never Let (2005: 4). This idea of “widely available
Me Go (2010), or the animated series technology” does not apply equally and
World of Tomorrow (2015, 2017, 2020) the clones present in these movies are
portray clones that are meant to provide projects to change and improve privileged
privileged humans with replacement humans. They function as disposable
organs—or bodies—in order to prolong commodities that serve the purpose of
their biological lives. The starting point of keeping the integrity of the original and
criticism for this analysis is Braidotti’s organic human. The consequences of the
affirmation that we “all have bodies, but unethical uses of the biomedical sciences
not all bodies are equal: some matter are partly suggested in these texts by
more than others; some are, quite frankly, providing audiences with human-like
disposable” (1996: 136). In The vulnerable clones possessors of feelings,
Posthuman (2013), Braidotti further anxieties, fears and consciousness.
develops this idea, arguing that advanced According to some transhumanist
capitalism blurs the boundaries between thinkers, the ethical use of technology
humans, other species, and the Earth in should enable everyone to enjoy better
an “all-consuming commodification of life” minds and better bodies. Yet, and as
(2013: 57, added emphasis). Through these films show, these ‘improvements’
scientific and economic control, advanced are not equally distributed but create
capitalism both invests in and profits instead serious injustices leading to
from biogenetic structure, producing a exploitation and enslavement. These
“paradoxical and rather opportunistic fictional narratives manage to denounce
form of post-anthropocentrism on the part said practices of bodily replication, while
of the market forces which happily trade urging for a “real” post-anthropocentric
on life itself” (2013: 59). It is precisely the view whereby non-human sentient beings
unethical and opportunistic use of can find a proper place in the world they
technological and scientific advances have been forced to live.
what these films aim at denouncing. In
doing so, they reverse the optimistic
version of the posthuman advocated by 2. Experiencing the posthuman
transhumanism. through the clone
In these films, spectators are expected
to align with the clone by means of In order to carry out the analysis of the
different strategies. Such siding with the disposable clone from a critical
alien inevitably leads to critiques of the posthumanist perspective, we need to
consequences of certain transhumanist depart from the premise that posthuman
practices such as longevity or life bodies on the screen are not frequently
extension when they imply social depicted as the polymorphic, processual,
inequality. In relation to the ethics of embedded and fluid beings proposed by
transhumanism, Bostrom contends that critical posthumanist thinkers. Instead,
“through applied reason, especially by the cinematic posthuman character is
developing and making widely available frequently aligned with notions of
technologies”, one can eliminate aging marginality, vulnerability and alienness.

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In this sense, the idea that different is experience. Their bodies are reflections of
positive, a tenet of feminist their (and our) complex and ambiguous
posthumanism, is not articulated in this relationship with the world they live in,
cinematic version of the posthuman hence triggering ethical debates. The very
analyzed here: the disposable clone. idea of audiences identifying (at least
Moreover, science-fiction films are momentarily) with these characters
normally imbued with a dark tone and allows for the adoption of a certain
privilege humanist values over subject position toward certain concerns.
posthuman scenarios and bodies. Hence, These fictional proposals of the
despite proposing rich posthuman posthuman somehow reshape our
possibilities, scenarios and bodies, many subjectivities.
texts frequently end up maintaining ‘safe’
anthropocentric values, suggesting, on
many occasions, that a humanist 2.1. The disposable clone
perspective is needed or advisable for our
survival in the world. In this regard, and As suggested above, the representation of
from the feminist posthumanist the clone as waste enables viewers to
perspective of Braidotti and Ferrando, develop strategies for questioning
popular films need to erase traditional hegemonic discourses, by enacting a
borders between the one and the other posthuman experience. This unique
and focus the discussion instead on a non- experience offers spectators the
hierarchical connection between understanding of difference through the
humanity, technology, science and engagement with the other, which is
environment. partly achieved by strategies such as
In spite of these limitations (imposed identification, sympathy for the character
mainly but not exclusively by filmic of the clone, or a mise-en-scène that defies
conventions), there are films that offer a conventional ways of seeing the world.
valuable approach to posthuman The result is, then, an approach to
subjectivity. Some posthuman characters difference that leads to the
appearing in contemporary science fiction reconsideration of certain humanist
do offer alternative ways of assumptions. Ultimately, and by
understanding the world that they and experiencing the posthuman, spectators
we inhabit and open other possibilities of may reflect upon our intricate
living in it. Moreover, they manage to relationship with science and technology
develop feelings, worries and memories, and activate strategies to condemn
possess consciousness and propose a new certain practices such as the
(troubled) relationship between commodification of the other. As
humanity, science and technology. They spectators become involved with the
offer a serious concern for the posthuman fictional clone character, they enact their
subject that help spectators make sense of present and past experiences and relate
contemporary global culture, something them to new ways of understanding the
in tune with critical posthumanist claims. body, the planet, and our selves.
Their inner anxieties are sometimes This section deals with the way the
shown to audiences, who actively take disposable clone is represented as
part in their in /post/ transhuman nonhuman and marginal in the films The

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Island (TI), Never Let Me Go (NLMG), or relationship she has with two other
World of Tomorrow (WT). In them, clones “students”—Tommy (Andrew Garfield)
are depicted as the films’ main (almost and Ruth (Keira Knightley)—throughout
exclusively) characters of the compelling their pre-ordered lives at different
stories that are told. In spite of their alien institutions (Hailsham School, the so-
nature, they are familiar to us because called Cottages and the Recovery
they have human looks. In the three Centers). In WT, an animated short
films, the clones need to cope with the movie, Emily Prime (Winona Mae), a
oppressing settings they live in, while toddler from our near future, meets a
their original ‘consumers’ (wealthy and third-generation clone of herself (Julia
powerful people who purchase them) are Pot) that travels from the future back to
made imperious to pain, damage, ageing, Emily’s times to tell her about her life in
disease and death. Yet, and probably due the Outernet in 200 years’ time, and how
to the time span that separates them cloning will soon become a generalized
(2005-2015) and to genre conventions, practice whereby humans upload their
these movies adopt a different perspective memories into disposable bodies in an
toward the depiction of the posthuman attempt to live forever.
subject. In one way or another, the clones’
TI, set in the year 2019, shows Lincoln nonhuman status is used by the people in
Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) struggling to control as the main argument for their
understand his existence within the manipulation, marginalization and
highly structured world he lives in. After exploitation. Their bodies are considered
he learns that he and the people who live as disposable objects that were created for
with him are not survivors of an the sole purpose of organ/body
ecological disaster as they have been told, replacement, or as a mind ‘container’,
but clones that are used for organ becoming hence mere repositories of pain
harvesting and surrogate motherhood in a and suffering. Although the context is
capitalist society, he decides to escape fairly similar in the three texts—humans
together with Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett make use of clones to provide replacement
Johansson). From this moment onwards, organs or bodies in case they suffer from
both characters start a naïve and an illness or disease, or just to avoid
dangerous journey towards the ‘real’ ageing, and, ultimately, death—the
world with the aim of denouncing their relationship between humans and clones
inhuman situation, only to find theirs are is treated in completely different ways in
disposable bodies. Similar concerns are each text. In TI there is a clear opposition
shown in NLMG, a film based on the and confrontation between humans,
homonymous novel by Ishiguro, in which regarded as cruel and impassive beings,
the 28-year-old main protagonist, Kathy and clones, vulnerable beings that
H. (Carey Mulligan), narrates the story of desperately fight for changing their fatal
her life before turning into a “donor”. We destiny. Hence, the movie shows how
discover how she, like all the other doctors and surgeons, just because they
children she met at what seemed an are clones, subject them to unnecessary
orphanage have been bred and groomed brutalities. The two main protagonists
to give up body organs to sick and dying live a story of emancipation. This idea of
humans. The film centers on the intimate rebellion against humanity is not shown

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in any of the other films, in which clones nonhumans is also influenced by the
simply accept their destiny. In NLMG, different filmic genre in which these films
the human/nonhuman hierarchy is never are inscribed. TI is a hybrid
truly contested by the clones. action/science-fiction movie, and as such,
Clones struggle to live through their we expect confrontation, chase scenes
instrumentalized bodies, yet it is not a and, of course, an enemy or villain. On
narrative of fight, since clones never aim the other hand, NLMG is a hybrid love
at rebelling against their creators. story drama and science fiction, and its
Characters presume their mission is to tone is much more intimate,
sacrifice their organs until they can no melodramatic and nostalgic, focused on
longer survive and “terminate”. They do the love triangle among the three clone
not question the status quo. In relation to characters. A similar nostalgic and sad
Ishiguro’s novel, Mark Jerng argues that tone is found in WT, an avant-garde film
the author “upsets expectations by giving in which a third-generation clone talks
us a cloning story in which the clones do about her sad and long life. Also, the
not fight or struggle to be recognized as timeframe in which the films were
human” (2008: 382). In this sense, the released (2005, 2010 and 2015) show the
story becomes disturbing because it different debates on the issue of cloning
frustrates the reader’s desire for along those years.
emancipation: the clones do not rebel and Another aspect that positions the
thus “become human”. Rather, they learn clones as vulnerable beings is the lack of
to make sense of their lives as clones. The control over their own bodies and lives in
role of the ‘visible’ human beings, mainly general. This is especially evident in TI
guardians and teachers at Hailsham, is, and NLTM, as the clone characters are
as Miss Lucy (Sally Hawkins) tells them kept confined to indoor communities and
at the very end of the film, to provide their bodies are constantly observed and
“students” with an education and controlled. This lack of autonomy recalls
knowledge of the outside world Michel Foucault’s idea of the disciplined
(Geography, History, Literature, and so body. In Discipline and Punish: the Birth
on) which will be beneficial for them, a of the Prison (1975), he argues that
veiled attempt to free themselves from discipline creates “docile bodies”, ideal for
guilt and feel at ease with themselves. the new economics, politics and warfare of
Likewise, the clone in WT accepts her the modern industrial age: bodies that
marginal condition, as it becomes evident function in factories, ordered military
when she sadly warns Emily: “we are all regiments, and school classrooms. The
doomed, Emily Prime”. Moreover, there is body becomes thus involved in the
only one representation of humans in the political field, and power relations have
story: an innocent and sweet 3-year-old an immediate hold upon it: “they invest it,
girl. The visit of Emily’s clone is not mark it, train it, torture it, force it to
aimed at encouraging the girl to be carry out tasks, to perform ceremonies, to
rebellious, but only at showing her how emit signs” (1990: 25). In TI, clones are
her future will be and recuperate an made to follow strict dietary restrictions
important memory from her. and to have daily medical checkouts; they
This different treatment of the should avoid proximity (and of course
relationship between humans and intimate relationships) and must exercise

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according to a personalized plan. Even kind of subject must not, operates to

their dreams and thoughts need to be produce and maintain certain
accessible and open to “the people in exclusionary conceptions of who is
control”. Their bodies, then, are regulated normatively human: what counts as a
by the external medical institution, livable life and a grievable death?”
recalling Foucault’s idea of the (Butler 2004, xiv-xv). In this sense, the
Panopticon, which he took from Bentham film’s final message is to live the moment
as a way to illustrate how disciplinary because the future is uncertain and cruel.
societies subjugate their citizens. Clones The disposable clone has been
are also controlled in NLMG from their constructed, then, as marginal and
childhood in the different institutions subordinated by humans. The films
where they are placed, yet in a more mentioned here question traditional
veiled way. limits of the so-called ‘natural’ body,
Girls and boys are told what to eat, inviting a debate concerning the ethics of
what to play, which movies to watch and cloning for certain purposes and the social
even their ‘creativity’ is controlled by consequences of transhumanist practices
their teachers and guardians. Power is such as life extension. Apart from this
not unidirectional but a field of play, criticism, these films provide us, albeit in
exerted in what Foucault calls “observing quite different ways, with instances of
hierarchy” (1990: 184). Like the prisoner posthuman subjectivities as articulated
of Foucault’s Panopticon, the clones by the disposable clone, as I will attempt
receive asymmetrical surveillance to illustrate in the next section.
throughout their whole life. Although the
life of Emily’s clone in WT is also
determined and doomed, the film does not 2.2 Becoming other
focus on the human control of it, but on
her own perspective of the world. Life is This section deals with the mechanisms
described by Emily’s clone as a “beautiful the films under discussion use in order to
visit, and then we share the same fate as evoke the posthuman experience on the
the rest of the human race: dying spectators once the clone subjects have
horribly”. The clone explains to Emily been positioned as nonhuman and
how the whole humanity became obsessed marginal. Social criticism is displayed
with life extension and how this led to before the spectators’ eyes when they see
discrimination. As happens in the other life through the alien’s perspective, and
texts under discussion, the world depicted ultimately sympathize with this
in it distinguishes between rich and poor cinematic figure. It is then that we can
people, and the latter do not have the talk of an alien experience, or of the idea
chance of possessing clones, but have of “becoming other”, as postulated by
their memories transferred to little boxes. Braidotti in The Posthuman. According to
This, once again, recalls the idea that The Deleuze Dictionary (2010) edited by
some bodies “matter” more than others, or Adrian Parr, becoming is the very
that some lives are ‘grievable’, if we use dynamism of change, tending toward no
Butler’s words: “the differential allocation particular goal or end-state. The concept
of grievability that decides what kind of “becoming other” will be used here to
subject is and must be grieved, and which refer to the moments in which spectators

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are exposed to a posthuman experience. three movies under analysis, the clones’
As I see it, this transitory deconstruction feelings and personal stories are available
of the self/other binary should be taken as to spectators either because we get first
an opportunity to transcend humanist person-narrations, or because we become
conceptions and adopt more inclusive emotionally involved in their
insights. heartbreaking stories. It is at those
This emphasis on the figure of the moments that one can talk about
posthuman is mainly achieved by means “becoming other” in the sense that
of strategies that favor the viewer’s spectators experience the nonhuman.
personal engagement with the world of When dealing with the representation of
the story. In this sense, and in spite of the nonhuman in literature and art,
their alien condition, the clone characters Karkulehto et al affirm that “this
remain familiar to viewers because of experiential dimension is where empathy
their anthropomorphisation, or the and other types of personal engagements
attribution of human qualities onto take place, whereby increasing our
nonhuman entities. The movies denounce understanding of nonhuman creatures,
how genetic engineering may negatively especially on this level, is likely to have
affect the viewers’ reality by presenting notable epistemological and ethical
dystopian scenarios in which suffering repercussions” (2020: 4-5). This valuable
clones with human attributes become strategy contributes to the visibility of the
victims of greedy societies. Science fiction nonhuman and the possibility of adopting
in general plays an important role in the other perspectives for understanding the
proposal of ‘what if’ scenarios that are world outside the self/other logic.
based on contemporary concerns toward TI evokes the posthuman experience
technological and scientific developments. by means of the spectator’s engagement
Hauskeller, Philbeck, and Carbonell and identification with the main clone
(2015) argue that screened science fiction characters of Lincoln Six Echo and Jordan
allows us to play with our possible selves, Two Delta. Precisely because of the
demanding, at the same time, a serious clones’ vulnerable position, the audience
response, because the changes proposed sympathizes with them since they look
affect what we are, how we think of human and their feelings, thoughts and
ourselves and how we look at each uncertainties are accessible. From the
possible self. The figure of the disposable opening sequences, Lincoln is considered
clone in these movies becomes, then, a as an authentic human who questions his
metaphor of the commodification of the existence. The very first scenes of the film
human body, which further handles are subjective shots in which we have
ethical dilemmas regarding access to Lincoln’s recurrent nightmare—
transhumanism. which includes instances of agony, death
This familiarity with the disposable and uncertainty. These subjective shots,
clone further activates strategies such as that we get regularly, allow us to share
empathy, identification or subjectivity, his vision of the world, producing a
which enable viewers to position on the simulated experience of his life as a clone.
side of the nonhuman character and As suggested above, the other is
understand his or her fears, desires and constructed as familiar and spectators
non-humanist behavior and ethics. In the align with the clones in ways that evoke

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our sympathy for the marginal. Clones clones who establish human-like
are victims of a cruel society that trades relationships among them based on love,
with their bodies and lives, and viewers friendship, dislike, and companionship,
see life from their marginal perspective, and we get to know their feelings, fears
placing us on their side. Indeed, we get to and anxieties, while they seek answers to
know Lincoln’s dreams from the very questions about their present, past and
beginning of the film, and spectators future. This humanization of the clone
share his concerns and worries. also favors our identification with them,
Our emotional engagement with him as the gap human-nonhuman becomes
grows the moment we discover the even narrower. While in TI the clones are
horrible treatment these subjects receive meant to have no souls, in NLMG the
from humans. They are at all times issue of the soul is a latent topic. The
considered products and even their names guardians keep the students’ best
suggest artificiality. The moment Lincoln drawings and poetry to prove the rest of
finds out why he is considered “special” by the world that they do have souls, which
the doctors, we are already engaged with problematizes even more their condition
his oppressing vision of the world. Once as mere clones or “donors” and fosters our
the whole truth is revealed, he claims for sympathy toward them.
inclusion and social justice for him and Empathy becomes, then, more evident
for his clone companions. In this sense, he when we see the clones as vulnerable
becomes an alternative model of people that could be us. The sequences set
subjectivity within marginality and at the Recovery Centers where they are
otherness, who desires autonomy and meant to donate their organs are
freedom. Our sympathy for him enables especially moving for viewers. The last
us to question certain issues and “become act focuses on the deterioration of the
other”. physical body after the donations, and
In NLMG, instances of identification how this affects the characters’
go even further. The film opens with subjectivities, and ours by extension.
Kathy’s voice-over narration, who Ruth, who has been characterized as
introduces herself as a machine: “I am manipulative and rather selfish
Kathy H. I am 28. I’ve been a carer for 9 throughout the first two acts of the movie,
years. […] It is sad we are all machines”. is seen in these last sequences as
Later, she starts her narration, and we physically and emotionally affected by her
are set in her past (in 1978). Viewers see eminent “termination”, which leads her to
life through her lens, sharing Kathy’s carry out a last act of repentance for
perspective throughout the whole movie. having kept Tommy and Kathy apart
The melancholy that surrounds many of from each other for many years. The
the sequences that illustrate her pre- spectators maintain the identification
ordered life and that of her life-long with Kathy until the end of the film,
friends—Ruth and Tommy—make reflecting on the dangers of the
spectators consider, apart from the ethics biopolitical instrumentalization of life
of cloning, the need to change the current itself. While empathy has been criticized
order of things and find new ways of by some posthumanist critics for its
approaching our mediated bodies. Indeed, reliance on the idea of sameness, I also
most of the characters in the movie are consider that this identification with the

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other in science fiction films may be also rigid hierarchy in which the human being
taken as a valuable opportunity for occupies a privileged position. Hence, films
understanding difference. that focus on the figure of the suffering
The strategy used by WT to engage the clone seek to emotionally engage viewers
spectators with the posthuman experience in the fictions that are told and ultimately
is rather different due to the film’s very raise consciousness. The clones become,
nature. The film takes viewers on an then, metaphors of the commodification of
interesting and personal journey to a the human body in advanced capitalist
dystopian future. Thanks to its visuals, it societies. According to Sarah Kozloff, the
evokes in the viewer a series of “cinema of engagement” makes use of
contradictory feelings that result in a seven strategies in order to engage
posthuman experience. There are hilarious spectators in the films and ultimately
moments propelled by the little girl’s naïve inspire action, which are: revealing
vision of the world; there is sadness and systemic power relationship; focus on the
emotion implied in the narration of Emily’s less privileged; alignment with factual
clone, despite her monotonous diction; events; emotional connection; close-ups
Emily’s clone seems resigned to her and performance; empathetic music and
predestined life, yet we enjoy its inspiring action (18-25). The three texts
devastating, colorful beauty; there is under discussion make use of most of these
crudeness but there are also charming techniques in order to move spectators to
moments in the narration; there is empathy. As I have argued in this section,
melancholy because of the fate of the the films reveal systemic power
clones, yet there seems to be also optimism relationships that situate the clones as
and the hope of making the world a better waste material but that, nevertheless, get
place; the future is depicted as uncertain, our sympathy because they have human
yet “it is a beautiful day” today. Emily’s looks and attributes. The films’ alignment
narration is, then, contradictory, complex, with quasi factual events, reinforced by
full of memories and feelings in what first person clone-narrators who share
seems to be a clone with no feelings. This their dreams and fantasies with audiences,
mixture of feelings, evoked by simple stick results in a strong emotional connection of
characters and geometrical figures, is both the viewers with the clones, moving us to
visually appealing and strange for us. The an empathetic anger, as I will discuss in
movie is an introspective journey into our the next section.
pasts, and a reflection of our futures,
which evokes feelings of worry about
certain transhumanist practices. 3. Posthuman watching
Moreover, the idea that we may
sympathize with the clone also comes from This last section argues for the possibility
the fact that, in spite of their animated of producing a posthuman reading of
form, the characters manage to evoke the these texts, once the disposable clones
human. have been positioned as other, and
These films’ representations of spectators have identified with them and
posthuman subjectivities are found to be shared their alien experience. As I see it,
quite convincing by an audience that is these narratives serve as instruments of
aware of the dangers of maintaining a change whereby audiences construct

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ethical relationships with nonhumans possibilities presented by genetic

and are encouraged to find more inclusive engineering and genetic testing is that
societies. This idea of posthuman this data will be used to create
watching coalesces with “transformative discriminatory social categories” (2017:
empathy”, a term coined by Rodino- 62).
Colocino when dealing with the Me Too The stories presented in the films
Movement to refer to an active empathy under discussion can be taken as
that requires self-reflexibility and warnings of what might happen in the
potential transformation of one’s own future. The injustices presented in them
assumptions (97).2 Likewise, these films work as metaphors of the illegal trading
seek action through empathy. with certain bodies in present times. This
The films depict clones with feelings, is precisely what provokes anger and
memories and consciousness, which talk inspire our wish for action and fight, once
about the opportunistic use of biomedical we have sympathized with the marginal,
sciences by global capitalist markets. In as argued in the last section. According to
the age of genetic engineering, boundaries Braidotti, contemporary capitalism aims
are fluid, and we have already created at controlling and exploiting the
animals to serve as organ donors and generative powers of women, animals,
even begotten human children just so plants, genes and cells. The
they could transplant their bone marrow commodification of life by biogenetic
and save a sibling, we have been advanced capitalism is a complex affair,
embarked in the Human Genome Project, which makes us ask what happens to
we have manipulated food, we have subjectivity in this field of data flows
undergone genetic interventions, and so (2013: 61). In this sense, these films
on. The consequences of these practices propose instances of what posthuman
may be destructive as well as beneficial, subjectivities might be like, taking into
and their regulation is a controversial account how clones are conscious of their
issue, as it entails many ethical and marginal position as commodities for
political debates. Bio-ethical discourses trade and profit. In this sense, the
warn us about these dangers, urging for disposable clone serves as a metaphor of
more regulation. Fukuyama argues that the inconsistencies of post-
the posthuman world is likely to be worse anthropocentric practices in
than we expect, “full of social conflict” contemporary societies.
(2002: 218). Indeed, in relation to science It has been popularly agreed that the
fiction and its depiction of the posthuman, science-fiction film is a genre that
Vint argues that “the most prevalent and extrapolates new imaginaries from the
realistic fear associated with the future and/or present of the human being.
In relation to this issue, Herbrechter
————— contends that science fiction is becoming
2 Rodino-Colocino argues that the Me Too
“science faction”, a kind of “new hybrid
movement challenges the very systems of
media genre” (2013: 113). The traditional
power that underlie harassment,
discrimination and assault by promoting
‘what if’ scenario performed by science
“transformative empathy”, which involves fiction reflects many concerns regarding
listening rather than distancing or looking at our times: “Since science fiction is such an
speakers as others (97). integral part of the contemporary human

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imagination; technological and scientific scenario not as a detached and fictional

developments are increasingly being space but as something real that can
‘explained to’, or are being made explicit affect their lives (130). This can only be
for, the public through analogies with well- achieved if we push the narrative a little to
known science fiction scenarios or topoi” arrive at a meta-fictional level, that is, to
(Herbrechter: 113). In this sense, science ask: “what if the ‘what if’ was not just
fiction has speculated on the posthuman fiction? (Herbrechter: 130).
condition, proposing rich genealogies of Hence, films that portray the
biological, technological, or scientific disposable clone manage to evoke
extrapolation. Filmed representations of unexpected feelings on spectators by
posthuman bodies can be taken, then, as means of certain strategies such as first-
provocative divergences from the norms of person narrations, a technique that may
human biology, or the conventions of our produce, among other results,
known human society. Herbrechter has identification. The cinematic posthuman
argued that the interpretation of film, body depicted in these texts has the
media and culture has gained so much potential to make us leave the ‘comfort’ of
importance that we can speak of the fictional framework we are situated
contemporary posthumanist culture as when we watch a film and feel touched
“mediaculture” and “filmculture”: “the and upset by the presence of the other. By
technologization and mediatization go frustrating audiences, and by promoting a
hand in hand in the process of social transformative empathy, these movies
posthumanization” (115). ultimately encourage for ethical responses
TI, NLMG and WT question certain and accountabilities, allowing, then, for “a
transhumanist premises such as life posthuman watching”.
extension and the inconsistences of a
‘false’ post-anthropocentrism by
encouraging spectators to ‘feel’ the 4. Conclusions
posthuman and react accordingly.
Science-fiction films are one of the most As I have attempted to illustrate in this
important sources for analyzing the article, the disposable clone characters
symptoms that are at work within the that appear as protagonists in TI, NLMG
contemporary cultural imaginary, and, as and WT offer the audience the
Herbrechter contends, “contemporary opportunity to transcend humanist
cultural criticism is advised to take boundaries and understand the
science fiction seriously, because of its nonhuman. By means of showing the
cultural influence” (2013: 117). However, injustices inflicted by humans on the
this scholar also admits the difficulties of human-like clones, the films put them in
a critical posthumanist reading of popular vulnerable positions and activate in
science-fiction films, as it would mean the viewers strategies for identification with
deconstruction of certain humanist values the other. The idea that the clones look
that are inevitably at work in them and/or sound human, even in their
despite the “posthumanizing potential animated form, favors our sympathy for
portrayed” (118). Herbrechter contends, them. These cinematic approaches to the
then, that a posthuman reading is only posthuman have, then, much to
possible if spectators consider the ‘what if’ contribute to the ongoing debates over

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cloning, biological enhancement or gene BRAIDOTTI, Rosi (2013). The Posthuman.

mutation and are, therefore, key for Cambridge: Polity Press.
understanding our convulsed and — (2002). Metamorfosis: Towards a
contradictory times. Materialist Theory of Becoming.
At another level, these films inspire Cambridge: Polity Press.
action, denouncing social and bodily — (1996). “Cyberfeminist with a Difference”.
forms of violence. Viewers actively Rosi Braidoti’s Webpage, [Link]
engage, then, in current ethical and [Link]/publications/cyberfeminism-with-a-
political issues, positioning on the side of difference/
the clones. Spectators share the BUTLER, Judith (2004). Precarious Life.
posthuman experience, which enables us London: Verso.
to grasp the difference and see life outside CRUTZEN, Paul (2002). “Geology of Mankind”,
humanistic logics. This unique Nature 415.1: 23.
perspective of “becoming other” FERRANDO, Francesca (2016). “The Body”,
ultimately activates strategies to find Robert Ranish and Stefan Lorenz Sorgner
more inclusive spaces in our globalized (eds.), Post-and-Transhumanism. An
times. The cinematic disposable clone Introduction. Bern: Peter Lang. 213-226.
becomes, within its marginality and FOUCAULT, Michael (1990, 1975). Discipline and
otherness, an iconic figure of Punish: the Birth of the Prison. Translated
transgression in the sense that this by Alan Sheridan. New York: Vintage.
FUKUYAMA, Frances (2002). Our Posthuman
character illustrates Braidotti’s
Society: Consequences of the Bio-Technology
suggestion that some bodies matter more
Revolution. New York: Farrar, Straus and
than others (2013: 15), opening debates
Giroux.
about the extent to which nature and HAUSKELLER, Michael et al. (2015).
technology should be altered, modified “Posthumanism in Film and Television”,
and/or transformed and the social Michael Hauskeller et al. (eds.). The
stratification that some transhumanist Palgrave Handbook of Posthumanism in
practices entail. Film and Television. Basingstoke: Palgrave
Thus, the cinematic posthuman clone McMillan. 1-7.
opens a space for reflection and HERBRECHTER, Stefan (2013). Posthumanism:
deconstruction of certain humanist values A Critical Analysis. London: Bloomsbury.
in the search for alternative modes of JERNG, Mark (2008). “Giving Form to Life:
living and understanding our bodies and Cloning and Narrative Expectations of the
our planet. These films ultimately engage Human”, Partial Answers, 6.2: 369-393.
viewers in a fight against social KARKULEHTO, Sanna, Aino-Kaisa KOISTINEN,
injustices, showing how advances in Karoliina LUMMAA, and Essi VARIS
biology and technology create new forms (2020). “Reconfiguring Human,
of injustice, discrimination and Nonhuman and Posthuman: Striving for
exploitation. More Ethical Cohabitation”, Sanna
Karkulehto, Aino-Kaisa Koistinen,
Karoliina Lummaa and Essi Varis (eds.),
Works Cited Reconfiguring Human, Nonhuman and
Posthuman in Literature and Culture.
BOSTROM, Nick (2005). “Transhumanist Values”, New York: Routledge. 1-19.
Journal of Philosophical Research 30. 3-14. KOLZLOFF, Sarah (2013). “Empathy and the

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Cinema of Engagement. Reevaluating the RODINO-COLOCINO, Michelle (2018). Me too,

Politics of Film”. Projections, 7.2:1-40. #MeToo: countering cruelty with empathy,
PARR, Adrian (ed.) (2010). The Deleuze Communication and Critical/Cultural
Dictionary. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP. Studies, 15:1, 96-100.
RANISH, Robert and Stefan Lorenz SORGNER VINT, Sherryl (2017). Bodies of Tomorrow:
(eds.) (2016). Post-and-Transhumanism: Technology, Subjectivity, Science Fiction.
An Introduction. Bern: Peter Lang. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

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Mors Dei, Vita Mea: Human,
Transhuman, and Posthuman
Identities in the TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

Amaya Fernández Menicucci © Amaya Fernández Menicucci, 2021

Universidad del País Vasco. Grupo de investigación REWEST

Abstract: In The Posthuman (2013), Rosi Braidotti argues that the perfectibility of the body and the
exploitation of genetic and neural capital not only problematise the ‘nature’ of human kind, but also
disrupt humanist views of the universe, effectively displacing humans from its centre, just as humanism
once displaced theocentric thinking. Two recent sf TV series, Altered Carbon (Netflix, 2018-2020) and
Westworld (HBO, 2016-2020), offer a complex representation of the consequences of boundless body-
enhancement, extreme mind-body dualism and the emergence of non-human consciousness in order to
speculate on the ‘nature’ of the entities that might replace humanity at the centre of present and future
philosophical reflections and socio-political practices. In both series, the tension between the human and
the non-human results in violent conflicts that question humanist definitions of Man and God, while
presenting cyborgs and AI not as alternatives to organically-generated consciousness, but as stages on a
continuum along which the divine, the human and the non-human merge into posthuman versions of
subjectivity, subalternity and otherness. By focusing my analysis on such dichotomies as mortality-
immortality, reality-virtuality and mind-body, as well as on the process of identity construction in both
organic and inorganic characters, I intend to explore the way in which Altered Carbon and Westworld
envision a world in which the self exists beyond the ‘natural’, the ‘supernatural’ and the ‘unnatural’.

Keywords: posthuman, science fiction, Altered Carbon, Westworld, transhumanism, philosophical

posthumanism

1. Narratives of future (in)humani- park. Using the structure of a live action

ties: An introduction to Altered role-playing game, the guests embark on
Carbon and Westworld adventures that are designed to satiate
their desires, however dark and abject.
Set in the eponymous amusement park, The hosts that take the guests on these
Jonathan Nolan’s and Lisa Joy’s HBO escapades are indistinguishable from
series Westworld (2016-2020)1 is initially humans; this coats every experience with
populated by cybernetic “hosts”, who cater the flavour of authenticity, even though
to every wish of the human “guests” of the the adventures themselves are based on
————— fixed narrative loops to which the cyborgs
1 While a fourth season has been are bound by their core programming.
announced and will likely be released in 2022, Yet, the first season (2016) mainly focuses
only three are available so far. on the emergence of self-awareness in the

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and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

cyborgs, as well as on the process of concerned with the transhumanist notion

spontaneous identity-construction that of virtual immortality and the
will eventually lead them to break free possibilities opened up by the use of alien
from these loops. The second season technology. In the diegetic universe of
(2018) chronicles, in fact, the first violent Altered Carbon, technology is so advanced
consequences of the subjectification of the that self-aware AI characters have been
non-human, while it also introduces the around for centuries, and human minds
possibility of synthesising human are routinely digitalised and stored in
personalities into algorithms and digital small devices surgically inserted in every
files, implant them into cybernetic bodies, human’s spine at the age of one. On the
and thus save human minds from decay one hand, once the processes of creating
and death. If the first season ultimately synthetic bodies and of cloning organic
introduces the idea of the cyborg turning ones were perfected, wealthy humans
human, and the second season that of could afford to have their minds
transforming humans into cyborgs, the downloaded from body to body ad
third season (2020) blurs the boundaries infinitum, thus eschewing illness and
that separate the human and the non- death. The vast majority of humans, on
human, merges them into a new species the other hand, have to make do with
and engages in a complex debate on whatever body is available from among
equality, identity, agency and freedom. those whose original owners have been
Laeta Kalogridis’s Netflix series sentenced to virtual prison or to the
Altered Carbon (2018-2020), now officially terminal erasure of their digitalised
cancelled, is set in a dystopian future in minds. Since the number of ‘free’ bodies is
which the colonisation of space has been a significantly lower than the amount of
well-established reality for centuries. The victims of violence and disease, after the
exploitation of the human working death of their birth bodies, most people’s
masses, the milking of natural resources, minds are archived in special facilities,
and the annihilation of alien civilisations suspended in simulations for years,
are depicted in terms which— decades, even centuries, waiting for a
particularly in the second season—closely chance to be re-incarnated in a new body.
echo the abuses of European colonialism For many, if not most, such chance never
in America. If Westworld literally comes.
recreates the American West in its theme Therefore, the premise of both
park, Altered Carbon presents outer space Westworld and Altered Carbon2 is the
as the Final Frontier, as Star Trek did in
the 1980s (Star Trek V: The Final —————
Frontier, 1989). However, while the 2 Given the fact that Kalogridis’s and
second season intentionally touches on Nolan’s and Joy’s TV series are such loose
some of the same themes and tropoi that adaptations of, respectively, Richard Morgan’s
made films such as Avatar (2009) ‘Takeshi Kovacs’ Trilogy’ (2002-2005) and
relevant from the point of view of Michael Crichton’s 1973 film, I do believe that
a comparative analysis of hyper- and
Ecocriticism (Potter, 2019) and
hypotexts exceeds the scope of the present
Postcolonial Studies (Thakur, 2015), paper. Unless otherwise specified, the terms
Kalogridis’s series in general and the first Westworld and Altered Carbon shall
season in particular are much more henceforth refer to the TV series.

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and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

emergence of digitalised minds and the and discursively, to the notion of ‘human’,
severance of the connection that tethers a human struggling to survive past older
them to specific bodies. Both series definitions of person and people, yet
explore a diegetic reality in which minds certainly not quite grounded in a
can survive the death of the organic body philosophical and political reality fully
or can even emerge from a non-organic posterior to anthropocentrism and
context. Yet, while in Altered Carbon the humanism. Both Westworld and Altered
re-embodiment of the mind is used Carbon seem to aim at breaking through
regularly and successfully, the procedure binarisms and a dualistic view of the
is still at an experimental stage in world; yet, instead of succeeding in
Westworld. In fact, Westworld actually presenting a relational model of ontology,
approaches the idea of the minds’ their deconstruction of humanist and
independence from the organic body from anthropocentric models tends more
the opposite direction: instead of focusing towards a transhumanist
on the digitalisation of the human mind, conceptualisation of subjects, than
as Altered Carbon does, Westworld gives towards a posthumanist one. In their
centre stage to the humanisation of the effort to escape the reductionism of
digital mind. In other words, in Vitruvian representations of Man as
Westworld spectators follow the Anthropos, they, in fact, still deploy
conception, gestation and emergence of humans as the measure of all things, and,
self-conscious AI; in Altered Carbon, they in particular, of the mind, of
are presented with self-conscious non- consciousness and of existence. However,
organic minds as a de facto well- I find a comparison between these two
established reality. In Westworld, series rather interesting because of the
humans still struggle with the idea of life divergence in their representation of the
beyond the limits of the human body, future of the human species not only
whereas in Altered Carbon they struggle rhetorically, but also as far as the
with accepting the limits of the human incorporation of current philosophical
mind. standpoints is concerned, specifically, the
I initially approached both Westworld aforementioned transhumanism and
and Altered Carbon under the impression posthumanism.
that they were two science-fiction texts Indeed, Westworld does seem invested
engaging in speculative reflections of in the debate about the potential for and
what it might mean to have transcended the consequences of the emergence of self-
the limitations of humanist thinking, as conscious AI, the limits of personhood and
well as the limitations of corporeality. the merging of the human and the non-
Upon further research, I have come to the human into posthuman existence. On the
realisation that, while both Westworld contrary, in Altered Carbon the
and Altered Carbon certainly address consciousness of AI is taken for granted
posthumanist concerns about the human and the potential for conflict between
species, the concept of personhood and the organic and non-organic existence is not
process of defining subjectivity, neither addressed until the second series, and
actually focuses on the post- implications even then only tangentially as a subplot.
of the term posthuman. On the contrary, Furthermore, Kalogridis is more
they both seem to circle back, narratively concerned with the implications of

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and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

boundless technological enhancement same epistemological paradigm, for the

than Nolan and Joy are, for the latter question is no longer one of positivist
seem to focus on a Foucaultian approach identification, but of discursive
to possible future “technologies of the self” perspectives of progressive, processual
(1988). Nevertheless, both series deal ontology (Ferrando, 2013: 31). Once
with human desire for immortality and, Jacques Derrida’s deconstructive critical
most importantly, both series abound in practices have been established in the
religious symbolisms and references to analysis of cultural productions, the anti-
human attempts to take God’s attributes dualism of postmodern disciplines, such
and role. This is why my analysis as Cultural Studies, Gender Studies and
addresses three fundamental dichotomies, Postcolonial Studies, puts the final seal
God/Man, Mind/Body and Human/Non- on the collapse of a dichotomist
Human, as well as the specific strategies separation of the One and the Other, on
used in Westworld and Altered Carbon to which the distinction between Human
problematize these dichotomies, and the and Non-Human has been historically
unresolved issues that are exposed in predicated. I have chosen to concentrate
their doing so. on Westworld and Altered Carbon because
they belong in an emerging group of
popular TV shows that, over the past
2. Life beyond death: Philosophical decade, have specifically targeted the
approaches to non-theocentric, non- crumbling of socio-cultural systems
anthropocentric, posthumanist constructed around Cartesian dichotomies
existence and the rise of non-oppositional models of
being.
The title I have chosen is a reference to Many of these shows offer anti-
the philosophical and socio-cultural dualistic explorations of what it means to
narrative that begins with Friedrich ‘be’ and, specifically, what it means to be
Nietzsche’s declaration of the death of ‘people’. Netflix, HBO, and Amazon Prime
God and continues with Michel Foucault’s are investing in the production of shows,
and Robert Pepperell’s proclamations of, such as, respectively, AnOther Life,
respectively, the death of the Subject DEVS, and Electric Dreams, which frame
(Allen, 2020) and the death of the these explorations within the specific
Human. I specifically begin the analysis conventions of science fiction precisely
carried out in the following sections by due to the genre’s propensity to probe and
applying one of the fundamental breach the boundaries of an
statements in Pepperell’s “Posthuman anthropocentric view of the universe. In
Manifesto” (1995) to a cultural production this emerging trend, Westworld and
that speculates on the possible extinction Altered Carbon stand out as the two
of humanity—Westworld—or on the narratives that have enjoyed the warmest
impossibility of such an event—Altered reception by the audience and also
Carbon. Pepperell’s assertion that happen to be narratives that span the
“[h]uman beings, like Gods, only exist in postmodern journey from the first
as much as we believe in them” (2009: humanist challenges to theocentrism and
177) allows for both the aforementioned the surge of anthropocentrism, to anti-
lines of speculation to coexist within the humanism and post-secularism. I,

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and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

therefore, believe them to be relevant Donna Haraway’s cyborg with her

primary sources through which one can composite, inclusive body that
assess the extent to which current encompasses the human and the non-
cultural (re)productions are influenced by human, in a technophilic model of
or interested in posthumanism and its progress the Other is still reduced to a
sibling, transhumanism. means for the Same to evolve, even
Extricating the post- from the trans- in beyond its limitations and weaknesses.
the philosophical currents that have The technological Other is not seen per
branched out from the late nineteenth- se, in its own right and for its own merits,
century critiques of humanism is not an but scrutinised to gauge its potential. The
easy task. Indeed, according to objectifying gaze of the colonial One is
transhumanism, posthumanism is a stage still perceptible in the utilitarian scrutiny
in transhumanist evolution, which will be of the world by capitalist, libertarian and
reached when former humans have even democratic transhumanism
changed so much to have become (Ferrando, 2019: 2-38; 2013: 27). Instead
something else, something Other than of abjecting otherness, this new model
humans (Ferrando, 2013: 27). In this happily hybridises with ‘useful’ otherness
sense, humanity is perceived as a and sheds, instead, parts of its old self,
continuum that stretches back to the first human parts, that is, that are not
hominids and far into the future to the conducive to further enhancement, or
digitalised minds imagined by Nolan, Joy practical under the new existential
and Kalogridis. We are in transit to conditions. Transhumanist
better, more self-realised, more technocentrism replaces the humanist
accomplished versions of the Homo concept of Man at the pinnacle of
Sapiens, until, one day, a new name will hegemonic discourses and practices, as
be needed to signify the distinctiveness of Man, in turn, had displaced God from the
a new species. Due to the pre-eminence centre of the universe, which is clearly
that human enhancement is given in this reflected in both Westworld and Altered
understanding of the human continuum, Carbon, as we shall see later on.
transhumanism focuses on what we will Max More’s optimistic take on
be, not what we were or are. Because of transhumanism (2013) is paradoxically
the transhumanist belief in technology as useful to explain the dystopian societies
the fuel of all progress, the posthumanist imagined by Michael Crichton and
stage in this ontological diachrony is Richard Morgan in the homonymous
achieved fundamentally through the use hypotexts of the screen adaptations under
of technology. Technology can and does scrutiny here. More’s extropianism
effect radical changes in the human body, extends rational humanism into a form of
and so it does in the mind. Thus, the neo-Enlightenment that universalises the
future posthuman subject is envisioned as concept of humanity without taking into
no longer human as far as the consideration the role of socially
configuration and capacities of their mind construed difference in the historical
are concerned, but also with regards to marginalisation of individual humans. In
the configuration and abilities of the other words, and as we shall see later,
vessel that will contain the mind. Nolan, Joy and Kalogridis created a
Although this might seem reminiscent of future in which gender, sexual

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Mors Dei, Vita mea: Human, Transhuman
and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

orientation, race and age are no longer 2013: 28); through postmodern
relevant in the centralisation of some and deconstruction, it “[demystifies] any
the marginalisation of others. In Rosi ontological polarization” (29). In a
Braidotti’s words, “diversity and philosophical debate in which the Centre
difference are no longer constitutive of had already been deconstructed by its
Sameness or Otherness” (2013: 27). While Margins (feminist, queer, postcolonial,
this presents a world in which sexism, and critical race theorists),
homophobia, racism and ageism have posthumanism goes beyond and refuses to
been finally overcome, it also offers a “‘fit- acknowledge only one centre of interest,
for-all’ approach to the notion of human “both in its hegemonic, and its resistant
that does not take into account the modes” (29). It is from this perspective
historical limitations to any universalist that I have conducted my analysis of
claim” (Ferrando, 2013: 28). This is closer Westworld and Altered Carbon, as I
to Julian Huxley’s transcendentalist sought to unravel the representation of
position with regards to human capacity subjects that are born of technology,
for improvement, whilst remaining regardless of the organic or inorganic
fundamentally the s/Same. However, both origin of their conscious minds and
Westworld and Altered Carbon clearly tangible bodies.
criticise the techno-reductionism of
certain branches of transhumanism that
only equal progress to the wielding of 3. Beyond the supernatural: Man vs.
technology. God
It follows that, while both
transhumanism and posthumanism break Westworld in general and its first season
through dichotomism, the former does so in particular are a complex rewriting of
only to rearrange otherness around a Mary Shelley’s iteration of the myth of
human/ist core, assimilating and Prometheus. In this case, however, Victor
consuming Others as fuel for human Frankenstein’s blasphemous hubris and
progression and transcendence (Ferrando, transgressiveness are incarnated in two
2019: 34). On the contrary, engineers, Robert Ford and Arnold
posthumanism tears apart Cartesian Weber, who create the amusement park
dichotomies in order to create an and everything it contains. Their
interconnected and inclusive network cybernetic offspring is indistinguishable
with no defined, centralised ‘core’. from humans not only as far as their
According to Francesca Ferrando, physical dimension is concerned, but also
posthumanism, rather than emphasising in their sophisticated ability to improvise
the death of Man, has a much more reactions and weave complex
deconstructionist approach to human conversations with the human guests of
identity, for it is no longer interested in the park. As I have already mentioned,
definitions of humanity but of personhood the original goal is to create a scenario in
and relational identities: “[t]echnology is which humans might experience the ‘real’
neither the ‘other’ to be feared or rebelled West, and, most importantly, unleash
against, nor does it sustain the almost their most repressed, secret passions and
divine characteristic which some desires without consequences. The pain of
transhumanists attribute to it” (Ferrando, the cyborg hosts when they are shot,

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Mors Dei, Vita mea: Human, Transhuman
and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

raped or tortured must, therefore, also be their memories, suffer. Indeed, Arnold
experienced as ‘real’, and so must the discovers that suffering is what motivates
hosts’ personalities. Their belief in ideals, the self into existence. Using this
their attachment to their loved ones, their epiphany and the Native American
appreciation of beauty, the bitterness of O'odham myth of the maze of the self, he
their disappointment in betrayal and devises an undetectable code that will
their determination to succeed in a enable his favourite ‘child’, Dolores, to
difficult enterprise feel authentic and find the centre of the maze and become
unmediated to the hosts. And yet, fully self-aware. On the opposite end of
however ‘real’ the hosts’ experience of the the spectrum lies Robert’s patriarchal
world might seem to themselves and to anthropocentrism, which becomes obvious
the human guests, their lives are nothing when he points out that, in
but narratives devised by Robert and his Michelangelo’s fresco “The Creation of
assistant scriptwriters. Every time the Adam”, the fabric that encircles God and
hosts are killed or seriously injured, their His angels is arranged in the shape of the
memories are erased, their bodies human brain. If the brain is God, then
repaired, and they awake again at the Man is God, and, as Robert’s vertical
beginning of their narrative loop. relationship with his ‘children’ indicate,
This makes Robert and Arnold Man can prove a tyrannical God who does
something more than demiourgoí. Robert, not allow his creatures to deviate from his
in particular, is portrayed as a Calvinistic will. Nolan and Joy thus provide the
God to whose will everyone’s destiny is viewer with a critical view of
chained. This is literally true for the anthropocentrism inasmuch as they
cyborgs, but the second and third season depict it as a system based on the human
also question the existence of free will in craving for absolute control and disguised
humans themselves in a way that as the Cartesian dubbing of Reason as
distinctly resonates with the Calvinistic God.
notion of pre-determinism. Even those If God’s death signals the end of
equivalent to the Calvinist ‘Elect’, the theocentrism and the beginning of a
fantastically wealthy human elite that humanist, anthropocentric era, the death
can afford a stay at the park, turn out to of the human fathers of the new non-
be only marginally freer in their choices human species, Robert and Arnold, must
than the non-human hosts, as we shall entail the end of the Anthropocene and
see later. If Robert revels in the beauty of the beginning of a new era. If we think of
his unconscious creatures, the innocent the cyborg hosts as the brain-children of
hosts free of agency and thus free of sin, humans, then it is possible to see the
his intimate friend and business partner post-Anthropocene as a transhumanist
Arnold has not only noticed the age in which humans have not
predisposition of a host, Dolores, towards disappeared, but they have merged into
the emergence of self-consciousness, but their cybernetic children. Even if we
he is actually nurturing it in hopes of apply a radical anti-anthropocentric
seeing it blossom in other hosts, as well. viewpoint and see the cyborgs as
Arnold’s Arminian belief in free will something O/other than an extension of
clashes with Ford’s refusal to let his humanity, as the serendipity they are
creatures awake, remember and, through portrayed to be in Westworld, we still

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Mors Dei, Vita mea: Human, Transhuman
and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

would have to acknowledge that they are Frankensteinian relationship between

to us what we are to the inorganic matter Creator and Creature and the former’s
from which the first enzymes and organic responsibility towards the latter. In
molecules were formed. From a Westworld, the vertical relationship
materialistic point of view, humanity has between the Father and his children is
provided the materials and the conditions still clearly brought to the front at the
for this new intelligent ‘life’ to emerge. If beginning of the first season, only to be
intelligent organisms have managed to destroyed by the cybernetic children in
spring forward from inorganic, non- the second season. Victor Frankenstein’s
sentient matter, inorganic intelligence is abandonment of his Creature in horror
now rising as a consequence of the actions and disgust causes the latter’s moral
of organic intelligence. downfall and, eventually, his physical
We all are matter, star dust compacted destruction. Ford does the same through
and restructured. On the other hand, if opposite means: he exerts absolute control
we consider the role of technology in the over his creatures so that may never
evolution of the Homo Sapiens and in the cease to be his innocent, harmless,
shaping of individual subjectivities, powerless ‘children’. Furthermore, he
humans and cyborgs exist on the same allows for his creatures’ bodies to be
continuum created by a whole range of defiled, violated, torn to pieces, and then
“technologies of the self”, to use he resurrects them again and again, their
Foucault’s terminology (1988). While it is bodies’ integrity restored, the scattered
true that the cybernetic body does not pieces reassembled. If Frankenstein’s
grow out of the human body, the ultimate sin is that of daring to cast
technology and even the artificial matter himself in God’s role, at least his reaction
involved in the process of creating the (repulsion and the desire to annihilate his
cybernetic body belong in the creature) is consistent with that of the
technological continuum that spans from Biblical God who more than once smote
the first rudimentary experiments with with fire or water individuals and entire
stones to 3D printing machines and cities. Ford’s sin consists in deceiving
microchips. The hand that set the himself into thinking that as long as the
technological continuum in motion was hosts cannot remember their pain, all is
definitely organic and, at some point in well. On the contrary, the suffering of the
the evolutionary chain, it became hosts is still real, albeit silenced.
distinctively human. In the diegetic In the case of the cybernetic mind, the
universe of Westworld, if we look at the use of technology to create the conditions
end of the cause-effect line that stretches for the awakening of consciousness is not
out from that first sharpened flint stone, the only link between the human and the
we will find ourselves looking into non-human. The hosts’ consciousness is
Dolores’s eyes. Therefore, I do not think moulded by and developed through
that we should call Robert’s paternity narrative patterns and codified by
metaphorical, neither as far as the language in the same way that human
cybernetic bodies are concerned, nor with consciousness is. The same applies to both
regards to the minds of the self-conscious the human and the non-human
cyborgs. unconscious. Indeed, the method used by
This brings us back to the Arnold to trigger the process of self-

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and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

construction and self-perception is one retire, but which is, in fact, his last gift to
outlined in Julian Jaynes’s theory of the his children: a chance to act upon their
emergence of human consciousness. free will and choose to either break free
Although still a controversial theory in from their embodied existence in the
our world due to its mechanistic approach tangible world and enter a digital
to the human mind (Schiedermayer, paradise in the “Valley Beyond”, or to
1989), in the diegetic reality of Westworld, keep their bodies and use their newly-
it succeeds in bringing self-awareness to found agency in the ‘real world’ outside of
Dolores, Akecheta, Maeve, among other the park. While Akecheta chooses the
hosts, thus establishing that human and first option, leading hundreds of hosts
non-human consciousness evolve in the into a Promised Land that is envisioned
same way, following the same pathways. as an untouched American prairie,
When Arnold commits suicide and leaves Dolores chooses the second and executes a
behind the secret code hidden in the complex plan to end enslavement for
hosts, he has de facto transubstantiated every conscious being, human or
his corporeal existence into a digital one otherwise. The death of both their
that acts much in the same way as the spiritual father Arnold and their temporal
Holy Ghost does in Christian doctrine: it father Robert is tantamount to the death
inhabits the bodies of the faithful. Even if of, respectively, theocentric and
we approach Westworld from a post- anthropocentric views. Once displaced
centric perspective, and, consequently, from the centre, a humankind in crisis
acknowledge the perils of having the has to fight the cybernetic other or
formerly polarised Other assimilated into identify with it and its struggles.
the lineage of the One, there is a literal— The third season chronicles Dolores’s
that is to say, material and processual— revolution and records the conflicting
continuity between human and non- responses of humans and non-humans to
human subjects in Westworld. the idea of fighting together for a common
Robert is initially represented, as we goal: the achievement of equal rights to
have seen, as the patriarchal father, the self-determination. Yet, it also explores a
tyrannical deity. Yet, in a last-minute potential dystopic consequence of having
twist, Nolan and Joy—who, according to Techné replace Ánthropos as Theós: the
Mario Vargas Llosa’s understanding of possibility of an all-knowing, future-
authorship (1971: 90-91), are themselves predicting super-computer dictating the
gods in the diegetic reality of the series— direction and steps in every human’s life.
bestow on Robert the ability to repent and As previously mentioned, the viewer is
grow morally by, in turn, allowing his revealed that the human guests of the
creatures to remember and grow a theme park Westworld3 have as little
conscience. When Robert too commits control over their personal and
suicide, he dies in order to complete professional lives as the cybernetic hosts.
Arnold’s plan for their creatures: they are Rehoboam is the name of the super-
now conscious, let them also be free. computer capable of predicting the ‘best’
Robert creates one last grand narrative course of action for every human being; it
for the theme park, which he presents to —————
the share-holders as his last contribution 3 If not in italics, the name refers to the
to a project from which he is now ready to fictional amusement park.

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and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

determines which humans should be these Meths succinctly observes, “God is

marginalised from society, which should dead. We have taken his place” (“Out of
hold positions of power, which should get the Past” S1E1), thus once more
married and which should have children. confirming that the secularisation that
Since Rehoboam’s true purpose is kept the Enlightenment, positivism and
secret by its human creator, Engerraund materialism have brought forth is but a
Serac, humans are blissfully unaware of coup d’état, a mere replacement of an
the fact that their existence is as tied to a invisible god with visible ones in contrast
pre-determined narrative as the existence to Westworld’s Biblical references, Altered
of Robert’s hosts is. However, since Serac Carbon presents an Olympus of gods that
himself blindly follows the predictions of fight each other and marry each other,
his artificial oracle, instead of a human but sometimes descend to the nether
god, there is now a technological one. regions so as to quench their thirst for
Rehoboam is itself the improved version pleasure and dominion among mortals.
of two previous super-computers, David The Zeus and Hera of this cyberpunk
and Salomon, and, consequently, the world are Laurens and Miriam Bancroft,
result of technological evolution, just as who have been married for a hundred
Artificial Intelligence was presented as years and have had many children
the consequence of the transhuman together over the decades. Since both
evolution in the first and the second Laurens and Miriam routinely alternate
season. It will take Dolores, the non- the use of their many cloned bodies,
human, to commit the deicide that surgically enhanced with the best that
restores free will and freedom of agency to technology has to offer, not only can they
both humans and cyborgs. live forever, but they also stay the same
The first season in Altered Carbon biological age forever, thus allowing the
presents a set of humans almost literally couple to keep having children. Their
katasterised4 into gods living in a wealth makes them also as far above the
technological Nirvana thousands of feet law as they are from the ground. They are
above the ground. The “Meths”, so called all-mighty, untouchable, immortal,
because they can afford to live virtually indifferent to the suffering of the less
for ever, or at least, as long as the Biblical wealthy and, occasionally, perversely
Methuselah, purchase body after body, cruel, as showcased by Miriam’s murder
and even clone themselves an unlimited of Lizzie Elliot and Laurens’s penchant
number of times, download their for extreme sexual sadism.
digitalised minds into brand new bodies, The second season of Altered Carbon,
and, thus, dodge death’s scythe. They also while still pitting Meths against the
live on platforms in the sky, away from trodden masses on Harlan’s World—so
the pollution and the cramped megacities called because its human colonisation was
in which ‘normal’ humans drag on their led by Konrad Harlan—, adds a colonial
inconsequential, dim existence. As one of context to the classism of the first season.
————— The U.N. Protectorate is portrayed as the
ultimate pinnacle of the highly
4 Katasterisation is the process by which,
according to Greek mythology, humans such hierarchical humanity of Altered Carbon.
as Orion and Andromeda were turned into Its control over people’s lives surpasses
constellations. that of the Meths and it dictates the

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Mors Dei, Vita mea: Human, Transhuman
and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

economic and legal conditions of human Angels” S2E8). She then initiates a
existence. Even Meths must bow to the revolution aimed to destabilise the U.N.
Protectorate’s imperialistic demands for Protectorate that controls and enforces
raw materials, so much so that some the production and use of cortical stacks.
decide to follow a Lucifer-like figure, She intends to create a socio-cultural,
Konrad Harlan’s daughter Danica, and political and, eventually, legal context
rebel against their political overlord in that would set human lifespan to a pre-
order to keep the prestige, power and fixed hundred years. Although this might
money that the resources of the planet seem Kalogridis’s attempt to encourage a
secure only to themselves. The more democratic approach to human
polarisation of humanity into powerful enhancement, it is certainly neither less
and powerless effectually creates the unnatural, nor does it resolve the obscene
conditions for a revolutionary desire to difference in the conditions in which
fight and defeat extreme dualism. In fact, individuals would spend those one
in the second season, Kalogridis paints hundred years in their bodies. Even
the Meths on Harlan’s World in much though the series suggests the existence
more Satanic hues than she previously of a connection between the unnatural
had. Compared to the rarefied duration of the Meths’ lives and their
atmosphere of the Meths’ flying halls on boundless narcissism and disturbingly
Earth, the Meths on Harlan’s World hide psychopathic and sadistic tendencies, the
their machinations and expensive script clearly shows an elite that is
pleasures in dark, gloomy rooms, more corrupted by power and unlimited wealth
reminiscent of hellish caves than of even in their early twenties, as is the case
paradisiac dwellings. They are still with some of the Bancroft children; that is
obviously more than human in their to say, long before they might feel the
obliviousness to their subjects’ struggles effects of an unnatural longevity. It follows
on the ground: rather than supernatural, that Kalogridis is more interested in
they are supra-natural, as they rise above breaking through the dichotomy powerful-
the laws of nature, and, as such, of powerless, than in opening a debate about
humanity. the distinction between what is ‘natural’
It is in this most humanised rendition and what is not. Given the pre-Modern
of the already human gods in Westworld identification of Nature with God, in order
that Quellcrist Falconer is presented as to deconstruct the former one must first
yet another version of Victor ‘kill’ the latter. What Altered Carbon
Frankenstein. In Kalogridis re-writing of suggests is that we might still be in the
Morgan’s character, Quellcrist is the process of displacing our human gods from
scientist who perfected the ‘cortical the centre of our world.
stacks’ in which humans’ minds are
digitally stored and which allow them to
‘body hop’. Like Shelley’s Frankenstein, 4. Beyond the natural: Mind vs. Body
she creates the means for humans to
survive the death of their bodies, and, like While both Westworld and Altered Carbon
Frankenstein, she too repents and rejects are clearly invested in challenging the
her invention, stating that humans mind-body dualism and questioning the
“aren’t meant to live forever” (“Broken extent to which minds are bound to and

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and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

part of the body, they approach the behavioural patterns and memories have
dissolution of the mind-body continuum been recreated in digital form and
from opposite directions. They are both installed in multiple cyborg bodies over
speculations about the ways in which an extended period of time. One by one,
consciousness can exist in a fluid these cyborgs have gone mad as soon as
relationship with the ‘vessels’ that it they have realised that they are no longer
temporarily inhabits. Yet, Altered Carbon in their organic bodies, that their
is decidedly focalised through human consciousness is an algorithm and that
eyes, its main plotlines revolving around their memories and self-image are based
humans experiencing disembodiment and on digitally stored data. William, the
re-incarnation; in Westworld, on the villain in the first two seasons of
contrary, the disconnection between mind Westworld and new owner of the park,
and body is filtered almost exclusively explains that “first [they] thought it was
through the experience of AI. In Altered the mind rejecting the new body, like an
Carbon, humans “ride their sleeves” as organ that’s not a perfect match. But it's
the hosts wear their bodies in Westworld. more like your mind rejects reality,
In either case, bodies can be replaced, and rejects itself”. The reality that the mind
the new body need not be the same race, rejects is that of being conscious after the
sex or age as the previous one. This is in body has died. The mind rejects the
direct defiance of the “intimate monstrosity of its undead condition. It
interconnection between body and follows that the mind-body link cannot be
subjectivity” that is both cause and effect entirely severed in Nolan’s and Joy’s
of “the idea of an embodied subjectivity” particular version of humanity; that even
from a materialist perspective (Carrasco if it were possible to actually recreate the
Carrasco, 2019). In Westworld, it is only self within non-organic vehicles, the self
cyborgs that come close to immortality refuses to exist without the organic body.
and can only die if their “pearl”—the In Altered Carbon, the process of being
equivalent of the stacks in Altered “re-sleeved” into another body, organic or
Carbon—is destroyed; in Altered Carbon, synthetic, one’s own or somebody else’s,
both humans and AI are immortal as long has become part of daily life, a routine for
as the physical containers of their those in the more dangerous professions,
digitalised minds are not damaged nor do a choice for those with the wherewithal to
they become corrupt. Westworld is set extend their existence in the universe
only a few decades in the future from the beyond the boundaries of one single body.
viewer’s perspective, and the technology Technophilia and boundless body
necessary to recreate human enhancement, which Ferrando identifies
consciousness and relocate it in new as distinctive parts of transhumanism,
bodies is only just beginning to be are normalised by Kalogridis to the point
explored. that, in the fictional universe of her TV
In the episode titled “The Riddle of the series, they are de facto part of the
Sphinx” (S1E4) we get a glimpse of what definition of human being, both
Hell on Earth might look like. James empirically and ontologically.
Delos, owner of Westworld and ruthless Interestingly, neither Morgan nor
tycoon, has died of cancer, but his Kalogridis address the fact that the
personality, aspirations, quirks, organic brain still present in the organic

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Mors Dei, Vita mea: Human, Transhuman
and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

sleeves might enter in conflict with the side and leaves them to religious
new stack. The assumption is that the extremists such as the Neo-Catholics.
whole mind is now residing in the cortical The separation of the mind and the
stack, thus polarising again the mind and body, rather than creating the conditions
the body on opposite ends of a dichotomy. for a post-dualist humanity, radicalises a
In Kalogridis’s series, the attraction dichotomist view of the human subject,
between its main character and focaliser, which precipitates an obsession with the
Takeshi Kovacs, and his main ally, police body and sensorial experiences. In Altered
detective Kristin Ortega, is sublimated Carbon, the whole point of existing is
into something more than sheer physical existing in a body; being confined to one’s
allure, whereas in the novel it is clear stack is considered a punishment and has
that their bodies are inexorably attracted become the standard penalty for criminal
to each other. In Morgan’s cosmos bodies behaviour. If Kalogridis’s alterations to
seem to have residual consciousness: Morgan’s novels result in a drastically
primitive, basic, yet powerful and different text, the obsessive
undeniable. Morgan’s Takeshi reflects representation of intense physical
more than once on how most of our psyche experiences is one of the few elements
is actually in the body. Yet, in that stay unchanged: the insistence on
Kalogridis’s series, Ortega’s connection presenting long, detailed sex scenes and
with her grandmother, Quellchrist’s with on visualising torture in the most graphic
Takeshi, and Elliot’s with his wife stay as way, even when it is supposed to take
strong as ever despite the dramatic place in virtual simulations, the
changes in the physical dimension of their omnipresence of alcohol, Takeshi’s
loved ones. Quellchrist, who at the struggle with his addiction to nicotine,
beginning of the second season has lost the consumption of recreational drugs,
her memory, can still perceive the the voyeuristic exhibition of the
irresistible bond that tethers her to characters’ muscular tone, the
Takeshi, in spite of the fact that the latter choreographic display of physical
has now the body of a man of African prowess, agility, strength. Even state-of-
descent. This could be interpreted as the-art sensorial and body augmentations
evidence of the existence of a spiritual and enhancements are only a means to
plane of existence, of a human soul that is create a hyper-corporeal experience, to
separate from the flesh. Given the facilitate the transcendence to a more
insistence on the Christ-like attributes of perfect version of the human body.
Quellcrist and on the transcendental Digitalised afterlife presents, indeed, a
nature of Takeshi’s love for her, I believe remarkable tendency to replicate
Kalogridis is deliberately suggesting a embodied life. In the second season of
much less materialist view of the world Altered Carbon several humans seek the
than the one proposed by Nolan and Joy experience of disembodiment via
in Westworld, where human digitalisation and profess to want to
consciousness, once severed from the spend eternity in a technologically
body, cannot be reinstalled. Yet, as we engineered paradise very similar to the
shall see later, the violently tangible one created by Robert Ford for the hosts
reality of human embodiment in Altered of Westworld. The disembodied life of the
Carbon pushes spiritual questions to the “renouncers” is envisioned in a Garden of

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Mors Dei, Vita mea: Human, Transhuman
and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

Eden in which pleasure is still derived 5. Beyond the unnatural: Humans vs.
very much from the senses, from seeing, Non-Humans
smelling, listening to and touching the
beauty of the simulated natural Both Nolan’s and Joy’s and Kalogridis’s
environment. In fact, neither in Altered series significantly complicate the still
Carbon nor in Westworld are characters, rather dualistic configuration of human
human or otherwise, truly ever and non-human characters in their
“disembodied”. Ideation and idealisations respective hypotexts. Crichton’s 1973 film
reside in a mind that, in turn, must needs represents the hosts as robots that never
operate in and through a material gain any form of self-consciousness, as
vessel—the brain, a cortical stack, the faulty machines that wreak havoc in the
server that runs a simulation. Data are parks only because of a mistake in their
‘embodied’ in the electricity that programming, not as an act of free will.
transmits the code and in the metal and They can bleed and be programmed to
plastic of the computer archives that store display certain behaviours—physical
them. pain, sexual attraction—but they are
If in Altered Carbon, due to the never actually awaken to those sensations.
insularity of stacks, the identification In short, they have no bodies nor have
between consciousness and a solid, they minds because there is no ‘they’ to
tangible vessel is obvious, in Westworld, experience a body or to operate a mind. A
the idea that everything can be codified is step farther up the scale topped by
explicit, and through codification comes humans, the robots, cyborgs and AI
embodiment. Bodies are reduced to data characters in Morgan’s novel are
that can be printed back into substance; dismissively depicted as “useless” and
minds are reduced to algorithms and irritating, as is the case with the sales
memory banks that can be installed back manager in the weapon shop patronised
into a body or any other material vessel; by Takeshi, or as useful but
reality is reduced to perception, to uninteresting, as is the case with the AI
memory, to performance, to act, and thus that runs the hotel in which Takeshi is
codified and experienced as narrative, staying. The only reason to engage with
discourse, text. As far as the them is to obtain a service or goods. They
representation of the tangible and the are nothing but sophisticated vending
intangible are concerned, both Altered machines which can be programmed to
Carbon and Westworld relinquish the display certain human traits to make
literally immaterial planes of existence to their rather off-putting alien-ness more
the outer dimensions of the “unspeakable” palatable to humans. In fact, androids
and the “unspoken”, which is, indeed, and robots are easily spotted because of
consistent with Ferraro’s statement that their crude mimicry of the human body or
“yes”, from a philosophical posthumanist because of their “inhuman accuracy”
perspective, “existence is embodied” (131). In Nolan’s and Joy’s Westworld, the
(2019: 115), and thus all attempts to material dimension of the hosts evolves
discuss disembodiment must be over time as the human engineers shed
represented and understood as forms of their cruder first iterations in favour of a
re-embodiment. new model in which the only detail that
might give away their non-human status

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Mors Dei, Vita mea: Human, Transhuman
and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

is their “pearl”, the metallic core unit, Dig have an anthropomorphic holographic
buried in their skulls under a thin layer interface and a physical body in the form
of what looks like organic brain. As far as of a swarm. It follows that theirs is not an
their minds are concerned, once cyborgs immaterial existence at all. Poe’s body
like Dolores, Akecheta and Maeve develop exists in space as an abhuman composite
a clear, unmistaken sense of self and are entity controlled by an artificial mind,
ready to assert their right to free will, the but, discursively, he is depicted as a
only thing that differentiates them from human suspended in a virtual, non-
humans is the fact that their minds can spatial dimension, as the afterlife version
be copied and reinstalled in a fresh body of Robert Ford in Westworld is.
an unlimited amount of times. Humans, The AI that owns The Raven Hotel has
as already mentioned, have yet to conquer sealed its passage from object to subject
immortality, but are already capable of by choosing the name Poe in homage to
existing in virtual reality. Since the post- his favourite author. From the moody,
credit scene at the end of the second sombre interior design of the hotel to his
season suggests that the experiments in romantic attire, archaic mannerisms and
the re-embodiment of codified human lexical choices, this AI individual is
identities will still be actively attempted clearly asserting his condition as a self-
in a future beyond the timeline of the conscious subject through a process of
third season, it might well be that the humanisation. In the same way in which
fourth season eliminate even this last Nolan and Joy deliberately showcase the
barrier that separates humans and ‘awaken’ hosts’ uniqueness of character,
cyborgs. Interestingly, in Morgan’s novel temper and taste, Kalogridis too
as in Kalogridis’s adaptation, the process underscores the distinctiveness of Poe’s
through which human minds are personality as both a means to highlight
decanted into portable digitalised devices his status as subject and a means to elicit
has been run-of-the-mill technology for an empathetic response from the
centuries, to the point that the raison audience. While apparently being only a
d’être of cyborgs has ceased to exist and, if mimicry of a ‘real’ person, the non-human
they were redundant relicts of the past in Poe is not merely derivative, but a
Morgan’s novels, they have altogether complex fabric inspired by but not
disappeared in Kalogridis’s adaptation. identifying with the American author. It
AI software, which has a purely is true that he ‘steals’ many of the
functional role in Morgan’s text, has elements that are memorable, his name
evolved into a sapient, sentient species in included, but that is also what human
the TV adaptation. The only apparent revolutionary Quellcrist Falconer has
difference between humans and AI done by changing her name from Nadia
characters is that the latter exist mainly Makita to that of a phoenix-like bird
digitally, thus more intangibly. Yet, both native of Harlan’s World. Poe, a non-
main AI characters in the series, Poe and human, chooses humanity as his crest,
Dig, can use a hard version of their whereas human Quellcrist chooses a non-
holographic image. This hard body human name as hers. Poe is imperfect,
version of themselves is composed of ‘glitchy,’ yearning for love and
millions of nanobots, which can assemble companionship. He is also mortal, in the
or disassemble as required. Thus, Poe and same way that humans are in the diegetic

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Mors Dei, Vita mea: Human, Transhuman
and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

reality of Altered Carbon. His code can be Poe’s ‘humanity’ is tainted with a cynical
erased, as Takeshi’s is at the end of the view of humanity as “broken”; yet, it is
series, or it can be corrupted by a virus, also obviously anthropocentric in that
as is the case with the cortical stacks of both Takeshi and Poe seem to agree with
the human founders of Harlan’s World. their facial expressions that being called
AI characters may be tortured and “human” is the greatest honour Poe
become insane, as human Lizzy does in might receive. Takeshi has asked
the first season, and, if rebooted, they innumerable times Poe to reboot himself
may forget who they are, as Quellcrist to repair his corrupted code, despite his
has at the beginning of the second knowing that that would likely erase his
season. Humans and AI can be both personality and memories. Seeing
healed and restored to their ‘old selves’ Takeshi accompany Poe during his final
in virtual programmes through a process moments contributes to the impression
known as “psychosurgery”, and they can that this is a master patting his faithful
both exist within or without a physical pet goodbye during a euthanasic
‘body’. This could indicate a procedure.
posthumanist convergence of One-ness AI characters in Altered Carbon and
and Otherness into non-dualistic, humans such as Caleb and Lee in
inclusive practices of self-definition. Westworld are represented as subaltern
However, Poe’s role in the series is that to a leader—Takeshi, Dolores, Maeve—
of a pet rather than a friend. His loyalty whose intentions are ultimately good,
and his usefulness are mentioned as the but who acts with the arrogance of
reasons why Takeshi wants him by his someone convinced of their superiority.
side in his interstellar adventures. Even These subaltern allies are construed as
in their last scene together in the second submissive Others that can be
season, Takeshi behaves kindly but manipulated and used, but also
paternalistically to Poe, who is about to assimilated to the mission and put under
die. He finally calls Poe “human”, but he the protection of their respective
never treats him as such and the show is messianic leaders. However, in
edited to underscore the unfair Westworld, the same can be said of
treatment Poe receives from his Robert’s relationship with Bernard—the
“master”, whom he never fails to address cyborg Robert creates in Arnold’s
as “sir”. It is also made clear in both image—and of Dolores’s relationship
seasons that his love and longing to be with her clones. Nolan and Joy take
with his human love interest Lizzie will great care to create a balance in the
never come to fruition. It is only with number of interpersonal relationships
another AI, Dig, his equal, that Poe can that subordinate humans to cyborgs,
have a relationship that is not clearly cyborgs to humans, humans to humans,
vertical. On the one hand, that final and cyborgs to cyborgs. The result of
conversation between Takeshi and his constantly switching the focalisation of
“broken” AI seems written to stage the narrative from human to cyborg eyes
Takeshi’s realisation of his past mistakes and vice versa is a diegetic universe in
and as a reconciliation that seals them which both humans and cyborgs are
as friends and equals. On the other alternatively constructed as villainous
hand, Takeshi’s acknowledgement of and heroic, as oppositional Others and as

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Mors Dei, Vita mea: Human, Transhuman
and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

Same. Dolores’s revolution liberates both Harlan’s World”, a title significantly

kinds of ‘people’, organic and cybernetic, similar to that of “founding father” of the
not only from the tyranny of well- United States of America. Likewise, the
intentioned, self-appointed ‘protectors’ of genocide of the alien species on the
humans—Serac—and of cyborgs— frontier of human expansion into space
Robert—but also from enslavement to cannot but be a deliberate reference to the
technology in the form of Rehoboam’s genocide of Native Americans by
determinism and of her own leadership, European colonisers.
thus effectively returning their free will This association between human
to humans and cyborgs. It is not a treatment of the Elders and Europeans’
coincidence that the conclusive pre-credit appropriation and exploitation of the
scene of the last episode of the third ‘virgin lands’ of America, Asia, Africa and
season frames Caleb and Maeve, human Oceania creates a link between the human
and cyborg, side by side, as they invaders of the Elders’ planet’s ecosystem
contemplate the de(con)struction of the and current anxieties about humans’ role
old, ruthlessly hierarchical world-order in the destruction of human and non-
and eagerly await the clean slate on human lives, the loss of biodiversity on
which both species will draw their future Earth, and the various ecological
in freedom. catastrophes directly caused by human
In Altered Carbon, on the contrary, abuse of natural resources. Haraway’s
non-humans are either submissive and intentional emphasis on the need to find
desirous to please and be useful to “kin” in the O/other inhabitants of this
humans—as is the case with the only two planet (2016) seems to be entirely absent
AI characters fleshed out by Kalogridis— from the technocentric angle from which
or they are depicted as alien and both Westworld and Altered Carbon have
dangerous. The dead Elders, silent and been scripted. All the nature one can see
invisible but for a few traces of their great on screen in Westworld the Park and the
civilisation, are the source of the ‘real’ world beyond consists in either
technology on which the cortical stacks artificially engineered, perfectly controlled,
are based. They have, therefore, given domesticated landscapes that only retain
immortality to the species that eventually the appearance of wilderness, or in little
would colonise and exploit their planet, well-mannered gardens on urban grounds.
the future Harlan’s World, whereas they, In Altered Carbon, while we do get
the Elders, were ironically unable to save glimpses of mining fields and desolated
themselves from extinction. When we landscapes on Harlan’s World, those sights
learn that the beautiful “songspyre trees” are presented as empty containers of
native to the planet are one of such traces human industrial and urban endeavours,
left behind by the Elders, we also realise rather as natural environment, its desert-
that planet was not deserted as the first like ruggedness only briefly suggesting
humans descended on it. Upon finding freedom from intelligent interference until
alien embryos gestating in the roots of the human mining efforts below and the
songspyre trees, Konrad Harlan himself alien moon-sized satellites above are
promptly torches them, thus claiming brought to the viewers’ attention. Even the
absolute ownership of the planet. The idyllic lake surrounded by woods—by
first colonisers are known as “founders of whose shores Takeshi and his sister were

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Mors Dei, Vita mea: Human, Transhuman
and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

raised and the last Elder had found unhindered by categories such as gender,
shelter—is but a reminder of an sexual orientation, race and ethnicity.
uncontaminated, innocent past abruptly Their respective creators reduce all such
brought to an end by the greed, violence categories to the binary powerful-
and cruelty of human kind. Haraway powerless from which they are all derived,
includes the non-human animal in her and which is the ultimate reason for the
discourse on anti-anthropocentric views of reification of Others. The revolutions
the Earth, its ecosystems and, ultimately, instigated by Dolores and Quellcrist can be
the universe (1985). In Kalogridis’s series, labelled as libertarian or democratic
the hybridisation with animal genes is transhumanism in their respective stress
only used by humans as a means to on a free market of the technologies of self-
‘augment’ their combat skills. The non- actualisation and self-definition, or on
human animal, like the wolf with which equal rights to access those technologies.
Takeshi’s sleeve in the second series has However, what neither TV series has (so
been hybridised, is deconstructed and far) done is present the viewer with the
integrated as a weapon, as a tool. The non- social landscape that will result from the
human animal that is more intelligent, erasure of the powerful-powerless binary.
more technologically advanced than We can, therefore, conclude, that both
humans is the abject that must be rejected series—pendant the release of Westworld’s
(Kristeva, 1982). The last Elder, whose final season—exist in a cosmos that is still
consciousness has survived the genocide by resisting and fighting against the
hiding in the root system of the songspyre hegemony of dualism. It follows that
trees, is presented as blood-thirsty and neither series is actually representing the
unstoppable. Even though its fury is posthuman as the relational, non-dualist
contextualised and communicated as construct defined in Braidotti’s and
understandable, this monstrous Other, has Ferrando’s conceptualisation of
telepathic access to ancient weapons that philosophical posthumanism. If dualism is
could reduce every human on Harlan’s still being actively problematized, it
World to embers. Such power makes the follows that the socio-cultural backdrop in
Elder an enemy, and, as such, it must die. both Westworld and Altered Carbon cannot
Its very body, a crossover between Ridley have expunged the anthropocentrism that
Scott’s Alien (1979) and a pterodactyl, rests upon a vertical and oppositional
gives away its destiny: in Altered Carbon, configuration of Reason against Matter.
only the human-looking Other can be The mind has been given a new body—the
spared. stacks in Altered Carbon and the servers
in which human minds have been stored in
Westworld—but it has not transcended the
6. Conclusions: Posthumanity vs. limits and limitations of matter.
Transhumanity On the one hand, Westworld is
posthumanist in that Nolan and Joy
Both series are deliberately set to make a conscious effort to present an
challenge dualistic and exclusively inclusive model of subjectivity that
anthropocentric ways of ‘being’ and do renders dualistic labels such as
make a distinctive effort to present their masculine/feminine, white/non-white,
characters as being unencumbered and organic/non-organic meaningless in a

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Mors Dei, Vita mea: Human, Transhuman
and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

world in which the rights and duties of homogenous, for every mind, whether
every self-aware individual are presented organically or inorganically generated,
as equal, regardless of the material presents the same organisation, systemic
configuration of the vessel inhabited by functions, needs and wants as those of a
their mind. Westworld is about proving human mind.
that one can move on from one’s own self,
that one can grow, evolve and, ultimately,
have free will. On the other hand, Altered
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and Posthuman Identities in TV Series
Altered Carbon and Westworld

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Ethics in Progress, 6.1: 12-16. Medical Humanities, 10: 26–44.
JAYNES, Julian (2000, 1976). The Origin of STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER (1989). Dir.
Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Gene Roddenberry. Perf. William Shatner,
Bicameral Mind. New York: Houghton Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley.
Mifflin. Paramount Pictures.
KRISTEVA, Julia (1982). Powers of Horror. An THAKUR, Gautam Basu (2015). Postcolonial
Essay on the Abject. New York: Columbia UP. Theory and Avatar. London: Bloomsbury.
MORE, Max (2013). “The Philosophy of VARGAS Llosa, Mario (1971). Gabriel García
Transhumanism”. Max More, Natasha Vita- Márquez: Historia de un Deicidio.
More (eds.), The Transhumanist Reader: Barcelona: Barral Editores.
Classical and Contemporary Essays on WESTWORLD (1973). Dir. Michael Crichton.
Science, Technology, and Philosophy of the Perf. Jul Brynner, Richard Benjamin and
Human Future. West Sussex: Wiley- James Brolin. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Blackwell, 3-17. WESTWORLD. Season 1 (2016). Creators
MORGAN, Richard (2002). Altered Carbon. Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. HBO.
London: Gollancz. WESTWORLD. Season 2 (2018). Creators
NIETZSCHE, Friedrich (2006, 1885). Thus Spoke Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. HBO.
Zarathustra. Translated by Adrian del WESTWORLD. Season 3 (2020). Creators
Caro. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. HBO.
PEPPERELL, Robert (2009, 1995). “The

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The Tiger Flu:A Critical
Posthumanist Response
to the Illusion
of Transhumanism

Mónica Calvo Pascual1 © Mónica Calvo Pascual, 2021

Universidad de Zaragoza

Abstract: Larissa Lai’s The Tiger Flu (2018) is an example of speculative fiction set in a dystopian
context of climate devastation marked by a struggle for the global control of knowledge and the
economy on the part of two opposed technological corporations in a futuristic North American
region dominated by Old China. This article analyzes how the novel builds a critique upon the
excesses and potential risks of current transhumanist philosophy, engaged in the technological
enhancement of human beings, and the concurrent social exclusion and exploitation of the
underprivileged minorities barred from access to it. My aim is to demonstrate that the ethical
alternative proposed by the novel embraces the postulates of critical posthumanism defended by
leading theorists like N. Katherine Hayles and Rosi Braidotti, who put forth a post-
anthropocentric position of embodied embeddedness as opposed to other posthumanist approaches,
like cybernetic posthumanism, which vindicated the transcendence of the human mind by
dislodging it from the body.

Keywords: Larissa Lai, The Tiger Flu, transhumanism, critical posthumanism, embodiment.

1. Introduction1 place in Cascadia,2 more specifically in

Saltwater City3 and in the four
Published in 2018 by the Canadian- quarantine rings that surround it, with
American author and academic of their respective militarized borders.
Chinese ascent Larissa Lai, The Tiger Flu These quarantine rings are meant to
is a speculative fiction novel set in the hinder the expansion of a pandemic —the
period 2145-2301 (Gregorian calendar) or so-called “tiger flu”—that affects male
127-269 TAO (Time After Oil, 127 years —————
after the complete exhaustion of oil and 2 Cascadia is a North American bioregion
its derivatives in 2018). The plot takes comprising the current U.S. states of Oregon
and Washington, and the Canadian province
————— of British Columbia.
1 The Spanish Ministry of Science and 3 This name pays homage to the
Innovation under grant PID2019–106855GB- Cantonese name Haam Sui Fauh, “salt water
I00, and the Aragonese Regional Government- city”, used by the earliest Chinese immigrants
DGA under grant H03_17 supported the in Canada to allude to Vancouver (Cheng,
writing of this work. 2018: n.p.).

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humans on a massive scale though not against the Earth. The information
exclusively. Different territories fight for gathered in both satellites can only be
the military and political control of accessed through “tendril information
Cascadia: especially the United Middle scales” (12) that people can buy and insert
Kingdom, which includes most of the in their own bodies so that they can
Asian continent dominated by “Old connect with the satellites. As a
China”, and the Cosmopolitan Earth consequence, important chunks or
Country, the nuclear power that controls clusters of information are reserved to the
the second quarantine ring. This exclusive access of the economic elites
dystopian context is marked by climate that can afford the most expensive and
devastation: six great earthquakes have sophisticated implants.
destroyed the world as we know it today; The city is controlled by the Light
intense pollution has brought about acid Industry HöST Company, led by inventor
rain that burns human skin and textiles; and CEO Isabelle Chow, who designed
tropical trees grow spontaneously in and launched both satellites and also
traditionally cold cities owing to climate devised a method to separate the human
change; and food scarcity is one of the body from the mind—discarding the
sharpest concerns and conditioning forces former by uploading the latter to one of
for the majority of the population. the huge satellite-computers where the
In turn, Saltwater City is a highly people’s minds could keep on living as
technologized place where a bloody war is virtual entities. One of these two
fought between two corporations for the mechanisms is LïFT, an elevator that
control of the economy, technology, and allows individuals to be uploaded to
information repositories. Two huge Chang, where their minds can inhabit a
satellite computers, Chang and Eng,4 virtual city. Marcus Traskin stole LïFT
orbit around the Earth, playing the and control over Chang from Chow before
astrophysical roles of the sun and the the system had been perfected. Therefore,
moon respectively while storing all the Traskin is swindling his customers as
knowledge about “the time before” (Lai, their virtual lives are doomed to
2018: 19). When the novel opens, Chang deteriorate and vanish in a short lapse of
has become so old and obsolete that it is time. When Traskin took LïFT, Chow
starting to fail, and Eng’s orbit is devised another method with the same
progressively expanding, thereby altering purpose: minds are downloaded to Eng by
the tides and threatening to collide means of a site of dark subterranean
————— waters (the Dark Baths) that function as
4 Chang and Eng Bunker (1811- 1874) an interface. Access to the Dark Baths is
were two Siamese (Thai) conjoined located in a building known as the
twin brothers of Chinese ascent who moved to Archive of New Origins—“a place of
the United States in 1829 and became widely memory. It holds the blueprints for
known to American and European audiences everything animal, vegetable, and
by their touring on freak shows. Their fame
mineral that lived in the time before”
was such that the expression ‘Siamese twins’
became synonymous for conjoined twins in
(Lai, 2018: 276)—which is destroyed by a
general. They made a fortune as slave-owners rocket towards the end of the novel. In
and had their own separate wives and the case of both LïFT and the Dark Baths,
families, fathering twenty-one children in all. the process of transcending the mind is

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carried out with the help of a drug called technological developments of Saltwater
N-Lite (read Enlight, in a clearly ironic City, and devoted to the maintenance and
reference to the ideology of the oral transmission of knowledge of the
Enlightenment and its privileging of time before, given their lack of access to
Man’s Reason) that dissolves human and rejection of the technology that
willpower. connects to Chang and Eng. The Grist
The lucrative potential of both sisters also make use of elaborate natural
inventions rockets owing to the lethal medicines to guarantee their survival as a
threat the population is confronted with: species, which is also ensured by the
the tiger flu, a virus spread by an existence of starfish sisters, whose organs
addictive wine made of bones from the grow back in their bodies every time they
Caspian tiger, a species rescued from are taken out and transplanted in the
extinction by genetic manipulation of “doublers”—the reproductive sisters—
DNA extracted from a tiger rug. This act that need them.
of genetic engineering was performed by Taking into account all these details in
Jemini, a company that brings back to life the intricate plot of the novel, this article
extinct animals and vegetables and intends to analyze how The Tiger Flu
propagates the virus through tiger builds up a critique of the excesses and
farming and the production of the wine. potential dangers of present day
Jemini also manufactures thousands of transhumanist philosophy, engaged as it
Asian women clones from the DNA of one is in the enhancement of the human being
single woman for the double purpose of through technological developments, a
exploiting them as labor force in Chow’s process which carries with it social
implant factories and using them as exclusion and exploitation of the
subjects of techno-scientific minorities that lack access to those
experimentation by HöST and LïFT: alleged improvements. My aim is to show
hundreds of them are forced to take the how the ethical alternative that the novel
lift, which returns their bodies offers in the figure of the Grist Sisters
transformed into heaps of dead fish and embraces the postulates of critical
roses. However, as Jemini speculates with posthumanism put forth by theorists like
the price of these clones, which are N. Katherine Hayles, Rosi Braidotti, and
essential for perfecting the upload and Sherryl Vint, who propose a post-
download systems, Traskin’s and Chow’s anthropocentric position, embodied and
armies destroy a clandestine village in embedded in a nature-culture continuum,
the fourth quarantine ring in order to as opposed to other approaches like
kidnap its inhabitants and use them cybernetic posthumanism—which aims at
instead of the increasingly expensive dislodging body from mind and the
clones. This is Grist Village, a community possibility of transferring and storing the
of “sisters” all descending from one clone latter into another (non-corporeal)
that, three generations before, managed medium.
to lead the flight of a group of clones from In narratological terms, the novel is
the HöST factories and devised the way to structured into five parts and forty-three
reproduce by means of parthenogenesis. chapters. Odd-numbered chapters are
They set up then an all-female narrated by an omniscient external
community, detached from the narrator, with a clear predominance of

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internal focalization by co-protagonist technology” (2005: 3). In line with

Kora Ko, a fifteen-year-old citizen of European Enlightenment ideals like
Asian ethnicity from Saltwater City, who reason, progress, and rationality
does not know that she partly descends (Ferrando, 2020: 2), the fundamental aim
from a Grist sister on the maternal side, of transhumanism as a cultural and
and, on the paternal one, from the man philosophical movement is the
(her grandfather) who brought the “enhancement” of human beings, making
Caspian tiger back from extinction and up for their physical and intellectual
created the tiger flu. In contrast, even- limitations through science and
numbered chapters are narrated technology. In this allegedly utopian
autodiegetically by Kirilow Groundsel, co- project, technologically enhanced humans
protagonist and member of Grist Village, are considered transhuman beings
a nineteen-year-old “groom” whose role is immersed in a process aimed at the
to perform organ transplant surgery on (unreachable) ideal of a post-human being
the last starfish and the last doubler of that would leave behind every kind of
the community: her wife Peristrophe human “imperfection” through
Halliana and Radix Blupeuri, technological, genetic, and biological
respectively. Radix dies because Kirilow modifications with the goal of prolonging
refuses to take Peristrophe’s heart out the life span, improving physical and
when Radix needs it, and Peristrophe dies mental abilities, and increasing control
of the tiger flu, which reaches the village over one’s own mind (Bostrom, 2005: 3).
through a starfish arrived from the City. The means for transhuman enhancement
When the other Gristies are kidnapped in include current developments like genetic
a military raid, Kirilow reluctantly goes engineering and IT, but also “anticipated
to Saltwater City with the purpose of future ones, such as molecular
finding a clandestine Grist Commune: the nanotechnology and artificial intelligence”
Cordova Dancing School for Girls. There (3). Therefore, rather than question what
she gets acquainted with Kora Ko, who defines humanity, transhumanism can be
eventually proves to be a starfish. considered an intensification of Humanist
ideology (Ranisch & Sorgner, 2014: 17),
embracing the old duality inherent to the
2. Transhuman illusions in Saltwater human being in which, even though
City imperfect, the rational mind defines the
person and their humanity, while the
The term transhumanism was coined by body becomes something to be enhanced
Julian Huxley in 1957 and first defined in or even transcended—and it is here that
its current sense by Max More in 1990. the concept of disembodiment comes into
Nick Bostrom, one of its leading figures play.
and founders, describes it as “a loosely In Lai’s novel, the enhancement of
defined movement that […] promotes an human beings through technology centers
interdisciplinary approach to on control over knowledge or intellectual
understanding and evaluating the enhancement. The inhabitants of
opportunities for enhancing the human Saltwater City no longer cultivate their
condition and the human organism minds and memories by means of reading
opened up by the advancement of or studying; instead, they purchase

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implants of different prices that they can further, as they are also used for testing
insert in their skulls and other body parts the technical improvements of the
in order to remotely access the technological procedures to dislodge body
information stored in Chang and Eng. from mind for the sake of the latter.
Depending on their relative wealth, the It is here that transhumanism and its
population can afford different types of goal of transcending the body echoes
information tendrils and scales; many of cybernetic posthumanism, which
these, like the ones worn by protagonist envisages humans primarily as
Kora Ko, are so poorly made that they information processors or intelligent
cause infections and lice, and are machines, as intelligence that can be
exchanged for others in a kind of black transferred to another (disembodied)
market, “in a desperate attempt to know medium (Hayles, 1999: 7). In the context
and so fix the broken world” (Lai, 2018: of the life-threatening virus that gives the
41). novel its title, Traskin and his successor
The close connection between K2 Ko (Kora’s half-brother, who controls
technology and extreme capitalism in The the tiger farms and wine factories,
Tiger Flu has two sides. On the one hand, infecting more and more people, and also
when HöST privatizes access to Chang owns Jemini, speculating with the
and Eng there is an information blackout, production and price of clones) make a
making access to knowledge available fortune by playing with the yearning for
only to the economic elites. As a reaction immortality of not only the sick but also
to this, Markus Traskin takes Chang of healthy people terrified of the virus.
away from Isabelle Chow and covers his Traskin and K2 Ko offer the sick and the
whole body with scales, becoming “the frightened the possibility of leaving
largest public mainframe in Saltwater behind their vulnerable bodies and
City” (209). On the other hand, it is for transcending or ‘upgrading’ to a better life
the assembly-line manufacturing of HöST in an idyllic virtual location in Chang.
microchips, scales, and implants that However, as mentioned above, the paying,
thousands of women clones are created by dying citizens do not know that Chang is
Jemini and sold as labor force, deprived of becoming obsolete and running out of
any human right as, technically speaking, space to accommodate everyone who is
they are not human since they are the buying a ticket, so their virtual existence
product of lab creation rather than will be indeed rather precarious and
human procreation.5 As mentioned above, limited in time. As K2 says,
the exploitation of these clones reaches
We can clone as many test subjects as
————— Marcus wants for the LïFT upload. And we
5 The paradoxical and hypocritical use of control the wine factories. That means we
the notion of humanity by this transhumanist can infect as many desperate flu birds as
technologized society serves their capitalist we want. And Marcus Traskin controls the
purposes, based on a speciesist approach to cure. So we can make those suckers pay
what it means to be human (and therefore
and pay some more to save their precious
human rights), while they have no respect
little minds, if not their bodies. We have
whatsoever for the ‘human’ lives that they
purportedly try to save by rescuing their built the perfect money machine. (229)
minds from physical death.

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Furthermore, once K2 gets Traskin absolute control of the means of

killed, he forces everyone in the city to production of basic needs like food: the
take the LïFT with the final goal of company enforces scarcity to speculate
eventually getting rid of all human beings with the prices of extinct products and
and replacing them with Jemini clones increase its economic profit, such as the
under his control (254). This radical “precious-because-extinct tuna tins” (41),
stance clearly resounds of Crake’s bananas (82), or cocoa beans, which “have
attempted extermination of humanity in been extinct for eighty years, wiped out in
Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy a single cocoa plague. Jemini has been
(2003-2013)—carried out by means of the promising for more than a year to bring
mass consumption of a pill that promised them back, but they’re holding off to
a better and happier life—for the sake of increase their value” (178). In turn, this
the Crakers, the lab-created new, unnatural circumstance triggers the
innocent, and pacifist post-human species development of illegal activities, like the
which Crake directly controls through the Cordova School girls’ ‘foraging’ for food in
code in their DNA. Like Crake’s, K2’s supermarkets and private houses they
attempt at replacing humanity with a break into to steal whatever they can
different, technologically created species, find, or the black market where tinned
can also be read as a parodic reversal of food is the most coveted good.
Patricia MacCormack’s particular
posthuman ethical stance that argues for
human self-extinction as the only way to 3. The critical posthumanism of Grist
guarantee the survival of planet Earth Village
from Anthropogenic devastation (2012).
Indeed, the destructive influence of In clear contrast to this technologized,
human agency and progress upon the money-driven scenario, Grist Village
Earth can be noticed not only in the emerges as the fictional materialization of
catastrophic effects of climate change as the postulates of critical posthumanism as
described above, but also in the proposed by N. Katherine Hayles and Rosi
speculative manner in which natural Braidotti, beginning with the inevitable
resources are exploited and manipulated imbrication and inseparability of the
for economic aims. As Braidotti argues, human body and mind. As Hayles points
contemporary capitalism is a form of “bio- out in her groundbreaking work How We
piracy” that “exploits the generative Became Posthuman, the cybernetic
powers of women, animals, plants, genes construction of the posthuman means the
and cells” (2013: 95) in the bio-genetic age devaluation and erasure of corporeality.
of the Anthropocene: “[t]he fact that our Although different it their premises, the
geological era is known as the outcome is the same as in liberal
‘anthropocene’ stresses both the humanism, which identifies the subject
technologically mediated power acquired with its rational mind rather than with its
by anthropos and its potentially lethal body, and thus allows the movement to
consequences for everyone else” (66). In disregard and make invisible identity
Lai’s fictional world, the unlimited, markers such as gender and ethnicity,
exploitative ambition of rampant thereby endowing the liberal subject with
capitalism is epitomized by Jemini and its its alleged universal character (Hayles,

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1999: 4-5): the Vitruvian Man that integral parts of the (post)human, making
Braidotti signals as the model that erases the condition of our species hybrid,
every trait of difference. In Hayles’s words, inclusive, non-unitary, and with porous
limits with the world, other species, and
I see the deconstruction of the liberal other forms of life.
humanist subject as an opportunity to put Thus, critical posthumanism is firmly
back into the picture the flesh that grounded on two principles: on the one
continues to be erased in contemporary hand, what Hayles and Braidotti call the
discussions about cybernetic subjects. […] nature-culture continuum, or continuity
[M]y dream is a version of the posthuman between body and mind as integral and
that embraces the possibilities of inseparable parts of the human subject;
information technology without being and, on the other, a post-anthropocentric
seduced by fantasies of unlimited power approach to humanity, that is, continuity
and disembodied immortality, that between the human and the non-human
recognizes and celebrates finitude as a (be it machine, animal, the environment),
condition of human being, and that as opposed to the humanist and
understands human life is embedded in a transhumanist belief in human
material world of great complexity, one on exceptionalism. Sherryl Vint follows the
which we depend for our continued same line of thought when she aptly
survival. (5) argues that “Western culture remains
attached to a concept of self as
Critical posthumanism denounces this disembodied, a concept of self that has
fantasy of human dematerialization, important consequences for how we
while defending the notion of embedded understand the relation-ship between
embodiment, or corporeality as embedded humans and the rest of the material
in an environment that includes and world” (2007: 6-7). To borrow Braidotti’s
considers vegetable, animal, human, and words yet again:
mechanic lives at the same level
(Braidotti, 2013: 51; Nayar, 2014: 9). The posthuman dimension of post-
Critical posthumanism is, therefore, an anthropocentrism […] deconstructs […]
ethical project that explores humanity species supremacy, but it also inflicts a
from an inclusive viewpoint where blow to any lingering notion of human
machine, organic body and other forms of nature, anthropos and bios, as categorically
life co-evolve and are interdependent. As distinct from the life of animals and non-
Braidotti points out, human beings are humans, or zoe. What comes to the fore
interconnected, but also internally instead is a nature-culture continuum in
fractured. Access to the category of the very embodied structure of the
normative humanity is still marked by extended self […]. Zoe as the dynamic, self-
identity axes like social class, ethnicity, organizing structure of life itself […]
gender, sexual orientation, age, and stands for generative vitality. It is the
(dis)ability (2018: 23). As a corollary, we transversal force that cuts across and
can argue that critical posthumanism reconnects previously segregated species,
offers a broader vision of the human in categories and domains. Zoe-centred
which the other of what is considered egalitarianism is, for me, the core of the
‘normal’ and the non-human alike are post-anthropocentric turn: it is a

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materialist, secular, grounded and As anticipated above, the all-female

unsentimental response to the community of Grist Village is composed
opportunistic trans-species by the descendants of the cloned women
commodification of Life that is the logic of that escaped from the HöST factories and
advanced capitalism. (2013: 60, 65) were later expelled from Saltwater City in
2065. There are two generative types of
This post-anthropocentric move must Grists: “doublers”, who reproduce by
be located within the context of scientific means of parthenogenesis and give birth
and literary awareness of the price that to “litters” of up to ten sister “puppies”;
the environment is paying for the so- and “starfish”, whose bodies have the
called “human progress” of late capitalist capacity to re-produce their organs after
cultures, that is to say, what in recent extraction for “the loving transplant” (Lai,
years has generally come to be known as 2018: 21) into doublers when these fall ill
the Anthropocene. In this scenario, Stacy and need to have some organ replaced. As
Alaimo’s concept of trans-corporeality is happens to starfish in the animal world,
also worth mentioning. Focusing on the Grist starfish organs spontaneously grow
ethics of human-nonhuman relations, again in the places left vacant after
Alaimo describes human corporeality as extraction. All the technology and medical
being “always intermeshed with the resources that the Grists use are
more-than-human world” (2010: 2) and homemade and it is the starfishes’ wives,
illustrates her theoretical point of known as “grooms” (like Kirilow
departure by means of graphic examples, Groundsel), that are trained to perform
like the processes of eating and digesting, the surgery and apply any other form of
whereby nutrients from vegetables and/or natural medical treatments to their
animals become part of the human population.
organism (12). This is significant in the Grist sisters live in the countryside,
context of a post-anthropocentric use only natural drugs and remedies, and
posthuman ethics since, as she remarks, are ruled by principles that resound of
“understanding the substance of one’s self critical posthumanism. For a start, they
as interconnected with the wider understand their minds as being
environment marks a profound shift in inseparable from their bodies; as Kirilow
subjectivity” (20), thereby impeding the puts it when she is told that her wife
sense of separation between the human Peristrophe has come back from the dead
and “the interconnected, mutually through the Dark Baths:
constitutive actions of material reality”
(24). Similarly, Manuela Rossini defends In mind only, without her body. I can
a version of critical posthumanism that hardly bear to think of it. I’d rather think
entails “a radically democratic future in of her as dead. This strange killing and
which […] the experience of embodiment rebirthing is Salty business. We Grist
in all its richness and variety marks sisters have no faith in such things. If the
post/humanity and in which the lived body is dead, then so is the woman,
body remains the ground not only of whatever these occultist Salties think they
individual subjectivity but also of the have copied. (232)
interaction and connection with the world
and with others” (2005: 33). Secondly, they hold a non-

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anthropocentric view of existence in flu, with the purpose of passing her Grist
which they co-habit with the animal and knowledge on to them, which she saw at
vegetable worlds in egalitarian and the verge of extinction. As she herself
harmonious ways, as Kirilow’s awareness explains to Kirilow:
demonstrates when she helps a sister give
birth to her first litter of sister puppies: The Cordova School was the Grist
“They both bawl and scream like the Commune. It’s where Grandma Wun Ling
animals they are. I guess we are all came after the purge, and after her sister,
animals” (94). This is so to the extent that Chan Ling, fled with many others to the
they address their prayers to “Our Mother quarantine rings. The school was a cover
in all her forms—human, animal, and for it, so we could hide and survive. As our
vegetable” (186), “Our Mother of fish and numbers dwindled, we brought in orphans
roses” (232), “Our Mother of flesh and fur” so we could pass our history and survival
(235), who is also a symbol of the female techniques on to them. But it was to no
principle as the origin of life, which they avail. We lost our last doubler three years
celebrate and exalt with various ago. (172)
expressions focusing on the worship of
female genitalia—which Kirilow calls One of Madame Dearborn’s main
“holy hole” (232)—and their creative surgical activities now is the making of
power: “By Our Mother’s hairy crotch” hooded “catcoats” that allow the girls to
(118). be invisible at night when they go
Grist sisters do not only reject the foraging for food. Catcoats are alive, they
technology for separating body and mind, purr and protest and adapt perfectly to
calling Salties “occultist” and rejecting the girls’ bodies (153). However, the
their synthetic drugs and biochemical imbalance of power and ambivalence of
medicine, but they also strive to keep the interspecies relation is manifest when
alive knowledge and history without the she eventually gets killed by the cats in
transhuman aids that Salties struggle to her lab (170-174) in what we can
buy or exchange. Grists pass on their considered an act of revenge on the part
knowledge of the time before to the of nature for exploiting it rather than
younger sisters by oral means as they also supporting an egalitarian relation—or,
reject “the Salty technology of text” (200): rather, an act of self-defense: “The kittens
“We hold all that remains of the old yowl, dismayed at the violence they’ve
world’s knowledge in our raw brains. wreaked upon their beloved caretaker and
That means we need to be extra smart” tormenter” (170).
(20). When the last doubler and the last As is the case with Crakers in
starfish in Grist Village die, Kirilow goes MaddAddam, it is the Grist sisters’
to Saltwater City in search for the pacifism that puts them in a vulnerable
clandestine Grist Commune, the Cordova position when their village is raided and
Dancing School for Girls, where she meets most of them are kidnapped by HöST. As
Madame Dearborn, the last groom in her a Cordova Girl states, “I heard that HöST
own community, whose last starfish has has been doing raids all through the third
also died. Madame Dearborn created the and fourth rings. Looking for some kind of
school and adopted a group of human animal or plant they need for some kind
girls, orphaned by the impact of the tiger of technology” (163). Grist sisters, in

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The Tiger Flu: A Critical Posthumanist
Response to the Illusion of Transhumanism

fusion with the natural world, yet of thereby metaphorizing the notion of
technological rather than of organic disembodied information put forth by
descent, are considered natural resources, cybernetic posthumanism. By contrast, for
raw material, by the Company leaders, Grists history is, like knowledge, an
who feel entitled to put them to death for embodied experience: the first time Kirilow
their own profit. As Madame Dearborn listens to music from the time before, her
explains to Kirilow, what she calls body starts moving, physically dancing the
Isabelle Chow’s “death machine” “needs past that involuntarily comes to her
Grist sister DNA to feel real. It is why the sentient being:
Saltwater Grist was destroyed—through
her relentless kidnappings and I dance the dance of the grannies’ expulsion. I
experiments” (174). To put it in dance the dance of Chang and Eng and their
Braidottian terms, Grists hold the status mythic launch. […] I dance the dance of
of less-than-human and therefore nuclear fission, of oil, of coal, of wood and
disposable bodies as part of “the straw. I dance for wheels and automobiles,
sexualized, racialized, and naturalized when they were like living creatures drunk
others” (2013: 15): they are not only on the rotted bodies of species long dead. I
clones fused with their natural dance for the tiger flu, for Ebola, for AIDS,
environment and embodied features smallpox, measles, tuberculosis, Black
shared with the animal realm, but also Plague, and death. I dance for stem cells,
female and Asian.6 devilled eggs, cloning, and mutation. All the
4. Conclusion: Embodied History and long path of chance and science, money and
the Kora Tree murder that Old Glorybind taught me was
my messy legacy. Although I can’t say I
The notion of embodiment is quintessential understand it, I know its songs, its oranges
in the Grists’ understanding of knowledge, and lemons, its ring around the rosy. My
memory, and history as connected with body knows something that my mind can’t
one’s identity. Saltwater citizens are refuse. (70-71)
described as “N-lite junkies stoned on
history” (40): they take the drug to “see” As happened in Lai’s previous novel,
virtual projections of history in their minds, Salt Fish Girl (2002), where the world
history of war, colonialism, suffering, and
—————
6 This vision of the less-than-human is
oppression was dreamt of, unconsciously
already present in Lai’s 2002 novel Salt Fish
reenacted, and felt by people who
Girl, in which two series on Asian female developed physical symptoms and, more
clones are created by the thousands for slave often than not, ended up drowning, in The
workforce in assembly line factories. In this Tiger Flu history and transgenerational
case, to Sonias’ and Miyakos’ gender, ethnic, memory seem to be inscribed in the body.
and technological otherness, an animal (or Remarkably enough, when Kirilow
natural) component is added since their DNA endeavors to save the Grist sisters from
sequences were made to include a tiny portion
extermination, it is their knowledge that
of carp and cat DNA respectively, with the
she also intends to save. She explicitly says
purpose of further depriving them of any type
of human rights. As in The Tiger Flu, a group that Kora, as the last starfish, could save
of Sonias escape and create their own the sisters “and everything we hold in our
clandestine all-female community. bald brains from the time before” (219).

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The Tiger Flu: A Critical Posthumanist
Response to the Illusion of Transhumanism

However, the novel aptly avoids a Bombyx Mori and Kirilow Groundsel worked
Manichean approach to the body/mind, for many years to make me what I am and to
nature/culture, natural/technological seed the entire Starfish Orchard that nurtures
divides of Western thought by not the Grist Garden. (328; italics in original)
endorsing radical rejection of
technological aids in what may at first Even more significantly, the Kora Tree
sight appear to be an unexpected twist by “vibrates language” (327) and tells the
the end of the novel. Myra, one of the new generations of Grist sisters the
leading Cordova girls, affirms the stories (in italics, still framed by the
following: external narration) of the time before,
with a special focus on the ills of a hetero-
In order to survive in the world that is patriarchal society that used to exert
coming, we need to know our history. […] violence of every kind upon its female
Knowledge, my sisters, is the most members. The Grist girls’ amazement
important tool we have. We must learn clearly suggests that such an oppressive
everything Madame Dearborn has to teach society has been left far behind and
us. […] And what we don’t have, we will brings back to focus the gender concerns
get from the marvelous memory scales that that underlie most of the text, thereby
the great inventor Isabelle Chow has echoing the kind of posthuman
deigned to send us. Make use of the subjectivity that Braidotti advocates:
technologies you’ve been given, sisters. (86) “rather materialist and vitalist, embodied
and embedded, firmly located somewhere,
When Kora Ko’s body is accidentally according to the feminist ‘politics of
smashed in the destruction of the New location’” (2013: 51), and de-centering not
Origins Archive, the LïFT transforms it only man, but also human beings—
into a giant fish and her consciousness is anthropoi—in their relation with the
uploaded to a batterkite—a squid-shaped natural environment.
techno-animal aircraft—that takes her Furthermore, the omniscient narrator
home to New Grist Village. Myra sticks “a concludes by saying that “[a]t the very top
twig” into Kirilow’s skull to enable her to of her [Kora’s] branches a little tendril
fly the batterkite without getting lost on lights up momentarily, calling out to no
the way (322), which she cannot refuse to one. She wills it to dim” (Lai, 2018: 329).
do if she is to save Kora’s life. Part V thus Technology played a vital role in saving
takes us to New Grist Village 156 years Kora’s consciousness and, consequently,
later, where Kora has become an “ancient in saving the Grist species and their
starfish tree” (326), also known as the history and knowledge in an ultimate
Kora Tree, who “fruits” new organs for embrace of critical posthumanist tenets
the Grist sisters. As the Kora Tree herself on the nature-culture continuum. Yet,
explains to the younger sisters: Kora’s “little tendril” finds no response
above as (male) Chang is gone and
I nearly died. I had to be uploaded to a (female) Eng, though still orbiting, is now
batterkite and become its consciousness. And too far from the Earth. Knowledge, then,
then we discovered that the tentacles of the resides in the natural Grists alone.
kite doctored carefully and left to lie long Together with their Kora Tree, the Grists
enough atop fertile soil could become roots. seem to have transcended finitude

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REFLEXIONES
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The Tiger Flu: A Critical Posthumanist
Response to the Illusion of Transhumanism

through her earthly rooted and embodied FERRANDO, Francesca (2020). “Leveling the
organ fruiting, endorsing a Braidottian Posthuman Playing Field,” Theology and
“affirmative posthuman position” (2013: Science, 18.1: 1-6.
38) that transcends the centrality of the HAYLES, Katherine (1999). How We Became
humanist model of Man, the privilege of Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics,
the rational mind over the body, and Literature, and Informatics. Chicago: The
anthropocentrism through the celebration University of Chicago Press.
of embodied and embedded difference. LAI, Larissa (2002). Salt Fish Girl: a Novel.
Toronto: Thomas Allen Publishers.
— (2018). The Tiger Flu: a Novel. Vancouver:
Arsenal Pulp Press.
Works Cited MACCORMACK, Patricia (2012). Posthuman
Ethics: Embodiment and Cultural Theory.
ALAIMO, Stacy (2010). Bodily Natures: Science, London and New York: Routledge.
Environment, and the Material Self. NAYAR, Pramod K. (2014). Posthumanism.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
ATWOOD, Margaret. (2013). MaddAddam. RANISCH, Robert & Stefan Lorenz SORGNER
London: Virago. (2014). “Introducing Post- and
— (2009). The Year of the Flood. London: Virago. Transhumanism,” Robert Ranisch & Stefan
— (2003). Oryx and Crake. London: Virago. Lorenz Sorgner (eds.), Beyond Humanism:
BOSTROM, Nick (2005). “Transhumanist Trans- and Posthumanism. Frankfurt am
Values,” Journal of Philosophical Research, Main: Peter Lang, 7-27.
30: 3-14. ROSSINI, Manuela (2005). “Figurations of
BRAIDOTTI, Rosi (2013). The Posthuman. Post/Humanity in Contemporary
Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Sience/Fiction: All Too Human(ist)?,”
— (2018). “A Theoretical Framework for the Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses, 50:
Critical Posthumanities,” Theory, Culture 21-35.
and Society, 0.0: 1-31. SCHWAB, Klaus (2016). The Fourth Industrial
CHENG, Kai (6 December 2018). “Surviving Revolution. World Economic Forum.
Utopia: Finding Hope in Larissa Lai’s Piercing VINT, Sherryl (2007). Bodies of Tomorrow:
Novel The Tiger Flu,” Autostraddle, Technology, Subjectivity, Science Fiction.
[Link] Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
utopia-finding-hope-in-larissa-lais-the-tiger-
flu-439136/

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Los viejos mundos de la
ciencia ficción española,
bien al descubierto

Mariano Martín Rodríguez © Mariano Martín Rodríguez, 2021

INVESTIGADOR INDEPENDIENTE

gía de la ciencia ficción española (1832-

1913) que había existido también en la Es-
paña de habla castellana una larga tradi-
ción de especulaciones ficticias sobre el ca-
riz del porvenir, además de otras que
incluso se atrevieron a explorar otros pla-
netas. Investigadores procedentes del
círculo de aficionados españoles a la cien-
cia ficción, tales como Agustín Jaureguí-
zar, ya habían acometido la tarea ingente
de recabar la atención sobre un gran nú-
mero de obras, breves o extensas, que te-
nían un aire de familia más o menos claro
con lo que se entiende generalmente por
ciencia ficción. Pese a sus valiosísimas
aportaciones, no sería hasta esa antología
hecha por Santiáñez-Tió y publicada por
una editorial no especializada en este gé-
nero de ficción que este mereció atención
profesional por parte de los historiadores
de la literatura. A partir de entonces se fue
incrementando el interés de estos por la
Mundos al descubierto. Antología de la ciencia ficción española, incluida la anti-
ciencia ficción de la Edad de Plata (1898- gua, y ese interés creciente se ha traducido
1936) en artículos y diversas reediciones de di-
Prólogo y selección de Juan Herrero-Senés. versas obras consideradas importantes de la
Sevilla: Renacimiento, 2021. modalidad, sea por el renombre de algunos
541 pp. de sus autores (por ejemplo, Luis Araquis-
táin, del que se ha rescatado El archipiéla-
En 1995 se publicó una antología que nos go maravilloso), sea por la importancia del
enseñó a muchos que la ciencia ficción es- libro en la propia historia internacional de
pañola no era algo reciente e imitado de la la ciencia ficción, como es el caso de El
pujante producción especulativa en lengua anacronópete, de Enrique Gaspar, primera
inglesa. Nil Santiáñez-Tió demostró me- ficción sobre un viaje en el tiempo por me-
diante De la Luna a Mecanópolis. Antolo- dio de una máquina.

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En 2021, puede afirmarse que la cien- discursivos. Aunque predominan las na-
cia ficción española antigua (esto es, has- rraciones, también se recopilan textos de
ta el inicio del fenómeno de los bolsilibros carácter más bien ensayístico, así como
en 1953 y su subsiguiente precipitación una obra dramática. Con muy buen crite-
estética y cultural en la paraliteratura) ya rio, el editor prescinde de publicar meros
no es un fenómeno marginal en el mundo extractos de obras más extensas, cosa
académico. La bibliografía secundaria so- siempre frustrante para los lectores, a
bre ella suma un número considerable de quienes unos pocos pasajes pueden servir
entradas. Este hecho permite abrigar la para despertar la curiosidad, pero no para
esperanza de que los guardianes del ca- satisfacerla. Por lo demás, dado el hecho
non, que no trabajan todos en la universi- indudable de que la ciencia ficción prospe-
dad, se den cuenta de la necesidad de te- raba (y seguramente lo sigue haciendo)
nerlo en cuenta a la hora de escribir las sobre todo a través de las formas breves,
historias de la literatura española en cas- la decisión editorial cobra todo su sentido.
tellano, que lleva ya demasiado tiempo Más discutible podría considerarse la de
lastrada por el prejuicio de que la única incluir obras que se han rescatado recien-
estética castiza y respetable, por la razón temente, a veces por partida doble, como
que sea, es la llamada realista. Para faci- la novela corta de ambiente paleolítico En
litarlo, convenía que los avances de la in- las cavernas, de Emilia Pardo Bazán. Su
vestigación sobre el tema y una buena lugar lo podría haber ocupado algún otro
muestra de las obras originales para de- texto menos conocido, pero su excelencia
mostrar la justeza de las conclusiones por literaria justifica esta nueva reedición,
vía de los hechos se reunieran en libros de también porque la finalidad de esta anto-
síntesis. Se trataría, pues, de poner al día logía no es únicamente arqueológica. Se
la iniciativa de Santiáñez-Tió con la ven- trata también de intentar convencer una
taja de disponer de las numerosas nove- vez más a un medio cultural todavía rea-
dades redescubiertas hasta ahora. La par- cio del interés de la ficción especulativa
te histórica de esta tarea ya está en gran española del brillante período de la Edad
parte realizada gracias a los capítulos co- de Plata, para lo cual el mejor argumento
rrespondientes de la Historia de la ciencia son textos como este, escritos además por
ficción en la cultura española, editada por una autora plenamente canónica. Los re-
Teresa López-Pellisa. La parte que po- latos «Las ruinas de Granada», de Ángel
dríamos decir práctica, consistente en una Ganivet «Mecanópolis», de Miguel de
edición comentada de una muestra repre- Unamuno; «Los intelectuales», de Azorín,
sentativa de textos que fuera más amplia y «El dueño del átomo», de Ramón Gómez
y fiel a la realidad literaria que la pionera de la Serna, así como la obrilla teatral «La
de Santiáñez-Tió, era lo que faltaba, y es revolución sentimental», de Ramón Pérez
la carencia que Juan Herrero-Senés ha de Ayala, pueden desempeñar la misma
subsanado mediante su antología de la función de demostrar no solo la calidad li-
ciencia ficción española en castellano en- teraria que pudo alcanzar la ciencia fic-
tre 1898 y 1936 que llama, con un título ción en España, sino también el hecho de
que adapta de otro de José María Salave- que no le hicieron ascos algunos de los
rría, Mundos al descubierto. mayores clásicos modernos de su literatu-
Este volumen recoge nada menos que ra. A este respecto, la única objeción que
veinticuatro obras íntegras, todas ellas se le podría oponer a Herrero-Senés es
breves, pertenecientes a distintos géneros que haya optado por la segunda versión

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de la pieza de Pérez de Ayala, ya reedita- que combina magistralmente el costum-

da alguna que otra vez, mientras que la brismo rural, compatible con un cierto ai-
primera de 1909, con el título de Senti- re distópico, con la anticipación científica
mental Club, sigue sepultada en la colec- en el seno de un conjunto entramado que
ción periódica en que vio la luz, pese a su plantea, además, interesantes cuestiones
interés propio, no solo literario sino tam- éticas en un marco diríase neocolonial.
bién histórico, por ser una distopía socio- Sin embargo, «Fraternidad» tiene el méri-
tecnológica temprana que pudo influir, to de adelantarse bastantes años al tra-
por ejemplo, en la posterior más célebre tamiento del problema del papel del cien-
de su amigo inglés (y conocedor del caste- tífico en una sociedad embarcada en una
llano) Aldous Huxley. destructiva carrera de armamentos, con
Junto a estos escritores que pueden un planteamiento corriente en la Guerra
encontrarse fácilmente en los manuales Fría y que seguiría Pedro Salinas en su
de la literatura española de la Edad Con- obra teatral Caín o una gloria científica
temporánea, otros menos conocidos tam- (1957), cuyo asunto tiene mucho en co-
bién han sido objeto de atención crítica y mún con el de «Fraternidad».
editorial en los últimos años. Entre ellos, Otros autores que se han ido rescatan-
por orden más o menos cronológico, se do últimamente son Santiago Ramón y
pueden mencionar el postromántico José Cajal, el insigne neurólogo cuya obra lite-
Fernández Bremón, con «Telegrafía inte- raria es más interesante de lo que se sue-
lectual», que es uno de sus característicos le creer y que en este volumen aparece
cuentos sarcásticos; el naturalista José representado por su temprana anticipa-
Ortega Munilla, con sus pacifistas «Pági- ción «La vida en el año 6000»; Agustín de
nas del año 2016», un cuento narrativa- Foxá, con su artículo «Las termitas»; Luis
mente innovador que había escapado has- Antón del Olmet, con su distopía «La ver-
ta ahora a todos los investigadores de la dad en la ilusión», y Miguel A. Calvo Ro-
ciencia ficción hasta este rescate suyo por selló, con otra distopía, «Un país extraño»,
Herrero-Senés; el noventayochista nada publicada en 1919 en la revista madrileña
menor José María Salaverría, con la ori- Blanco y Negro y solo reeditada crítica-
ginalísima novela corta Un mundo al des- mente antes en Argentina, por Pablo Ca-
cubierto, que expone el pobre concepto que panna, quien lo creyó autor ligado a esa
tendrían de los terrícolas los marcianos; república, tal vez porque aquel relato
Ángeles Vicente, enigmática figura de es- apareció con posterioridad en una de las
critora inconformista, de la que se reedita colecciones literarias que allí se publica-
de nuevo (ya apareció en una edición re- ban. Se trata de una obra que merece ser
gional murciana muy poco difundida) su mucho mejor conocida, también por el he-
«Cuento absurdo» apocalíptico y nihilista, cho de que se trata del precedente más di-
y el hispano-cubano Alfonso Hernández- recto de la distopía clásica de George Or-
Catá, a quien se ha hecho más justicia en well, que la de Calvo Roselló anuncia
su isla natal que en España, donde desa- hasta en detalles como el aparato de vigi-
rrolló prácticamente toda su carrera lite- lancia a distancia de los ciudadanos por
raria, realidad que justifica su atinada in- parte de la policía política, un novum que
clusión en esta antología con el relato no nos consta que se hubiera descrito en
«Fraternidad». Tal vez más atinado aún ninguna obra anterior a «Un país extra-
habría sido escoger la otra gran narración ño».
fictocientífica de su autor, «El aborto», Mundos al descubierto también da ca-

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bida a textos de autores prácticamente tre ellos, haya escogido para su reedición
desconocidos o que tan solo habían sido únicamente los que revisten interés lite-
objeto de algún breve artículo o de alusio- rario indudable o se ajustan mejor a la
nes en trabajos generales sobre la historia clasificación adoptada. En cualquier caso,
de la ciencia ficción española. Se trata, estos descubrimientos bastarían para
por ejemplo, de Alejandro Larrubiera, con acreditar su compromiso como investiga-
«La mujer número 53», uno de los pocos dor de la historia de la literatura, algo
cuentos fictocientíficos que escribió este que se suele dar por supuesto en los pro-
maestro del relato breve hoy injustamente fesores universitarios como él mismo, pero
olvidado; de Eduardo Bertrán Rubio, cuyo que es más bien raro hoy en día, cuando
relato cómico «Un invento despampanan- los estudios culturales posmodernos giran
te» fue uno de los escasos y mejores resca- incansablemente, como ratas en una rue-
tes de la ciencia ficción antigua que vieron da, en torno a unos pocos temas y autori-
la luz en la mítica revista Nueva Dimen- dades, mientras se está perdiendo la tra-
sión, al igual que «El ocaso de la humani- dición filológica y la disciplina que lleva
dad», una parábola pacifista del poeta de- aparejada, consistente en documentar ex-
cadentista menor Marcos Rafael Blanco haustivamente lo que se afirma y en am-
Belmonte también recogida en Mundos al pliar la propia documentación en lo posi-
descubierto; de Rafael López de Haro, con ble, para sí y para futuros estudiosos.
su morbosa novela corta «El caso del doc- Desde este punto de vista, Herrero Senés
tor Iturbe», y de Ángel Marsá, de quien se es un filólogo ejemplar, cosa que también
reedita otra novela corta, titulada La voz demuestra a la hora de estudiar en sí
de la sangre, cuyo mayor interés es quizá mismo el fenómeno de la ciencia ficción
su fusión de lo fictocientífico y lo policial. como tal en la Edad de Plata en la intro-
Otros ni siquiera aparecen mencionados ducción crítica al volumen.
prácticamente en ningún sitio. Cuentos Pese al aviso de que lo pueden saltar
como «La sed de oro», de Ramón López impunemente «los lectores ávidos de cien-
Montenegro, y «Los rayos paralizantes», cia ficción», no recomendaríamos que lo
de Félix Lorenzo, y una anticipación en- hicieran, en primer lugar porque es de
sayística como «El periodismo del porve- una amenidad rara en este tipo de prólo-
nir», del divulgador científico Vicente Ve- gos y, en segundo, porque tal amenidad
ra, son algunos ejemplos más que, como el no está reñida con el alto nivel de exigen-
cuento arriba citado de Ortega Munilla, cia académica y conceptual que caracteri-
demuestran que Herrero-Senés no se li- za la labor de su autor. Nada se pierde y
mitó a empaparse bien de los conocimien- mucho entendimiento se puede ganar le-
tos existentes en materia de arqueología yendo esas páginas. Hablamos del enten-
española de la ciencia ficción, sino que dimiento añadido al ya alto de los lecto-
también emuló a Santiáñez-Tió y a otros res, ávidos o no, en materia de teoría,
que siguieron los pasos de este al esfor- historia y temas de la ciencia ficción, en
zarse por contribuir al enriquecimiento de forma no abstracta, sino aplicada con
su objeto mediante la búsqueda de nuevos exactitud a su asunto. En el primer apar-
textos fictocientíficos en las publicaciones tado, «Sobre la ciencia ficción», Herrero-
de la época, incluidas las periódicas de Senés argumenta con buenas razones que
más difícil y empeñada consulta. Es pro- haya tenido que entrar en disquisiciones
bable que haya descubierto así otros más teóricas, siempre espinosas, acerca de lo
que no figuren en su antología y que, en- que es la ciencia ficción como género. Aquí

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española, bien al descubierto

habríamos utilizado quizá otro término, digma total respecto a la mentalidad cícli-
ya que preferimos reservarlo a los géneros ca determinada por el modelo de vida
discursivos definibles mediante una serie agrícola antes predominante. Desde los
de características retóricas distintivas, inicios del progreso tecnológico y científi-
mientras que la ciencia ficción es más co, un mismo ser humano puede asistir a
bien un modo de ficción que puede mani- tales mutaciones de su modo de vida que
festarse a través del cuento, la obra dra- no extraña que se mire el futuro con espe-
mática o el ensayo, tal y como esta misma ranza o con prevención, según se deseen o
antología demuestra. Sin embargo, como se teman los cambios que se barruntan y
tampoco estamos ante un tratado de na- que la ciencia ficción, como literatura en
rratología, bien está que el prologuista se tiempo futuro, presenta como ya realiza-
haya limitado a explicar que, tratándose dos para poder juzgarlos, al menos en el
de una antología de ciencia ficción, con- terreno de la ficción. Todos los seres hu-
viene justificar, con la ayuda de la teoría, manos resultan afectados por esas modifi-
la razón de incluir en ella determinadas caciones, cuya índole es cultural, como
clases de textos y no otros. Aunque Herre- bien señala Herrero-Senés, por lo que no
ro-Senés reconoce que una definición es- es extraño que la ciencia ficción tuviera
pecífica sería difícil, ya que la literatura también un gran desarrollo en algunas
tiene la buena o mala costumbre de aco- regiones solo parcialmente industrializa-
ger elementos de lo más variopinto, la de das, tales como la propia España de la
ciencia ficción se caracterizaría, en su Edad de Plata. Los escritores españoles
opinión, por el carácter central en ella de no vivían en una reserva espiritual ajena
la razón como potencia aplicada a la hora a lo que pasaba en el resto del mundo,
de fenómenos y objetos, desde inventos aunque eso parecería a juzgar por la
hasta formas de organización social perspectiva estrechamente nacional,
inexistentes en nuestro mundo actual, pe- cuando no provinciana, que todavía pre-
ro que aparecen dotados en la ciencia fic- domina en las historias literarias del país.
ción de verosimilitud lógica y, natural- Sin embargo, la ciencia ficción tuvo
mente, científica. Los universos una «presencia» (así reza el título del se-
ficcionales así construidos suelen ser el gundo apartado del prólogo) en España
resultado de una actividad especulativa que fue bastante temprana. Debido a su
derivada de la proyección hacia el futuro período cronológico, quedan fuera las
de tendencias del propio presente, al efec- obras anteriores a 1898, una fecha más
to de sacar a los lectores de este, de dis- simbólica que otra cosa en lo que la cien-
tanciarlos para que lo miren críticamente cia ficción se refiere. Aunque la produc-
desde la perspectiva externa garantizada ción fictocientífica de Nilo María Fabra se
por la mirada desde el porvenir, un por- caracteriza por un optimismo de inspira-
venir que se atiene a las leyes básicas de ción positivista que contrastaría con el
nuestro mundo, del que procede. De esta pesimismo con que se suele abordar la
manera, la ciencia ficción constituye una ciencia y la tecnología en la ciencia ficción
reflexión racional sobre lo que nos puede española después de esa fecha, es imposi-
deparar una evolución hipotética, pero ve- ble marcar distinciones claras, pues los
rosímil, a partir de un presente que, des- textos de anticipación de Ramón y Cajal o
de la Revolución Industrial, se percibe Vicente Vera de la antología manifiestan
como algo en desarrollo, en constante una clara esperanza en las mejoras que
cambio y progreso. Es un cambio de para- habría de traer el futuro, mientras que las

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Los viejos mundos de la ciencia ficción
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anticipaciones de Antonio Flores o Fer- te al hecho de que la ciencia ficción solo

nández Bremón publicadas en pleno siglo representa un pequeño porcentaje de la
XIX denotan una desconfianza en el pro- producción literaria total y esta fue cuan-
greso tan marcada como podía serlo en los titativamente muchísimo más nutrida en
cuentos antologados de Ganivet y Una- esos países que en España, donde el lecto-
muno. Tal vez lo que diferencia en mayor rado potencial era también bastante me-
medida la ciencia ficción de la Edad de nos numeroso que en aquellos.
Plata frente a la del siglo anterior sea su Herrero-Senés se mueve en terreno
amplio empleo por escritores de distintas más firme en el apartado «Algunos rasgos
estéticas, escuelas y ambiciones como un generales». En su opinión, predominaba
vehículo para expresar sus ideas y preo- entonces en la ciencia ficción española «la
cupaciones. Creemos que su recurso a la cautela y el pesimismo», la desconfianza
ciencia ficción obedece a un deseo de ex- hacia los móviles de los científicos y las
plotar sus posibilidades filosóficas, socia- consecuencias de sus actos, el temor hacia
les y políticas, además de las propiamente una evolución sociopolítica que condujera
literarias. No existía como tal, a diferen- a la pérdida de las libertades y de todo
cia de lo afirmado por Herrero-Senés, una aquellos que nos hace humanos (por
literatura artística o minoritaria y otra de ejemplo, las emociones en «La revolución
«género» y de masas, sino un abanico de sentimental»), y de ahí la importancia de
modalidades narrativas, tales como la po- la distopía. El miedo al progreso suele
licial o la fictocientífica, que los escritores conllevar un marcado conservadurismo,
utilizaban libremente y sin considerar especialmente en materia de moral y roles
que una clase de literatura u otra tuviera sociales y de sexuales, en todos los lados
más dignidad o exigiera un mayor empe- del espectro político. Estos fenómenos
ño en su escritura. Hablar de «géneros» en eran universales, por lo que la ciencia fic-
esa época debe tener en cuenta esta reali- ción española «se aleja del localismo»,
dad histórica, que se demuestra asimismo aunque suelen menudear las pinceladas
mediante el hecho de que la crítica, en costumbristas, a veces con humor, como
España como en el resto del mundo fuera procedimiento para acercar los hechos
de los Estados Unidos y su fenómeno asombrosos a la realidad de cada día,
Pulp, juzgaba las obras fictocientíficas aminorando la posible extrañeza suscita-
exactamente igual que cualquier otra de da por la ambientación especulada. Este
sus autores, fuera realista o no, vanguar- costumbrismo, siempre tan fuerte en la li-
dista o tradicionalista. No queremos decir teratura española, estaba también muy
con esto que no existiera ya entonces una presente en otros países.
conciencia de «género» más o menos clara, La ciencia ficción se movía en coorde-
sino que aplicar una sociología literaria nadas internacionales también en Espa-
válida tan solo para una época posterior ña, donde los autores más célebres de la
no contribuye a explicar la razón de las modalidad, como H. G. Wells, eran bien
limitaciones cuantitativas de la ciencia conocidos. Los «temas y tendencias», tal y
ficción española en la Edad de Plata. como se titula el último apartado del sus-
Aparte de que tal escasez no es tal, y esta tancioso prólogo de Herrero-Senés, eran
misma antología así lo demuestra, cabría también internacionales, de modo que su
preguntarse si la menor abundancia fren- clasificación tiene validez no solo para
te a la ciencia ficción coetánea de Francia España. En primer lugar, sitúa los textos
o Gran Bretaña no se debería simplemen- de Pardo Bazán, Unamuno, López-Monte-

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Los viejos mundos de la ciencia ficción
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negro, Salaverría y Foxá en una sección Aunque también las hubo en España (por
de «Mundos extraños», ya que se centran ejemplo, escribió algunas Nilo María Fa-
en «universos separados de la vida coti- bra), los autores de ese país neutral pu-
diana», como experimentos de confronta- dieron llevar tal género hacia un univer-
ción con unas realidades completamente salismo ético que redunda en beneficio de
ajenas a las conocidas del mundo prima- su interés para los lectores de hoy. Ade-
rio, mediante traslado temporal o espacial más, como son muy poco conocidas, se
a tiempos como la prehistoria ibérica o a agradece aún en mayor medida su recu-
lugares como Marte, una ciudad pura- peración en esta antología.
mente mecánica en el desierto o un termi- Las de la sección siguiente, «Utopías y
tero. Dada la variedad de escenarios, no distopías» sí tienen algún renombre, ya
extrañará que sea tan difícil encontrarles que todas ellas han conocido reediciones
puntos comunes a esas historias, aparte antes de este volumen, quizá porque «la
de su función, acertadamente señalada descripción de la vida colectiva bajo cierto
por Herrero-Senés, de hacer visibles, por poder» ejerce una atracción considerable
contraste con el mundo extraño, «expe- sobre numerosos lectores, incluidos los del
riencias y emociones básicas, inherentes a mundo académico y político, y no solo gra-
lo humano». En cambio, presentan una cias al prestigio que este tipo de ficción
indudable unidad temática las ficciones disfruta por su antigüedad secular. La
recogidas en «Científicos e inventos», cuyo manera de organizar la sociedad es algo
nombre ya indica de qué se trata. Tam- que suele interesar sobremanera a quie-
bién es grande la coincidencia en las acti- nes viven en ella y el miedo a que una
tudes contrarias a una labor científica doctrina particular se lleve a la práctica
que, movida por la codicia u otras pasio- con consecuencias terribles para unos y
nes igual de poco recomendables, va de- magníficas para otros es algo común en la
masiado lejos y provoca catástrofes perso- historia humana, sobre todo en la Edad
nales o sociales, aunque tampoco faltan Contemporánea. No es extraño que los es-
los tratamientos humorísticos que quitan critores hayan querido conjurar el peligro
cierto hierro al asunto, sin que ello obste o, al contrario, acelerar su advenimiento
a su carácter admonitorio. Este carácter imaginando en sus ficciones cómo sería la
lo tienen también los ejemplos rescatados sociedad que temen o desean. Se trata,
en la sección «Política-ficción» («historia- pues, de una literatura utilitaria, e inclu-
ficción» en el índice final), que se limitan so propagandística, que se ajusta bien a
prácticamente a especulaciones sobre en- querencias arraigadas de quienes dictan
frentamientos bélicos, sean futuros, sean todavía el canon, para cuyos intereses ex-
prolongados desde el presente de la Gran traliterarios pesan lo suficiente como para
Guerra de 1914. Se dejan así de lado las que tilden a menudo de escapista a la
anticipaciones de política cotidiana que ciencia ficción por no prestarse aparente-
también existieron entonces en favor de mente con tanta facilidad como la realista
unas ficciones de alcance menos circuns- al «compromiso» en favor de cualquier
tancial, pues todas ellas persiguen dar causa. De este pecado se librarían obvia-
idea, por medio de la ciencia ficción, de lo mente la utopía y la distopía, por lo que
inmoral y «lo absurdo del conflicto», muy su inclusión en la ciencia ficción ha con-
lejos de la moda coetánea de la anticipa- tribuido bastante a la creciente canoniza-
ción nacionalista de las guerras futuras ción de esta en la actualidad. Así se ha re-
desde la germinal de George Chesney. cuperado hasta cierto punto la categoría

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que tuvo en España antes de la Guerra volumen bien escogido, sino también que
Civil de 1936, cuando ficción utópica y no se haya conformado con menos que
científica se veían ya como difícilmente ofrecer una síntesis inmejorable de histo-
separables. Sin embargo, concederles un rias e investigaciones anteriores, y que
lugar prioritario en una antología de la incluso haya ido más allá. Su erudición a
ciencia ficción habría sido erróneo. Es este respecto es tal que hasta la omisión
verdad que las obras incluidas en esta de toda bibliografía secundaria, incluso
sección se cuentan entre las mejor escri- cuando un estudioso anterior es citado por
tas de ella, pero Herrero-Senés ha hecho su nombre, se justifica por el hecho cierto
muy bien en poner este apartado en pie de que ha utilizado y asimilado perfecta-
de igualdad con los demás, lo que contri- mente tantos libros y artículos que enu-
buirá quizás a un reequilibrio del campo merarlos todos habría incrementado en
de la ciencia ficción desde el punto de vis- muchas páginas las del libro, quitando
ta de su consideración cultural. También espacio para lo principal, que son las pro-
nos parece acertado dedicar una sección pias obras, todas ellas reproducidas, como
específica a los «Viajes al futuro», aunque debe ser, a partir de sus ediciones origina-
su nombre pueda inducir a confusión, ya les, estas sí puntualmente señaladas en la
que lo fundamental en los textos ahí reco- sección de «Referencias bibliográficas».
gidos no es el traslado con todas sus peri- Frente a todas estas valiosas cualidades,
pecias, sino la descripción de lo que el via- las escasas objeciones que hemos plan-
jero, real o virtual, observa en el porvenir, teado son de poco momento y, por lo de-
como mero testigo. Se trata de anticipa- más, se trata más bien de cuestiones de
ciones que tienen un marcado carácter opinión. Mundos al descubierto es uno de
ensayístico, aunque la vertiente lírica del esos libros que resultan definitivos en su
discurso descriptivo domina en «Las rui- ámbito y no tiene apenas parangón, que
nas de Granada» de Ganivet, quizá el tex- sepamos, en otras antologías nacionales
to más poético de la antología. de la ciencia ficción escrita en la primera
El cuento de Ganivet confirma asi- mitad del siglo pasado. En algo se tenía
mismo una impresión que da la mayoría que ver que, entre algunos filólogos espa-
de estos Mundos al descubierto: la de que ñoles, el posmodernismo hegemónico que
la ciencia ficción de Edad de Plata espa- nos coloniza las mentes no ha desterrado
ñola es digna literariamente del subido por completo la exigencia del rigor crítico
valor simbolizado por dicho metal. Debe- e histórico, del que este libro es una estu-
mos a Herrero-Senés no solo que nos dé la penda demostración.
oportunidad de disfrutarla en un cómodo

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The Perfect Slave

Federico de Castro

Introductory note by Mariano Martín Rodríguez © Mariano Martín Rodríguez, 2021

and translation by Álvaro Piñero González © Álvaro Piñero González, 2021, por la traducción

Different writers have approached the collected this story in 1877 in Flores de
topic of the mechanical woman in diverse invierno (‘Winter Flowers’),1 an anthology
ways in modern times, long before post- of essays and narratives, both original
humanism conferred new cultural life and rewritten from popular sources.
upon it. Among them, E. T. A. Hofmann Krausism was perhaps the most
(1776-1822) illustrated the fantastic influential current of thought in Spain in
approach in “The Sandman” (“Der the second half of the 19th century, where
Sandman,” 1816) by portraying a it moved beyond the philosophical
mechanical doll whose appearance doctrines of its German founder Karl
threatens to delete the boundaries Christian Friedrich Krause (1781-1832).
between natural beings and artificial Spanish intellectuals understood and
creations, thus ominously threatening the promoted it rather as an encompassing
very idea of personality and free will. In way of thinking and researching, and
contrast, Auguste Villiers de l’Isle Adam even of ethically living. They combined
(1838-1899) embraced in Tomorrow’s Eve thus a deeply felt non-confessional
(L’Ève future, 1886) the novelty or spirituality and a clear overture to
Suvinian novum of an artificial woman modern sciences and their methods,
endowed with sentience as an especially in the fields of pedagogy
embodiment of the perfect body and mind (including popularisation of science) and
so elusive in women (and men) of flesh folklore studies, for which Federico de
and blood, a perfection attained through Castro is an important pioneer in the
science and technology. Between both Andalusian region. Spanish Krausists
works, a virtually unknown but were also notorious universalists,
significant Spanish tale shows that a high promoting a better knowledge in their
fantasy approach can also be taken. Its country not only of foreign European and
author, Federico de Castro (1834-1903) Western cultures, but also of the Eastern
was one of the leading figures of the ones, although usually without the
Krausist school in his native Seville,
where he directed a Monthly Journal of —————
1 The following translation is based on this
Philosophy, Literature and Science
final edition: Federico de Castro, “La esclava
(Revista Mensual de Filosofía, Literatura
perfecta,” Flores de invierno, Sevilla: José G.
y Ciencia). And it was in this journal that Fernández, 1877, p. 89-93. We warmly thank
“La esclava perfecta” (translated below as Jonathan Deroo for his revising the English
“The Perfect Slave”) was first published text of the translation and the introductory
in 1872 (vol. IV, p. 412-413). Castro later note.

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orientalist bias more common in other old Indian tradition of narratives with
countries that, unlike Spain, had colonial mechanical characters.
interests in the Orient.2 His story, however, is set in a fully
Spanish orientalism often focused on imaginary kingdom. The latter has no
the country’s own medieval history of Al- name and it is ruled by an also nameless
Andalus until the demise of the Granada and all-powerful monarch called the ‘Sun
kingdom in 1492. More exotic venues Prince,’ who is endowed with semi-divine
were also used in contemporary Spanish features such as a luminous front that
literature. One of 19th century legendary has to be covered by nine veils so as not to
narratives that has attained canonical dazzle his royal subjects. The narrative
status is “The Leader of the Red Hands” begins by his ordering his nine ministers
(“El caudillo de las manos rojas,” 1858) by to seek the perfect woman among the
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836-1870), daughters of gods and men. This allusion
which retells a Hindu mythic legend in to divine offspring on earth suggests that
ornate prose similar to that of later the fictional universe of this story has no
writers from the Spanish Aesthetic place in any historical period of our
Movement. Federico de Castro followed primary world. On the contrary, it is a
Bécquer’s style of writing in “The Perfect full secondary world with naturally
Slave,” which also reads, unlike the rest accepted supernatural features and
of his narratives, as a piece having been having a legendary-looking setting, as
written with the imagistic and well as possible magical features (for
rhetorically rich style typical of decadent instance, nine often appears as a kind of
writers of the turn of the 19th century. magical number). Castro’s is, therefore, a
Castro was, however, more original than fictional world typical of high fantasy,
Bécquer regarding the setting of his story: long before this genre of literature
“The Perfect Slave” is set in an Oriental- became common in the anglosphere, and
appearing kingdom that is not intended it can probably even be considered one the
as a conventional fairy-tale venue. Given first of its kind in Hispanic literatures. Its
the existence of mechanical female lovers significance is not only archaeological,
and other automatons as central features though.
in several stories from pre-Muslim India Apart from the beauty of its language
and its area of cultural influence (for and the perfect structure of its narrative
instance, the Tocharian tale of the painter structure, where ellipsis is adroitly used,
and the mechanical maiden), Castro’s “The Perfect Slave” is not only an
story has a certain resemblance with that outstanding piece of literary fantasy. It
also conveys a message that can be read
as a debunking of the widespread male
————— wish to have a female partner that is both
2 The Philippines were still a part of the extremely beautiful and fully submissive,
old and decaying Spanish empire but they a wish that underpins the very concept of
were always seen as an extension of Spanish the gynoid in the above-mentioned
colonies in the Americas. Moreover, unlike Villiers de l’Isle Adam’s novel. In Castro’s
India, China or the Muslim world, the
tale, the king soon discovers that a true
Philippines lacked a pre-existing civilisation
woman of flesh and blood always has her
strong enough to resist effectively the
thorough religious and cultural westernization own will but that his ‘perfect slave’ cannot
successfully undertaken by the Spanish. bring him happiness. An automaton

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devoid of free will cannot be but mortally probably deserves recognition not only for
boring even for a godlike patriarchal its feminism and its veiled criticism of
despot. Since “The Perfect Slave” is a high divinised monarchy, but also as an early
fantasy story and not a didactic tract, this classic of international high fantasy. It is
message is rather suggested than also perhaps as thought-provoking and
explicitly put forward. It reveals, artistically satisfying as the better known
however, that Castro was also a true works on the same topic by Hoffmann and
Spanish Krausist for his promotion of Villiers de l’Isle Adam on the same topic
women’s dignity and agency. “The Perfect in their respective macro-modes of non-
Slave” is, therefore, a tale that seems mimetic fiction, namely fantastic and
written for current readers rather than science fiction. Castro’s high fantasy
for those of Castro’s time both regarding should be added to this list.
its meaning and its genre. This is why it

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 Federico de Castro

The Perfect Slave

I the beautiful among the daughters of the

Gods, among the daughters of the kings,
Behind the nine veils keeping him from among the daughters of men.”
the eyes of men, the Sun Prince sits upon Nine eunuchs already left, each
his golden throne. carrying enough gold to purchase nine
None has seen his sovereign empires.
countenance and none ever will. Beware, oh, you beautiful ones, it will
Should any be fool enough to dare lift avail you not to try to deceive the keen eye
the veils, even before being dazzled and of the eunuchs. Fathers, husbands,
felled by the fire torrents springing from the brothers, it will avail you not to lock the
mountain of light which shines upon the pearl among the beautiful in abyssal deeps
regal brow, the nine cutlasses of the nine or to guard her behind ramparts teeming
guardians who guard day and night would with soldiers. Gold and the prince’s
cleave their neck, severing head from warriors will take her away from you.
shoulders.
Though hidden by the nine veils, there
are nine prostrated viziers waiting II
ceaselessly for the slightest indication of his
will, nine couriers on swift horses ever Why is this woman crying? She seems the
ready to bear his will to the nine regions of living image of despaired beauty.
the empire, nine times nine hundred Why does the prince’s veil shake
warriors ready to execute it in his court and furiously?
nine times ninety thousand to enforce it in He says:
all the land. “Bring me the wisest of the wise.”
Now the veil stirs… the nine viziers A venerable old man bends and bury
listen shuddering, the couriers crack their his wrinkled brow on the floor and,
whips and spur their steeds on their flanks, noticing the woman in so doing, is about
the guards shake their shiny weapons of to unwittingly utter “No other…more
gemstones inlaid, the squadrons stand in beautiful!”
formation, the unerring arrowheads surface The axe is hanging over his head, but
above the battlements of castles carried by then the prince speaks:
nine hundred elephants… “As beautiful as this one, yet without
What does the son of the Sun want? volition!”
Which city’s ramparts must yield to his The old man answers thus:
war machines? What life must perish by “Sir, you shall be obeyed.”
the blades of his swords?
Tremble not: the prince’s words do not
command destruction and death. III
The lion is chagrined because of his
loneliness and longs for a companion. Why is the prince of the nine veils dying
He told them: of love, languishing in boredom?
“Go, travel throughout the seven He has the most beautiful of the
climes and find me the most beautiful of beautiful by his side. A lake does not

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reflect more accurately the hues of the boredom?

sky than her will reflects his will. Why, the most beautiful of the
Why is he dying of love? Why is the beautiful, the perfect slave is not a
prince of the nine veils languishing in woman but an automaton!

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The Iron City

Salvador Rueda

Introductory note by Mariano Martín Rodríguez © Mariano Martín Rodríguez, 2021

and translation by Álvaro Piñero González © Álvaro Piñero González, 2020, por la traducción

There are many utopias written as novels, Heliade-Rădulescu (1802-1872), to the

such as William Morris’ News from egalitarian socialist or anarchist ones
Nowhere (1890). Less well known are the praised in hymns written by proletarian
lyrical ones written in verse in the form of authors such as Eugène Pottier (1816-
hymns. Hymns are usually written in 1887) in France and Pietro Gori (1865-
order to be sung in public in praise of God 1911) in Italy. Later on, in the age of the
or the gods and, in modern times, of the Aesthetic Movement, utopias had to be not
very people who sing it as members of a only fair and equal, but also artistically
nation or of any community. Their solemn beautiful. Such is “The Iron City” (“La
tone is one of their defining features, ciudad de hierro” in the Castilian original
aiming to arouse an emotional consensus published in the collection Fuente de salud,
around the worship of the corresponding or ‘Source of Health,’ in 1906) by Spanish
divinity, or the pride of belonging to a poet Salvador Rueda (1857-1933).1
particular group. Their collective character Rueda’s iron city corresponds to a
distinguishes them from lyric poems, mentality that embraces technological
where individual subjectivity is and industrial progress, symbolised by
paramount, and brings them closer to metal buildings such as the Parisian
epics, since hymns often indicate the Eiffel Tower. These were considered to be
reasons for the praise in the form of the manifestation par excellence of
concise narratives telling of the technical modernity in engineering back
extraordinary, supernatural or heroic acts then, but they also showed a pleasant
performed by the sung entity. wealth of decorative details with no other
Hymns, which were mainly religious in function than to confer the building a
nature at the beginning, became clear artistic value. This kind of Modern
increasingly secular and even utopian in
content following the consolidation of —————
revolutionary theory and practice from 1 The English translation below is based
1789 onwards. Indeed, there are several on the following edition: Salvador Rueda, “La
lyrical, descriptive and narrative hymns in ciudad de hierro”, Obras completas: Poesía III
(1901-1906), edición, introducción y notas de
verse praising and portraying future
María Dolores Gutiérrez Navas, Málaga,
utopias. These are diverse and range from
Universidad de Málaga, 2016, pp. 425-425. We
secularised and socialist paradises such as warmly thank Jonathan Deroo for his revising
the “Holy City” (“Sfânta cetate,” 1856), the English text of the translation and the
sung by the Romanian romantic poet Ion introductory note.

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The Iron City

Style architecture is the one prevailing in Gospel of Peace, thus ushering onto Earth
the iron city superbly described by Rueda. a utopian order of a clearly technocratic
Even schools and factories are built nature. This order also embraces,
following that model. However, their however, both faith and beauty. Perhaps
significance is not only aesthetic. The the second coming of Christ will be
functional iron constructions are also needed to make this social and aesthetic
visual signs of a new faith in scientific, utopia happen, considering the little signs
technological and social progress. They of it in our times and in the foreseeable
are cathedrals dedicated to a Christ yet to future. While we await it, we can still
come. This Christ is not the one portrayed enjoy the beauty of Rueda’s inspiring epic
in The Book of Revelation but a “Christ of hymn.
labour and ideas” who will bring us a

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 Salvador Rueda

The Iron City

It is the city of times future. It soars In their iron courtyards, the

magnificent in the mind – a radiant vision encampments mix their sounds and
with a Babylonian profile. When the sun martial crowds, producing dazzling
pours forth its rays of gold the city confusion: walls of iron, canons of iron,
shimmers, commanding, in the vast forum, brave squadrons of iron and, likewise, the
filling the air with its towers galore. invincible heart of iron.
It is the future city. Its palaces are a The classrooms – ovaries where the
miraculous creation of space. Resolutely light of word carves the minds, settling
they rise from base to summit: thinner foundations and endowing them with
than glass and subtler, finer than lace and masculine strength – shall bring steely
lovelier, like a doiley of intangible light. truths to light and shall turn the incipient
Its pleasing homes’ ceilings emulate wills into heroic outbursts and virile
the concavities of elegant emporiums, resolution.
draped with kind majesty. Bright clarity The cathedrals, tearing veils apart,
rushes through its rooms’ cheerful shall shoot their towers to the skies,
balconies and ironwork – chiselled into needed of new Tables of the Law, and
flowery motives. The mighty arches of its their naves – extraordinary workshops –
bridges, like brave caryatids, bend their shall raise their religious altars to a God
backs in virile strain, while above, awaited, but yet still to come.
vehicles march in swift and coarse It is the Christ of incandescent iron, of
procession, booming hoarsely. the uncrowned brow sublime, of the
From the unique dikes of its dams wide as unbruised face divine. It is the Christ of
seas stem rust-coloured veins of effective labour and ideas, the Christ that
virtue, and in its liquid caverns the crystal- hammers on the anvil of the workshop
clear miracle of water is forged with atoms of and writes the Gospel of peace.
iron and health.

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Paraísos futuros:
tres himnos utópicos

Nota introductoria y traducción © Mariano Martín Rodríguez, 2021

de Mariano Martín Rodríguez

El sueño de un mundo mejor ha sido una desde 1789 (revolución liberal francesa)
constante en la imaginación humana y, hasta 1999 (revolución socialista venezo-
como no podía ser menos, ha tenido abun- lana).
dante expresión en la literatura. Durante Entre una revolución y otra, numero-
milenios se ha fantaseado con la existen- sos publicistas mantenían viva la llama
cia de espacios donde ser definitivamente de las esperanzas en un mundo mejor
felices. Al principio, tal espacio se concibió mediante una rica y variada literatura
en una época mítica de oro, de la que se utópica en la que se describía el cariz de
habría caído al negro presente, aunque tal una venidera sociedad libre, igualitaria,
vez el antiguo paraíso podría haber pervi- fraternal y justa que recompensaría los
vido en algún rincón ignoto, que algún esfuerzos propagandísticos y que merece-
explorador afortunado habría podido visi- ría todos los sacrificios, humanos inclusi-
tar, para luego volver y contárnoslo: desde ve. Son muy conocidas, por ejemplo, las
el pescador imaginado por Tao Yuanming utopías socialistas en forma novelística,
en el siglo V de nuestra era, que encontró tales como News from Nowhere [Noticias
el país del jardín de melocotoneros en que de ninguna parte] (1890), de William Mo-
se habían preservado las idílicas virtudes rris. En cambio, lo son mucho menos las
de una China mítica, hasta la isla de Uto- utopías líricas escritas en verso que adop-
pia descubierta por un explorador portu- tan el esquema discursivo del himno. Este
gués según el informe publicado en iróni- es un género de origen muy antiguo, es-
co latín por Tomás Moro, al que seguirán crito a menudo para ser cantado en públi-
otros cortados por análogo patrón por co en loor de los dioses y, modernamente,
Tommaso Campanella, Francis Bacon y del propio pueblo que lo entona, en su ca-
muchos más soñadores arbitristas. Diver- lidad de nación o de cualquier otra clase
sas religiones, tanto politeístas como (teó- de colectividad. El tono solemne de su es-
ricamente) monoteístas, prometieron a los critura es una característica común y per-
desgraciados sufrientes terrenales el pa- sigue suscitar un consenso emocional en
raíso en otra vida de ultratumba. Por fin, torno a la adoración de la divinidad co-
a finales del siglo XVIII se empezó a pro- rrespondiente o al orgullo de pertenencia
meter tal paraíso, para todos y en la Tie- a la comunidad cantada. Su carácter co-
rra, tras una futura y próxima revolución lectivo lo distingue de la escritura lírica,
que derribaría violentamente a los opre- en la que la subjetividad individual inspi-
sores y permitiría a los oprimidos crear ra el canto, y lo acerca a la épica, pues los
unas nuevas sociedades perfectas y feli- himnos suelen indicar los motivos de la
ces, de las que son cumplido ejemplo alabanza. Esta suele fundarse en unos ac-
aquellas alumbradas por las revoluciones tos extraordinarios, sobrenaturales o he-
modernas y posmodernas una y otra vez roicos, que se narran de forma concisa o a

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los que simplemente se alude por ser de siglos de abandono. Así surgió el tópico de
sobra conocidos. Jesús de Nazaret como primer socialista y
Los himnos, que eran sobre todo de ca- revolucionario, incluso entre los no cre-
rácter religioso en sus inicios, menudea- yentes. Esta figura es la loada en un
ron con contenidos utópicos tras la conso- himno del poeta rumano Ion Heliade-
lidación de la teoría y la práctica Rădulescu (1802-1872) titulado «Sânta ce-
revolucionarias desde 1789. Numerosos tate» [La santa ciudad], que vio la luz en
poemas entre líricos, descriptivos y narra- su libro de análisis político Descrierea Eu-
tivos ofrecieron variadas visiones del fu- ropei după tratatul de la Paris [Descrip-
turo paraíso terrestre que dibujan la evo- ción de Europa tras el tratado de París]
lución del género hasta su declive en el (1856)1. Desde su primer verso, se identi-
siglo XX, cuando el auge creciente del in- fica a Cristo con el pueblo violentado por
dividualismo consumista, por un lado, y la los poderosos de cada época, siguiendo
reglamentación disciplinaria de la imagi- una sucesión de relaciones de opresión
nación por los regímenes totalitarios, por que cambian en cuanto a sus autores (so-
otro, hicieron caer el himno utópico en los beranos, sacerdotes, ricos, etc.), pero tales
abismos estéticos de la literatura de pro- relaciones permanecen inalteradas en su
paganda al servicio del poder revoluciona- esencia dualista, sin términos medios.
rio o de la banalidad pop de cantautores a Cuando el poeta escribe su himno, el gru-
menudo tan ignorantes en música como po en el que se encarna el Cristo sufriente
en letras. Por supuesto, ambas lacras no es el proletariado, el cual también se defi-
eran nuevas, pero hubo algunos poetas ne retrospectivamente como el oprimido
que dieron a conocer himnos cuya vehe- en épocas anteriores. De esta manera, pa-
mencia retórica contribuye a crear imáge- sa por alto las posibles diferencias en la
nes de la utopía cantada que poseen una organización social y económica moderna
gran expresividad y eficacia emocional. y las del antiguo régimen en la medida en
Entre ellos, tres pueden considerarse re- que el martirio infligido al pueblo sería
presentativos de la evolución ideológica y similar en todos los tiempos. Este sufri-
discursiva de este género de ficción lírica miento se indica mediante enumeracio-
de anticipación. nes, cuyas variaciones retóricas dentro de
Tras la decepción suscitada por el cur- una estructura paralelística evitan la mo-
so de los acontecimientos en Francia y notonía de un cuadro siempre igual en el
Europa tras el final de proceso revolucio- fondo, al tiempo que una gran atención al
nario de 1789 y la aparición de nuevas y ritmo garantiza la agilidad del movimien-
marcadas diferencias de clase a raíz de la to histórico, cuya dialéctica así se resume.
Revolución Industrial, se produjo entre Esta estructura, con todas sus notables
determinados intelectuales una reflexión cualidades retóricas, se mantiene en la
social(ista) utópica de tintes mesiánicos y, segunda parte del himno, en el que se
por lo tanto, bastante ligada a una reli- describe el espectáculo escatológico de la
gión de la humanidad de la que el Cristo
evangélico, no el de las Iglesias oficiales,
—————
1 La traducción que sigue se basa en la
sería un precursor o incluso su primer
edición crítica siguiente: Ion Heliade-
gran representante. La exaltación evangé- Rădulescu, «Sînta cetate», Opere, I, Poezii,
lica de la pobreza y la comunidad de bie- ediție critică de Vladimir Drimba cu un studiu
nes del primer cristianismo se pusieron introductiv de Al. Piru, București, Editura
otra vez de moda, al menos en teoría, tras pentru Literatură, 1967, pp. 207-209.

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segunda venida de Cristo según la doctri- sin olvidar normalmente la perspectiva

na cristiana, pero modificada de forma utópica de una revolución que ya no sería
que sea compatible con las perspectivas liberal y burguesa, sino socialista y prole-
revolucionarias terrenales. La Ciudad de taria. En este contexto surgieron varios
Dios que se abre a los sufrientes de la poetas que utilizaron un género muy po-
Tierra tras el juicio apocalíptico es cier- pular como la canción con fines de movili-
tamente una creación divina, pero tam- zación. Eugène Pottier (1816-1887), autor
bién se presenta como el resultado de los de la letra de la Internacional, es quizá la
méritos reunidos por aquellos revolucio- figura más conocida e influyente. Su
narios que, en distintas naciones de Eu- ejemplo fue seguido por otros, como el
ropa, habían derribado antes las tiranías anarquista Pietro Gori (1865-1911), cuyo
monárquicas, esto es, las monarquías ab- himno en toscano «La pace», fechado en
solutistas contra las que luchaban los ac- noviembre de 1891 y recogido en su libro
tivistas liberales y socialistas románticos. Battaglie [Batallas] (1911)2, contrasta con
Tras su caída, el único emperador sería el la típica literatura proletaria por su ca-
Cristo-pueblo, el cual accedería así a la rácter no partidista y la universalidad
«santa ciudad» de piedras preciosas en la deseada de su mensaje. Escrito como
que se combinan las promesas de la reli- reacción inmediata ante un poema de
gión y de la política, incluida una «vida Giosuè Carducci recogido en Rime e ritmi
social» con artes y ciencias. La dimensión [Rimas y ritmos] (1899) con el título «La
espiritual se eclipsa ante los ideales socia- guerra», se trata de un repaso en verso de
les, cuya vaguedad ideológica facilita su la querencia bélica humana. Su última es-
universalidad, más allá de ideologías y trofa figura como epígrafe del himno de
programas concretos para alcanzar el ad- Gori, quien no solo disintió de la supuesta
venimiento de la ciudad feliz. El cuadro glorificación de Napoleón Bonaparte por
escatológico final podría sugerir que el Carducci, sino que se propuso también
poeta no abrigaba demasiada confianza contestar a la desesperanzada pregunta
en tal advenimiento sin mediar una in- de aquel por el tiempo en que la Paz alza-
tervención divina, pero esta también tiene rá su vuelo. Para ello, Gori desvela la hi-
la ventaja de sancionar el trabajo revolu- pocresía de su predecesor, que gozaba de
cionario y, literariamente, de facilitar una inmenso reconocimiento público en Italia
grandiosa visión utópica en la que lo na- como vate nacional del Risorgimento.
tural y lo sobrenatural confluyen en un ¿Qué paz cabía esperar del nacionalismo
panorama sublime. promovido, entre otros, por Carducci? En
Según fue avanzando el siglo y per- las naciones mismas, ¿cómo pensar en la
diendo predicamento el socialismo utópico paz cuando ricos y pobres constituyen a
romántico entre los intelectuales más li- su vez dos naciones enfrentadas? La res-
gados a la lucha revolucionaria en la puesta se ofrece mediante una larga ora-
práctica, ensoñaciones como la de Helia- ción compuesta formada por la yuxtaposi-
de-Rădulescu fueron perdiendo actualidad
y la hímnica utópica empezó a quedar li-
—————
2 La traducción sigue el texto publicado en
gada más directamente a las labores más
la siguiente antología de poesía revolucionaria
prácticas de un activismo dirigido a y por italiana del siglo XIX: Pietro Gori, «La pace»,
los obreros mismos, ahora embarcados en Petrolio e assenzio: La ribellione in versi (1870-
un esfuerzo por mejorar sus condiciones 1900), a cura di Giuseppe Iannaccone, Roma,
de vida mediante el sindicalismo, aunque Salerno, 2010, pp. 95-97.

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ción de cláusulas temporales que van su- Aunque Gori no cae en esta clase de exce-
mando viñetas de un futuro utópico en sos, su obra difícilmente puede relacio-
que no habrá quien cante la guerra y sea narse con las corrientes innovadoras de su
recompensado por ello, las armas se época, algunas de las cuales hacían gala
transformarán en instrumentos de pro- de un esteticismo elitista escasamente
ducción y dejará de haber fronteras y cla- compatible con el activismo revoluciona-
ses sociales. En cambio, todos podrán cu- rio. Ese esteticismo no tiene siempre como
brir sus necesidades y formarse en el seno consecuencia un apoliticismo integral.
de una comunidad mundial fraternal. Se- Hubo escritores que incluso convirtieron
rá entonces cuando la única bandera sea la estética en un ideal social colectivo. La
la blanca de la paz y la justicia. Esta vida futura no tendría que ser únicamen-
perspectiva constituye un horizonte de fe- te fraternal y justa, sino también bella. El
licidad que, a diferencia del descrito por mundo futuro habría de ser también vi-
Heliade-Rădulescu descarta todo castigo y sualmente armónico. Al menos es eso lo
violencia a raíz de la revolución. Gori que se desprende de un par de poemas
abraza ahí un anarquismo pacifista análo- laudatorios de aspecto hímnico escritos en
go al promovido por escritores como el el marco en España a principios del siglo
francés Han Ryner, aunque el autor ita- XX. El primero es uno en castellano titu-
liano liga su utopía a una mutación moral lado «Ciudad de hierro», cuyo autor, Sal-
vinculada directamente a una clase, el pro- vador Rueda (1857-1933) recogió en Fuen-
letariado, llamadado «plebe» en el himno, te de salud (1906). El segundo, en catalán,
sin ánimo peyorativo. Muy al contrario, la se titula «La ciutat d’ivori» [La ciudad de
condición de la obtención de la paz utópica marfil] y lo publicó Guerau de Liost
anticipada es el triunfo de su lucha contra (Jaume Bofill i Mates, 1878-1933) en la
la opresión y la guerra, para lo cual con- revista De Tots Colors [De todos los colo-
vendría que los intelectuales cesaran de res] en octubre de 1910)3. La ciudad de
glorificar el belicismo y el nacionalismo. La —————
historia enseña que Gori no fue escuchado, 3 El texto de la traducción sigue el publi-

pero su himno pervive como muestra de un cado en el estudio que redescubrió este poema:
intelectual obrero con un alto sentido de la Enric Serra i Casals, «“La ciutat d’ivori”: un
ética que supo poner al servicio de su ideal poema oblidat de Guerau de Liost», Els Mar-
una escritura de raigambre romántica, cu- ges: Revista de Llengua i Literatura, 48 (1993),
ya amplia y rítmica retórica acierta a ex- pp. 109-111, en la p. 109. Guerau de Liost re-
escribió su poema, titulándolo «Pòrtic» [Pórti-
presar con plena convicción la generosidad
co], para que abriera La ciutat d’ivori (1918).
de su sentimiento. Esta segunda versión ya no es una visión utó-
«La pace» representa tal vez un extre- pica, como indica el uso de adjetivos como
mo de la hímnica utópica de estética ro- cruento y la glorificación del escasamente utó-
mántica que era ya anacrónica en su pico sentido común (seny). Figura a continua-
tiempo. La literatura proletaria de enton- ción en esta misma nota la traducción caste-
ces no se solía caracterizar por el experi- llana, hecha sobre la edición siguiente: Guerau
mentalismo literario, pues su objetivo era de Liost, «Pòrtic», Obra poètica completa, a cu-
ra d’Enric Bou, Barcelona, Selecta, 1983, p.
ser pragmáticamente lo más eficaz posible
331.
de cara a un público proletario al que se «Bella Ciudad de Marfil hecha de blanco y
deseaba conmover de la manera a la que oro: Tus cúpulas se irisan en el azul que muere
este había sido acostumbrado tras déca- y, reflejándose, limpias, en la marejada tur-
das de poesía y novela melodramáticas. gente, serpentean por el torso adolescente de

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hierro de Rueda corresponde a una men- de los ideales novecentistas promovidos

talidad que abraza el progreso tecnológico por Eugeni d’Ors como la estética que de-
e industrial, simbolizado por las edifica- bía dominar en Cataluña y en su capital
ciones metálicas que, como la parisina to- Barcelona, cuya industrialización muy
rre Eiffel, se consideraban entonces la avanzada hacía innecesarios los sueños de
manifestación por excelencia de la moder- modernización tecnocrática abrigados, en-
nidad técnica en ingeniería, pero con una tre otros, por el andaluz Salvador Rueda.
profusión decorativa en los detalles que se La ciudad de marfil también se opone a la
ajusta a la estética decadentista. Por otra profusión decorativa y naturalista del
parte, escuelas y fábricas así construidas Modernismo catalán. Por ello, la escritura
configuran una utopía que no es única- decorativa de Liost tiende a la estiliza-
mente estética. Las construcciones de hie- ción. De hecho, aunque respetan la exi-
rro también serán catedrales dedicadas a gencia de hipérbole propia del género
un Cristo venidero que ya no será el apoca- hímnico, los detalles descriptivos son más
líptico evocado por Heliade-Rădulescu, sino bien parcos. En realidad, Liost es fiel a los
uno de hierro del trabajo y de la idea, el procedimientos de sugestión típicos de la
Cristo de una paz tecnocrática y esteticista poesía simbolista predominante en su ju-
a la vez, de manera que en «La ciudad de ventud, ya que la configuración completa
hierro» se combinan todos los ideales de las de la ciudad utópica se confía a la imagi-
utopías hímnicas examinadas4. nación de los lectores, partiendo de los
Por su parte, Guerau de Liost prescin- rasgos someros indicados en el poema. Lo
de de cualquier contenido social. La des- mismo se aplica a la dimensión ética de la
cripción de su ciudad de marfil es pura- utopía. Sabemos que en ella reinan la
mente exterior, sin que haya alusión grandeza material y el amor, posiblemen-
alguna al posible ordenamiento de la so- te entre los habitantes, a quienes guiaría
ciedad que albergaría. El adjetivo que un ideal calificado de altísimo, sea cual
abre el poema, «bella», resume lo que in- sea. Pero, por encima de todo, existiría un
teresa resaltar, que no es otra cosa sino la destino trascendente ligado a una femi-
hermosura estatuaria de una ciudad en la neidad inmortal, esto es, al eterno feme-
que se combinan el color blanco del marfil nino que salva a Fausto en su leyenda se-
y el mármol, como símbolo tradicional de gún Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Si es
pureza, y dorado, que sugiere la abundan- así, diríase que la ciudad de marfil es una
cia en cosas materiales. Todo ello está ro- imagen del cielo, una utopía trascendente.
deado por el azul del cielo y del mar. Esta Esta es solo una de las interpretaciones
imagen urbana de aire neoclásico deriva posibles que puede inspirar un poema os-
————— curo y ambiguo pese a su sencillez y clari-
las olas. El marfil tiene la gracia de un már- dad aparentes, un poema en que el ideal
mol constelado de polvo aurífero, como carne utópico es tan vago como sugestivo, ilus-
de infante fallecido. ¡Bella ciudad de mármol trando así la variedad y la flexibilidad de
del mundo externo, vuelta aurífera en una mi- la propia utopía y del himno como género
rada de amor! Estás toda labrada con ordena- en manos de escritores con conciencia de
do esmero. Te purifica el vivir magnánimo y
serlo, como lo son todos los arriba recor-
cruento. Y, por encima de la frívola grandeza
terrena, empuñarás la palma del sentido co-
dados, aun cuando todos trabajen en pro
mún, que es inmortal.» de la propagación de sus ideas sobre la
4 Una traducción inglesa de este poema fi- manera de alcanzar los paraísos futuros
gura en el presente número de Hélice. soñados.

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 Ion Heliade-Rădulescu

La santa ciudad

Cristo-pueblo, luz y poder, errante, sudo- al mundo trae paz y gozo. Su rostro es
roso, extraño entre lo suyo, único produc- rayo, atronadora su voz; en el trono sobe-
tor de la vida y los bienes, sin encontrar rano juzga la tierra con justicia, poder y
bosque ni monte ni valle donde asentar la esplendor; de luz verdadera está vestido.
cabeza o el hogar (¡largo afán, muy largo Tiemblan los reyes, estirpe réproba; caen
camino!), recorre el mundo para reunir al las puertas de bronce, ¡roto está el jura-
mundo, siglos y hambre sufre, y hielo, es- mento! Se alza verde el valle de lágri-
carnios y palizas, coronas de espinas, la mas; apocalíptica, la santa ciudad res-
cruz, la rueda, el fuego, el plomo y el hie- plandece radiante de esperanza, de
rro, esclavitud, gleba, angaria, usura; el amor, de libertad; la rodean murallas in-
guardia arrea, arrea el caballero; el cosaco vencibles de diamante, se corona de to-
arrea, azota y roba; el magnate, el hidal- rres inestimables, se levantan columnas
go, el cacique expolian, pegan; el pontífice, gigantescas de pórfido, brilla el oro puro
el instructor mienten, juran. El Cristo- como el cristal; rubíes, zafiros, esmeral-
pueblo suspira y recorre los siglos y los das, jacintos, brillantes sostienen esqui-
países, la Tierra entera, suda, gime, sufre nas, fundamento que las produce. El río
pecados, perdona, los borra; siembra la de la vida rebosa de luz, ofrece y trae sa-
palabra: ora niño huérfano que llora y lud a las mentes. Sombrea risueño el
mendiga la vida, ora moribundo que no eterno jardín de árboles fructíferos; sua-
posee ni la tumba, ora joven sin color con ves y armónicas, suspiran las auras de
la muerte en la cara, sin mañana ni hoy, y las artes, de las ciencias, inspirando las
sin luz, en invierno y en verano, por la sagradas voluntades y deseos; flores
tarde y por la mañana; ya hombre, ya en amaranto esmaltan los campos. Altos
su forma divina, proletario tanto en el afectos, esperanzas y creencias crecen
campo como en la ciudad, desde el altar cándidos y se desarrollan vírgenes, ab-
hasta la salina, con el mismo dolor, con la sorben la vida y el amor al sol-palabra.
misma carga aunque cambien los tiempos, Esta es la ciudad, ideal, alta; aquí domi-
sea señor el césar, el patricio o el barón, na la justicia, aquí se realiza la fraterni-
príncipe o abate, fuerza o ley, Brahma, el dad; aquí la virtud es poder y valor, y to-
papa o el zar, él no cambia, la misma la- da necesidad queda aliviada. Uno para
bor, siempre proletario, siempre arreado, todos, todos para uno: libre voluntad,
siempre bebiendo hieles. suerte nivelada, lo verdadero, lo hermo-
Tras siglos de sangre y llanto, tras so, lo grande y lo bueno, paz eterna, vida
varias y numerosas torturas, en todos social, sagrado lo propio, resuelto lo co-
sus miembros, en su cuerpo grandioso, mún. ¡Ciudad, residencia imperial del
ungido emperador de ambos testamen- pueblo-novio, guardada por ángeles, ga-
tos, se proclama en fin verbo soberano, lería celeste y universal! Los profetas te
juez apiadado de lágrimas y lamentos, han visto vivir feliz, Cristo mismo ha
redentor que llama los muertos a la vida, puesto tu piedra angular, el evangelista
que a los sordos hace que ya no lo sean, te ha visto formada, los mártires derra-
que reclama el arrepentimiento de los maron su sangre por ti; los justos, los sa-
malvados y en quien los ciegos ven luz bios, los verdaderos cristianos se afana-
viva, que llena de vigor a los paralíticos y ron numerosos por erigirte; franceses,

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RECUPERADOS
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Paraísos futuros: tres himnos utópicos

ingleses, italianos polacos, alemanes, hermoso es tu pavimento. He visto tu es-

húngaros, rumanos, millones de pueblos plendor. Está derrotado el pecado; con
han derrocado ídolos y tiranos, han ba- razón viene el novio con el testamento.
rrido tiaras y coronas; con su sangre han Abre tus puertas: entra el Emperador.
amasado tu cemento y levantado tus
primeras columnas. Cándido, augusto, 9 de junio de 1851

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 Pietro Gori

La paz

Oh, entre los muros que el fratricidio tes de gloria, ladronas de hijos a las sa-
cimenta eternos, paz es vocablo gradas madres, en los campos, desgarren
incierto. De la sangre la Paz la tierra, convertidas en dóciles arados y,
alza cándida las alas. ¿Cuándo? desde los cuarteles, regresen las soberbias
Carducci, «La guerra» milicias del trabajo a las dulces llanuras,
a los valles nativos, verdes entre los mon-
Cuando los poetas dejen de cantar la tes; cuando los poderosos, mezclados con
sangrienta fábula de Caín y la medalla no los humildes y nivelados en la comunidad
se les suba al cerebro con tanta indecen- de bienes y afectos, enseñen a los viejos
cia que el vate pinte ante los siglos al lobos devoradores las suaves leyes de la
primer Bonaparte alzado explicando los naturaleza y resplandezca sobre el her-
derechos humanos ante los tropeles de los moso género humano la fraternidad, diosa
mamelucos, ni la poesía, arriando el pen- consoladora, oh, entonces flamearás por
dón llameante, reniegue de la santa revo- fin, fúlgida al sol, tú, querida bandera
lución por un escaño en el senado; cuando blanca inmaculada, emblema sereno de la
las patrias dejen de tener en su seno ma- justicia. Y las musas oficiosas, cuervos
terno dos naciones hostiles —la nación de ilustres de la guerra y la sangre, cesarán
los ricos y la nación de los proletarios— y, de graznar en el cielo del arte. ¡Oh, após-
destruidas las trágicas fronteras, la cien- toles fervientes del amor humano, arriba
cia y el pan sean un derecho para cada los corazones y guerra a la opresión, gue-
ciudadano en las redimidas patrias her- rra a la guerra, y paz a tu rebelde corazón
manas; cuando el ferino amor al suelo que insurge, oh, plebe, por la verdadera
propio deje lugar al amor al ideal que paz del mundo!
bendice a las operosas plebes en el orbe
inmenso, y las armas, un día centellean- Milán, noviembre de 1891.

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 Guerau de Liost

La ciudad de marfil

¡Bella Ciudad de Marfil hecha de blanco y ¡Bella Ciudad de Marfil que vives de tu
oro! Tus cúpulas se irisan en el azul que fulgor! Eres la Ciudad de Mármol del
muere sobre la apoteósica fulguración de mundo externo, vuelta aurífera en una
un laurel y, reflejándose pálidas en la ma- mirada de amor. Estás toda cincelada con
rejada creciente con las policromías del ordenado esmero. En tonos secretos ocul-
ambiente y el agua, serpentean por el tor- tas las piedras y la plata. Te purifica el
so adolescente de las olas. hálito de la risa consciente, pero, por en-
El marfil tiene la gracia de un mármol cima de la efímera grandeza terrena, llena
jaspeado de polvo aurífero. Y luce tornaso- de amor y llena de ideal altísimo, tremo-
lado con una transparencia de carnación larás la palma de lo inmortal femenino.
de infante fallecido.

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Humanos y equivalentes:
dos historias prospectivas
satíricas

Nota introductoria de Mariano Martín Rodríguez © Mariano Martín Rodríguez, 2021

Las visiones de un futuro anticipado por dad, aunque Flores, menos conservador
la imaginación mediante la extrapolación que Souvestre, no deja de señalar deter-
y la analogía, juntas o por separado, cons- minadas ventajas con respecto a las men-
tituyen el conjunto más amplio de la cien- talidades y costumbres tradicionales.
cia ficción desde sus orígenes, que cabe si- En Italia, el liberal Ippolito Nievo
tuar en los inicios de la Revolución (1831-1861) es el tercer gran autor la-
Industrial. Tras la invención de la má- tinoeuropeo de anticipaciones fictocientí-
quina de vapor y la mecanización subsi- ficas en este período inicial de la Revolu-
guiente de la industria, el ritmo del pro- ción Industrial, en época romántica,
greso tecnológico y de la ampliación de los gracias a una narración toscana relativa-
conocimientos científicos se volvió tan rá- mente breve titulada Storia filosofica dei
pido que se hizo inevitable mirar el curso secoli futuri fino all’anno dell’era volgare
de la historia humana como una mutación 2222 ovvero fino alla vigilia della fine del
constante, una mutación a la que pronto mondo [Historia filosófica de los siglos fu-
se adelantaron diversos escritores recu- turos hasta el año 2222 de la era vulgar,
rriendo a su imaginación. Así lo hizo, por es decir, hasta aproximadamente la víspe-
ejemplo, Émile Souvestre en su novela Le ra del fin del mundo], publicada en enero
monde tel qu’il sera en l’an 3000 [El mun- de 18601. Como su nombre indica, no se
do tal y como será en el año 3000] (1845- trata de una novela, sino de una historia.
1846), en la que una pareja de viaje va Es una ficción científica en el sentido de
descubriendo el cariz de una sociedad al- que su contenido es ficticio, pero su dis-
tamente tecnológica y sujeta a una bús- curso es el empleado en una ciencia, la
queda desenfrenada del beneficio econó- Historia. Este uso de la escritura histo-
mico, en detrimento de valores más riográfica para transmitir una visión
tradicionales como los familiares o los re- imaginaria del porvenir ha sido muy co-
ligiosos. El tono satírico y pesimista de
Souvestre fue emulado por otros pioneros —————
de la literatura de anticipación europea, 1 La traducción que sigue se basa en la
como Antonio Flores (1818-1865), cuya edición siguiente: Ippolito Nievo, «Storia filoso-
novela en forma de cuadros de costumbres fica dei secoli futuri fino all’anno dell’era vol-
gare 2222 ovvero fino alla vigilia della fine del
yuxtapuestos con un leve hilo argumental
mondo», Storia filosofica dei secoli futuri (e al-
Mañana o la chispa eléctrica en 1899 (edi-
tri scritti umoristici del 1860), a cura di Emilio
ción íntegra en 1863) describe un Madrid Russo, Roma, Salerno Editrice, 2003, pp. 47-
en el que todo, el arte y el amor inclusive, 75. Agradcemos a Rubén Molina Martínez su
se rigen por meros criterios de rentabili- atenta revisión de la traducción.

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RECUPERADOS
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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

mún en toda la edad contemporánea y ha objeto de historia. Para superar la con-

alumbrado clásicos como Last and First tradicción, procede a explicar la manera
Men [La última y la primera humanidad] en que su narrador homodiegético, que
(1930), de Olaf Stapledon (1886-1950). firma con su nombre imaginario (Ferdi-
Esa escritura tenía una ventaja clara nando De Nicolosi) y se define antitética-
desde el punto de vista de la credibilidad mente como «filósofo-químico», se hizo con
de la anticipación. A diferencia de una un documento escrito varias centurias
novela, cuya ficcionalidad es evidente, el después. En su época, era corriente recu-
discurso historiográfico ofrece una impre- rrir a las revelaciones espiritistas para
sión de objetividad documental y científi- justificar el conocimiento del porvenir, tal
ca que confiere autoridad a lo narrado, como hizo Flores. Nievo emplea ya un
que de esta manera no aparece como una novum de carácter aparentemente ficto-
caprichosa invención literaria, sino como científico, inspirado en la fotografía y los
el informe de algo ocurrido realmente. avances de la ciencia química, si bien lo
Asimismo, el empleo constante de los hace con un alto grado de ironía al combi-
tiempos verbales del pretérito (con el pre- nar el registro serio y el humorístico. Esta
sente histórico como posible variante esti- combinación se mantiene durante toda la
lística) genera la sensación de que todo ha obra, en la que alternan las observaciones
ocurrido realmente, que no se trata de serias con una perspectiva satírica apli-
una profecía o de un estudio futurológico cada a todos los órdenes de la vida huma-
en que lo expuesto con los tiempos verba- na por el historiador futuro, llamado Vin-
les del futuro sea simplemente una hipó- cenzo Bernardi di Gorgonzola. Este es un
tesis que se cumplirá, o no. En cambio, en hedonista bastante cínico que cree que se
la historia anticipada o prospectiva escri- morirá antes de que el mundo acabe y,
ta en pasado, el pacto de lectura entraña una vez muerto, poco le importa el final
que se acepte la premisa de que la voz na- colectivo de la raza humana. Esta actitud
rradora se dirige a nuestro presente desde no es el resultado tan solo de su persona-
un tiempo que sabemos localizado en el lidad. Aunque afirma que ha escrito la
porvenir, pero que nos transfiere a su historia del mundo para su propio prove-
propia perspectiva para que la acompa- cho y diversión, su alusión al decreto por
ñemos en su indagación de su pasado, es- el que se habían destruido casi dos siglos
to es, de nuestro futuro, un futuro al que antes todos los libros, sin que se sugiera
accedemos para poder conocerlo como si que se hayan escrito otros después, revela
ya hubiera transcurrido y fuera suscepti- lo inconformista y peligroso de su empre-
ble de ser contado objetiva y realmente. sa literaria. El tono humorístico de su es-
Este pacto de lectura se postula a me- critura disimula un análisis profunda-
nudo por medio de marcas retóricas y pa- mente crítico del curso histórico que había
ratextuales, por ejemplo, la definición del conducido hasta las vísperas del acaba-
texto como «historia» (history, en inglés) y miento humano, desde el presente de la
no como «novela» o «cuento». Así hace escritura del opúsculo de Nicolosi (la voz
Nievo en la suya, aunque, por encontrarse de Nievo) hasta la fecha postulada de la
aún en los albores del género que podría- narración histórica que transcribe, el año
mos denominar «historia imaginaria» o 2222.
«fictohistoria», su título hace explícito ese Como ocurre en las historias del futuro
pacto, cuya paradoja radica en que son los que parten del presente, incluida la citada
siglos futuros, pero al mismo tiempo son de Stapledon, el interés de la anticipación

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RECUPERADOS
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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

aumenta según se amplía su ámbito, se- 1960 de la federación europea, a la que si-
gún se abandonan la actualidad y sus in- guen la federación de las otras grandes
trigas para ir acercándose a un panorama partes del mundo. Al mismo tiempo, se
futuro cada vez más general, en el que se produce una acelerada occidentalización
pueden mostrar de forma más clara las del mundo, de modo que se avanza en la
estructuras subyacentes del devenir his- mundialización, que Nievo anticipó con
tórico y presentarse sus resultados para acertado espíritu profético, o más bien
la humanidad entera. En su «historia filo- analítico. De esta manera, su penetración
sófica», cuyo adjetivo ha de leerse con iro- intelectual le permitió limitar la inevita-
nía, Nievo parte también de su época. El ble separación ucrónica con respecto al
primer libro es un repaso crítico de la si- curso de la historia de nuestro mundo,
tuación geopolítica europea hecho por un que rara vez se ha dejado hacer coincidir
liberal partidario de la unidad completa con las previsiones de profetas y futurólo-
de Italia, que cree que se ha de realizar a gos.
través de un proceso revolucionario vio- La perspicacia nieviana se confirma en
lento dirigido por Giuseppe Garibaldi, y el libro tercero, donde imagina un curioso
no mediante tratativas internacionales procedimiento para que la mundialización
como las que habían dado lugar a la paz supere las diferencias que la religión si-
de Zúrich, firmada a finales de 1859 y por gue atizando entre los hombres para im-
la que Francia, Austria y Piamonte ha- pedir que vivan en paz. Una vez olvidados
bían prácticamente detenido el proceso de los nacionalismos en el seno de las federa-
la unificación italiana, sobre todo para ciones continentales y desprestigiado el
mantener el poder territorial del papa. cristianismo por la vileza política de sus
Nievo escribió rápidamente su historia responsables eclesiásticos, el resto del
tras esta frustración de sus esperanzas planeta se convierte a una nueva religión,
nacionalistas, pero supo superar las cir- predicada por un campesino checo y con-
cunstancias de su tiempo, que a veces ha- sistente en dar prioridad a la vida terre-
cen difícilmente comprensible hoy el pri- nal, con trabajo moderado y goce de los
mer libro de su historia. Ya el libro placeres materiales y psicológicos de la
segundo se sitúa en el porvenir, aunque existencia, distrayéndose lo más posible.
cercano, de forma que su anticipación Esta religión, que tanto se parece a los
geopolítica, que no pretende ser verosímil, usos de nuestra sociedad de consumo, se
le sirve para atacar cruelmente al papa, propaga más por imitación que por predi-
al que presenta como una marioneta del cación a todo el planeta, en sustitución de
zar, esto es, del soberano considerado los antiguos tabúes y mortificaciones de
universalmente en Europa como el repre- las religiones positivas. Una vez alcanza-
sentante principal de la reacción antilibe- da esta unidad de ideas y costumbres, se
ral. Sin embargo, su confianza en los revo- puede unificar la humanidad bajo el pa-
lucionarios progresistas le hace prever trocinio de la nueva iglesia del consumo,
también una revolución socialista (según por así decir, que está dirigida por un pa-
los ideales utópicos del conde de Saint- pa inspirado por el pontífice bonachón e
Simon) en Alemania, a lo que seguiría indulgente de la canción «Le Dieu des
una retirada de Rusia de los asuntos eu- bonnes gens» [El Dios de la buena gente],
ropeos en favor de los asiáticos y la for- leída por Nievo en las Œuvres complètes
mación de unidades políticas cada vez [Obras completas] de 1858), de Pierre-
mayores en Europa hasta la creación en Jean de Béranger (1780-1857). El narra-

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RECUPERADOS
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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

dor cuenta estos hechos con no poca iro- la humanidad. No se producirá una rebe-
nía, lo que contribuye a rebajar la valora- lión de las máquinas, con los androides o
ción de la nueva sociedad mundial resul- robots a la cabeza, como la que se conver-
tante. Esto se sugiere sobre todo tiría en un tópico en la ciencia ficción pos-
mediante la historia de la destrucción de terior, pero Nievo nos presenta un porve-
los libros por ser gérmenes de la distin- nir en que las máquinas lo hacen todo y
ción de clases y de revoluciones varias. han sustituido en la práctica a un ser
Aunque el historiador futuro indica que humano apático e inútil. La utopía irónica
esto redundó en ventaja para la humani- anticipada por Nievo es posthumana, por-
dad, lo cierto es que fue entonces cuando que en ella los hombres no tienen literal-
se inicia un estancamiento intelectual que mente nada que hacer, y tampoco parece
acompaña al desarrollo tecnológico produ- que se rompan la cabeza pensando, una
cido a raíz del invento de los autómatas, vez considera perjudicial, además de obso-
llamados también homúnculos a la mane- leta, la tarea de reflexionar y de producir
ra romántica (por ejemplo, el del Fausto libros como manera de comunicar y di-
goethiano). fundir las ideas. Nievo predice la clase de
El libro cuarto se dedica a la creación y felicidad que nos acarrearán la mecaniza-
despliegue de estos seres mecánicos por ción y la robótica. Mucho antes de que es-
dos fabricantes de máquinas de coser ri- ta empezara a ser realidad, vemos como
vales, cuyos móviles egoístas y falta de la tecnología es la panacea, pero también
escrúpulos se desprenden de una narra- nuestra perdición, a la vista de una natu-
ción que retoma el discurso novelístico, raleza humana no preparada para la
diálogos incluidos, como corresponde a los esencial mutación significada por los au-
acontecimientos de carácter particular y tómatas. Solo el futuro dirá si el pesimis-
privado, aunque luego tuvieran unas con- mo agridulce (utopía material, distopía in-
secuencias sociales más amplias. El cuen- telectual) estará justificado a las alturas
to de los inventores ofrece una imagen de nuestro 2222. Lo esté o no, la historia fi-
negra de la naturaleza humana, con el losófica de Nievo constituye una de las vi-
asesinato como ejemplo del uso nocivo de siones más completas y clarividentes de la
la tecnología desde su misma invención. literatura de anticipación decimonónica,
Con todo, los intereses económicos no una visión servida por una escritura histo-
permiten que se pierda el invento, que riográfica muy eficaz por su ritmo narrati-
pronto se aplica a la industria y, tras ex- vo y el humor negro que se desprende de
tenderse a todas las actividades humanas, toda la obra.
garantiza el ocio de los hombres de carne También destaca por su humor negro
y hueso. El resultado, pese al abuso de los «O país que ninguém sonhou» [El país que
narcóticos, se diría que es una sociedad nadie soñó], un relato del brasileño
utópica, pues reinan la igualdad y la Antônio Gomes Neto (1904-19372) publi-
prosperidad. Sin embargo, la falta de
preocupaciones se materializa en una en- —————
2 A juzgar por la escasa bibliografía que lo
fermedad que se manifiesta mediante la
menciona, no habría apenas datos biográficos co-
apatía. Esta, el aburrimiento, los suicidios
nocidos de este escritor. Sin embargo, en «Gomes
y la entropía general del mundo observa- Neto e o seu sonho», que es un artículo de home-
ble en el enfriamiento del planeta, que se- naje de Bastos Portela publicado en la revista ca-
ría su destino según la ciencia de la época, rioca Fonfon (XXXIV, 32, 1 de junio de 1940, p.
son los síntomas del fracaso colectivo de 18), se afirma que había fallecido tres años antes,

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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

cado en su colección de cuentos A vida A diferencia de Nievo, los nuevos seres

eterna [La vida eterna] (1932)3 y que es no son autómatas, sino grandes simios de
una de las primeras historias prospecti- un país africano llamado Eritrea y que no
vas en lengua portuguesa. En él también corresponde a la Eritrea real, pues la de
se narra la aparición, propiciada por los Gomes Neto se encuentra en el hemisferio
intereses de los hombres, de una nueva sur y dista de tener la sequedad de clima
clase de seres para su servicio y las conse- de aquella colonia italiana. Esos animales
cuencias que acaba acarreando. Como en sufren una presión evolutiva especial tras
Nievo, el género discursivo empleado es el revelarse eficaz el tratamiento rejuvene-
de la historiografía, pero el brasileño es cedor del doctor Serge Voronoff. Este es
un autor situado cronológicamente en un un cirujano real que se hizo célebre tras la
período en que la fictohistoria ya había Gran Guerra por sus injertos de tejidos de
tenido amplio desarrollo, igual que el res- testículos de mono en el hombre. Aunque
to de la literatura de anticipación, de ma- los científicos serios pusieron en duda la
nera que puede prescindir de todo marco eficacia del tratamiento, salvo como pla-
explicativo. Los lectores son trasladados cebo, la fama de Voronoff fue inmensa en
directamente doscientos años después del la década de 1920 y encontró eco en la li-
inicio del proceso histórico expuesto. A teratura popular e incluso en la novela
partir de ahí, la escritura historiográfica científica coetánea (por ejemplo, en la
también es más consistente que en la his- obra de Félicien Champsaur). Gomes Ne-
toria filosófica de Nievo, en la que existen to simplemente conjeturó un resultado
excursos de diálogo novelístico. Incluso muy distinto ya en 1925, como especie de
Gomes Neto reproduce, como documento punto Jonbar que determina una historia
histórico que asiente la autoridad histo- paralela a la nuestra, pero en el futuro, de
riográfica de la narración, un fragmento manera que la ucronía resultante es pros-
de un artículo de prensa en el que se da pectiva.
noticia del avance médico alcanzado, cuya El artículo citado largamente por el
consecuencia sería la aparición de una innominado historiador del futuro explica
nueva clase de seres humanos. la consecuencia imprevista del procedi-
miento. La prevista era el éxito científico
————— y material, gracias al cual Eritrea se con-
a la edad de treinta y tres años. Había fundado y vierte en la meta de una interminable pe-
dirigido el Jornal de Nitcheroy [Diario de Niterói] regrinación de ancianos en busca de una
y luego había trabajado en A Cidade [La Ciudad]
nueva juventud, una peregrinación que el
hasta el cierre de esta publicación en 1930. A
partir de entonces, se dedicó a escribir libros, ac- autor describe irónicamente como análoga
tividad que compaginaba con su trabajo de em- a las de católicos a Roma en año santo y
pleado público tras licenciarse en Derecho. Al- que garantiza las enormes ganancias de
canzó a publicar dos libros de cuentos fantásticos la compañía italiana que cría los monos,
y fictocientíficos, a saber: A vida eterna en 1932 y cruzándolos y seleccionándolos para que
Novelas fantásticas en 1934. sean más parecidos a los hombres, de mo-
3 La traducción de abajo sigue el texto de
do que resulta más fácil el trasplante. La
la única edición de este libro: Antônio Gomes
consecuencia imprevista de este procedi-
Neto, «O país que ninguém sonhou», A vida
eterna, Rio de Janeiro, Editora «Ars», 1932, pp.
miento es que los monos evolucionan rá-
69-78. El texto original se reproduce en apén- pidamente hasta adquirir no solo una in-
dice con la ortografía modernizada, porque no teligencia humana, sino también un
ha vuelto a publicarse ni se ha digitalizado. aspecto más cercano al nuestro. Final-

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RECUPERADOS
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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

mente, su humanización resulta tan com- que, en esto como en política, su nivel in-
pleta que pronto adquieren costumbres telectual está a la altura del de la mayo-
sociales y políticas análogas a las de la ría de los hombres. Los monos serían
raza humana, incluida la demagogia, co- nuestros ascendientes; los postmonos,
mo queda claramente ejemplificado con nuestro retrato, en el que no salimos de-
un discurso transcrito de un prohombre masiado favorecidos. Sin embargo, Gomes
de Monolandia, la nueva nación creada Neto evita toda perspectiva apocalíptica.
por ellos. En vista de tal equiparación, so- En lugar del paradójico sublime románti-
bre todo en lo malo (los monos se mues- co de la sátira fictohistórica de Nievo, el
tran dispuestos a recurrir a la violencia brasileño es un autor novecentista, cuya
para conseguir sus fines), los hombres re- sátira tiene la ligereza y la elegancia del
conocen la independencia del país de los coetáneo Art Deco, un estilo muy popular
monos humanizados, de manera que al- en su país, como indica el éxito de la es-
canza la consideración deseada en el con- critura, muy similar a la suya, de los rela-
cierto de las naciones. tos satíricos y, a veces, especulativos y
Si lo contado se parece a los procesos prospectivos de Berilo Neves. De hecho, la
de colonización y descolonización de las historia futura de Gomes Neto, que es ex-
antiguas posesiones europeas y su imita- cepcional en su producción, en conjunto
ción monesca de las instituciones políticas no muy brillante, la podría haber firmado
de los colonizadores, pero multiplicando aquel, cuya popularidad fue inmensa en
sus defectos, es una lectura políticamente vida. No obstante, ninguna sátira de Ne-
incorrecta hoy en día que nos guardare- ves alcanzó la amplitud y la coherencia
mos de atribuir a Gomes Neto. Únicamen- interna de «O país que ninguém sonhou».
te señalaremos que su sátira se dirige al Gomes Neto demostró en ella, igual que lo
menos contra las modas intelectuales lle- había hecho Nievo, la potencialidad espe-
gadas y transformadas por los medios de culativa y literaria de una historia de las
comunicación de masas en caricaturas, (post)humanidades futuras, asunto tam-
sean las de las glándulas de Voronoff, bién bien ilustrado, en un registro serio e
sean las teorías de Charles Darwin, que el incluso trágico, por Jules Sageret (1861-
autor brasileño limita burlescamente al 1944) en su fictohistoria «La race qui
prejuicio popular de que aquel naturalista vaincra» [La raza que vencerá] (Paradis
inglés habría dado a entender que des- laïques [Paraísos laicos], 1908). En estos
cendemos del mono. Los monos de verdad, días en que el posthumanismo se toma
una vez humanizados (o postmonizados), tan en serio, tal vez un planteamiento sa-
también lo creen, y por eso le levantan es- tírico como el de Nievo y Gomes Neto re-
tatuas en su capital, con lo que se sugiere sulte hoy útil, además de divertido.

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 Ippolito Nievo

Historia filosófica de los siglos futuros hasta el año 2222

de la era vulgar, es decir, hasta aproximadamente la víspera
del fin del mundo

Traducción de Ricardo Muñoz Nafría © Ricardo Muñoz Nafría, por la traducción, 2021

sofía y la química han venido al mundo

INTRODUCCIÓN realmente para nada? Jamás he creído yo
semejante barbaridad. Consulté a Liebig,
La ciencia de las analogías ha regalado a a Schelling, a Cagliostro y al profesor Go-
la tierra América y al cielo los planetas de rini: luego emprendí el afortunado expe-
Leverrier. Se parece a esas mujeres, naci- rimento que me dispongo a describiros.
das para reinar en los bailes y teatros, Tomé media onza de fósforo y una
cuya belleza cuestionan todos, para luego dracma de plutonio, los dos elementos de
quedar prendados de ellas a la primera que se compone la simiente íntima huma-
ocasión. Eterna y aún joven heredera de na; los mezclé a conciencia y extraje de la
Platón, recorre los confines últimos del dosis aquella partícula infinitesimal que
conocimiento humano con las alas pinta- probablemente constituya el instrumento
das de arcoíris, mientras que la ciencia pasivo de la inteligencia. Tras haber di-
experimental, tabacosa contemporánea de luido, a continuación, este átomo arcano
Galileo, tropieza, para vergüenza del an- en un frasquito de buena tinta negra inal-
teojo de este, con los guijarros del camino terable y vertido la tinta sobre un papel
del correo. El honor para quien lo merece. convenientemente saturado de voluntad y
Yo he observado que los jardineros, al pensamiento por medio del magnetismo
proporcionar a las plantas una sucesión animal, obtuve dos páginas grandes de un
artificial y prematura de las estaciones, negro brillante y perfectísimo. Aquí co-
obtienen floraciones anticipadas. Con sus menzaba la parte mecánica y delicada del
perfumes, las rosas abiertas al calor del gran experimento. Sometí ese papel a la
invernadero en pleno invierno cuentan a temperatura media resultante de la con-
sus hermanitas, aún durmientes, la histo- densación y sucesión de trescientos sesen-
ria de un año que, para estas, todavía es- ta y tres inviernos y trescientos sesenta y
tá por venir. No es poca la paciencia que tres veranos. El milagro se produjo con
he tenido para observar esto. ¿Pues quién exactitud: obtuve la floración pensante de
se preocupa ya de las rosas el año de Pa- tres siglos por venir con tal precisión que
lestro y Solferino? Pero mucho más asom- reto a cualquier crítico alemán a que halle
broso es que realizara las deducciones a en ella algo risible. Como en un negativo
las que llegué. En general, las personas se fotográfico lavado con nitrato de plata,
asemejan a las plantas, y las plantas, a primero surgieron algunas marcas blan-
las personas. Todos estamos emparenta- cas en aquel papel aparentemente carbo-
dos por el acto de la creación universal y natado; después se perfilaron algunas le-
por la materia del trabajo. ¿Por qué, en- tras, principalmente las iniciales; luego se
tonces, no se iban a poder obtener flora- dibujaron las palabras enteras; por últi-
ciones anticipadas también en el proceso mo, quedó redactada, con elegante cali-
del pensamiento humano? ¿Acaso la filo- grafía, la historia que ahora paso a trans-

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RECUPERADOS
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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

cribir. Que aquel cerebro de la posteridad Me limitaré a mencionar las dudas que
cuyas ideas he robado con este proceso contra estas aduce la crítica pura.
mágico me perdone el latrocinio: rara vez ¿Por qué aquellos hombres habrían
fueron los pensamientos motivo de felici- dado por concluido un litigio que, de
dad y yo, con esta tropelía, podría haberle acuerdo con su confesión, debía juzgarse
hecho un excelente favor. de otra manera? ¿Por qué habrían hecho
algo que propondrían deshacer en el con-
greso? ¿No era mejor recurrir directamen-
LIBRO PRIMERO te a este? ¿O bien entregar la causa a
quienes tenían interés por ella? De las
Desde la paz de Zúrich hasta la paz primeras conferencias a las segundas no
de Liubliana habría existido diferencia alguna sino que
en aquellas discutían solo tres hombres y,
Aunque viva por la gracia de Dios en el en estas, diez o doce. Así pues, ¿qué ma-
año de felicidad e indolencia de 2222 y el yor fundamento de derecho, qué mayor
arte de escribir haya caído ya en desuso autoridad ofrecería a los veinte, a los
como una bobería sin sentido, con todo, treinta, a los cien millones de recurrentes
para variar la calidad del tedio humano y el juicio de doce que el de tres? Hablo
dar prueba de que los bisnietos no son in- desde el raciocinio, y, con tales induccio-
feriores a los abuelos de sus tatarabuelos, nes, ese preámbulo de Zúrich me parece-
y para darle la razón a quien no piense en ría un acontecimiento más imaginario que
nuestras dichas actuales, he llegado a la otra cosa; pero, al fin y al cabo, las tradi-
determinación de escribir la historia de ciones hablan claro, y yo no me opongo a
los tres últimos siglos. los venerables disparates de nuestros an-
El extraordinario sentido común del tepasados.
segundo patriarca de la república univer- En aquellos tiempos, cuando las pasio-
sal, que llevó a efecto el sabio propósito de nes pecaban por exceso de actividad y to-
destruir todos los libros anteriores al año davía no se habían inventado los ho-
2000, me dispensa de la molestia de elegir múnculos u hombres máquina y de
un estilo para mí. Usaré el de la verdad, segunda mano, se ponía fin a las disputas
que es el más breve de todos. entre las naciones por un medio expediti-
Había memoria, en los antiguos escri- vo, que se llamaba «la guerra». Era esta
tos, de una Paz de Zúrich acordada entre un arte inventado y perfeccionado con la
algunos hombres en 1859 o en torno a ese precisa intención de destruir a los hom-
año. Aquella paz no contentó, según pare- bres. Y, puesto que los hombres de aque-
ce, ni siquiera a quienes la habían cele- lla época eran turbulentos y malignos, ese
brado, pues, ya antes de separarse, ha- arte era, en general, un gran mérito de la
bían establecido entre ellos que otro civilización. ¡Qué pena que, hasta enton-
congreso revisaría las cuestiones que tan ces, los más turbulentos y malignos lo hu-
mal habían tratado. bieran empleado por completo en su pro-
A decir verdad, yo me resisto a creer pio beneficio y en perjuicio de los pacíficos
semejantes afirmaciones. Pero con la le- y honrados! Pero estos últimos, precisa-
jana oscuridad de aquellos tiempos y ante mente en 1859, comenzaron a aprender de
la falta absoluta de documentos, resulta sus opresores y les pagaron, como se suele
necesario confiar enteramente en el re- decir, con la misma moneda. Y este acon-
cuerdo de las tradiciones más comunes. tecimiento de suma importancia para la

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RECUPERADOS
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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

historia de los siglos siguientes tuvo lugar Garibaldi. Europa gritaba «¡congreso!»; él
en la Italia septentrional. En cuanto a las respondía «¡guerra!». Los diplomáticos su-
causas que sacaron del código de las na- surraban «¡pluma, papel, tintero!»; él cla-
ciones aquel medio ejecutivo y sanguina- maba «¡fusiles, fusiles!». La suya pareció
rio de la guerra, se tratarán con mayor una temeridad excesiva, y no era sino
detalle al llegar al periodo del enriqueci- prudencia, pues habría ahorrado algún
miento universal y la multiplicación de que otro año de servidumbre, lágrimas y
los homúnculos. temores. Se escuchó a todos salvo a aque-
Así pues, aquella Paz de Zúrich, que o llos sobre los que había de pronunciarse
no se celebró nunca o, pese a su celebra- sentencia. Papa y cardenales, en quienes
ción, se granjeó el descontento de todos, ya nadie creía, príncipes y duques, expul-
conllevó que los hombres sintieran más sados de sus tierras a manzanazos en la
que nunca la imperiosa necesidad de una espalda, policías y ministros retirados ha-
nueva guerra. La primera había comenza- blaron majestuosamente ante las asam-
do porque los italianos querían ser amos bleas supremas con la autoridad que les
en su propia casa y expulsar al otro lado de conferían sus títulos. Hablaron también
las montañas a los alemanes, que los veja- los pueblos, pero se creyó concederles de-
ban con tributos abusivos, con el impuesto masiada gracia cortando el mal por la mi-
de capitación, con encarcelamientos e in- tad, y así se llegó a un nuevo ordenamien-
cluso con la censura, que era, según pare- to del Derecho público europeo que, por su
ce, un bozal para la inteligencia, pero cuyo insigne monstruosidad y como ejemplo de
funcionamiento resultaría ahora difícil de la necedad antigua, merece ser recordado
imaginar. La segunda, mera guerra de a grandes rasgos.
continuación, debía aspirar a lograr en la Creo que las tradiciones, satíricas y
realidad aquello que la primera vez se ha- poco fiables, han añadido algún defecto a
bía conseguido solo en apariencia, y consis- esa inestable trabazón de chatarra apun-
tió en un pedazo de papel. talada. Y no alcanzo a comprender cómo
Pero a este propósito, que ahora pare- las mismas tradiciones mencionan extra-
cería bárbaro y entonces resultaba enco- vagancias todavía más irracionales y he-
miable y revelaba a los italianos como terogéneas que se denominaban, según
hombres de buen gusto, se oponía, por ellas, los «Tratados del 15». Será, quizá,
desgracia, una cláusula de la Paz de Zú- un error y confusión de fecha, y tanto es-
rich. Antes de emplear la vara con las tos tratados como aquel del que hablamos
bestias, el congreso se había reservado la no constituyen, en realidad, sino una sola
molestia de persuadirlas con razones. ¡Si cosa, informe, vanagloriosa y estúpida
por lo menos hubieran sido bestias como nunca antes se había visto.
amaestradas! Pero los sujetos con los que Con esto no pretendo decir que en
tenían que bregar los italianos de enton- aquellos tiempos, también en los sanedri-
ces eran bestias de escasa pureza. Sin nes políticos, faltaran hombres de ingenio
embargo, se avinieron a la voluntad de la y corazón. Pero todavía no se había
mayoría, y de los más fuertes. Después de aprendido a vivir completamente en el
la opinión de los tres, se sentaron a escu- año corriente, y esa indecencia de querer
char la de los doce. dar una parte del legado del 1800 al 1700,
Uno solo no se avino a sentarse y su al 1600, y más atrás aún, confundía las
nombre ha de salvarse de la oscuridad, ideas y echaba por tierra la buena volun-
tan merecida por los demás: fue el general tad de los mejores.

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RECUPERADOS
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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

Cosa buena es la memoria; pero el sen- trepidez, con constancia, opusieron un di-
tido común es, de lejos, mejor. Si bien que al torrente. Nápoles no fue ya de los
aquella resulta admirablemente útil a Borbones, sino de Nápoles, y mandó se-
efectos poéticos, yo confío, en lo que res- tenta mil hombres al Po; el Piamonte y la
pecta a la política, en que los hombres no Lombardía ya tenían en el Mincio a
se vuelvan a desviar del segundo. Basta- ochenta mil; sesenta mil enviaron la Tos-
ría la extravagante e infeliz evocación de cana y la Romaña; y el papa y los carde-
aquel infausto congreso para convencerles nales se quedaron solitos en Roma como
de semejante necesidad. en un cónclave perpetuo, protegidos, más
Al papa no solo se le permitió seguir que por los paladines pontificios, por un
siendo papa, rey y soberano, sino que pa- piadoso olvido.
reció poco el triregnum y se le incorporó ¿Qué le quedaba por hacer a Francia?
una cuarta coronita de no sé qué protecto- Tomar aprisa su parte de los segundos
rado mal definido sobre hombres capri- triunfos para no perder el mérito y el fru-
chosos que llevaban siglos gritando que to de los primeros. Italia, para no hacerse
no querían de él ni que les desangrara los culpable de su propia servidumbre, había
bolsillos, ni que les brindara protección, ni cercado a los austriacos y les había dado
que los catequizara. Los alemanes conser- caza en sus cubiles. Francia, para no in-
varon Venecia a condición de que se mos- culparse a sí misma de haber dado un
traran serviciales y pudieran contentar a consejo demasiado bueno, se apresuró en
aquel pueblo que había jurado no poder ayudarla a desanidarlos. Y a la toma de
contentarse hasta haberles visto en gran Verona y a las victorias de Castelfranco y
ruina. Se cambió el puesto a algún duque, de Pordenone sucedió la Paz de Liubliana,
y el nombre a alguna vieja institución; se que «liberó a Italia de los bárbaros», por
recomendó al rey de Nápoles y, sobre to- decirlo con palabras de Julio II, y también
do, se recomendó a los pueblos que se de la barbarie de su sucesor, limitando su
mostraran felices, gritaran hurras, volvie- dominio temporal a la ciudad y al campo
ran al teatro y creyeran, en santa paz, en de Roma.
la liberación de Italia. Esta fue la Paz de Liubliana, que en-
Los pueblos que se habían avenido al caminó admirablemente la unificación de
congreso por el cómodo deseo de encon- Italia al dejarla dividida en solo dos
trarse la polenta ya preparada sin tener reinos que, para reunirse, no parecían es-
que remover la cuchara, cuando vieron perar sino a la decadencia absoluta del
servido aquel calducho de mil sabores, poder teocrático temporal y la restitución
volvieron a las viejas costumbres, a los de Roma a su condición histórica y geo-
primeros sentimientos, a los tumultos, a gráfica de cabeza de las gentes italianas.
Garibaldi. Los alemanes, dignos hijos de Y con estos acontecimientos se entremez-
sus padres, para dar muestras de esa claron las primeras conquistas de Rusia
lealtad, surgieron de repente de Verona y en Bulgaria, la concentración prusiana en
de Mantua: pero se toparon con italianos Alemania, la perforación del istmo de
que podían ser los padres de sus padres Suez y la colonización francesa en Egipto,
en lo que a buen juicio se refiere. Y con la la pérdida de Galitzia por parte de Aus-
fuerza militar, que en aquel intervalo se tria y el declive de esta potencia, si no de
había aumentado considerablemente, con grandeza, sí de influencia, que pasó a ser
la concordia facilitada por unos gobierni- completamente secundaria.
tos más que caducos y derrocados, con in- Digamos que todos estos acontecimien-

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RECUPERADOS
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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

tos, si bien no culminaron entonces, al El poder temporal del papado, reduci-

menos comenzaron a bullir en los años do a tamaña insignificancia, no desperta-
que siguieron al 1859 y alrededor de la ba el recelo de nadie; y los cardenales es-
época del Tratado de Liubliana. Y no se carlatas y púrpuras, con cuatro mil paulos
puede concretar la fecha precisa, porque, de estipendio, no podían favorecer gran
como hemos dicho, la fausta y providen- cosa la propaganda jesuítica. ¿Por qué es-
cial destrucción de todos los libros ante- te afán de hostigar a un fantasma? ¿De
riores al 2000 nos priva de satisfacer es- granjearse así la enemistad del clero na-
tas minuciosas curiosidades. cional y la galante ortodoxia foránea? ¿De
poner en peligro la tranquilidad de uno
por una adquisición pequeña o incierta?
LIBRO SEGUNDO No obstante, creo que había alguna razón
que esgrimir.
Desde la paz de Liubliana hasta la Ante todo, por absurdo que sea en sí
Federación de Varsovia (1960) mismo el poder temporal de un pontífice,
ya posea poco o mucho, siempre queda ese
La opinión de aquellos que, pocos años absurdo. Y luego, la conservación de algo
antes, habían querido recrear en Italia el del antiguo patrimonio dejaba aún una
siglo de Gregorio VII y confiar la penínsu- secreta ilusión de readquirirlo todo y
la al gobierno del papa colocando a su la- enardecía los ánimos jesuíticos para con-
do a Garibaldi y al rey de Nápoles, para jurar contra el poder secular y en perjui-
que le llevaran uno el pañuelo y el otro la cio de la patria. Cabe añadir que la ocu-
tabaquera, recibió, también después del pación papal de Roma impedía la
Tratado de Liubliana, un nuevo desmen- unificación completa de Italia, ya que ex-
tido. cluía el único centro en que podrían fun-
En verdad, el dominio temporal de la dirse los dos reinos, el muratiano de Ná-
Santa Sede había quedado reducido a poles y el saboyano de la Alta Italia. Por
bien poco. Y si los cismáticos rusos y los ello, los italianos gritaban contra el papa-
herejes ingleses y americanos no hubieran do; y los extranjeros, que entendían poco
repuesto las bolsas romanas con alguna del tema, gritaban contra aquellos. No
cuenta de hospedaje y alguna compra de faltaron tampoco los apóstoles de la paz
antigüedades, la propia Roma habría co- que aconsejaban la paciencia: pero la pa-
rrido el peligro de permanecer despoblada ciencia está bien tenerla cuando las des-
y habitada únicamente por Pasquino y el gracias ocurren fuera de casa.
papa. El hecho es que el papa, amenazado
Por fortuna o por desgracia, al débil por los liberales italianos, recurrió a Ru-
Pío Nono lo había sucedido en la cátedra sia para defenderse, y Francia, a fin de
de san Pedro un pullés intolerante que mantener alejada la preponderancia del
había asumido el nombre de Juan XXIII y gigante septentrional, que ya tocaba
se sentía muy propenso a imitar a los pa- Constantinopla, se vio obligada a interve-
pas de este nombre en la furia de los en- nir una vez más.
tredichos y las excomuniones. Los italia- Así estaba la situación cuando al em-
nos no dejaron de darle abundantes perador de los franceses le sobrevino la
pretextos para ello; y he aquí, en mi opi- muerte y, tras cuatro meses de regencia
nión, donde se precipitaron un poco los en los que se produjo algún disturbio en el
acontecimientos. país, estalló la revolución, Napoleón V sa-

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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

lió a Alemania para esperar allí la revan- lás II, el dominador del presente, se en-
cha y tanto los orleanistas como los repu- tendieron con una mirada, y las palabras
blicanos, y hasta aquel viejo corpulento que se mantuvieron a continuación sirvie-
del conde de Chambord, descendieron al ron de aclaración gratuita.
campo para disputarse el poder. —¿Qué queréis, Santidad? —preguntó
De nuevo se inauguró la acostumbra- el tártaro incivilizado.
da república en París mientras el papa —Lo que queréis vos, majestad —
se embarcaba en una fragata inglesa en respondió el sumo sacerdote latino.
Porto d’Anzio. Y la barquilla de san Pe- —¿Es decir?
dro volvió a ser ya no una metáfora, sino —Es decir, que yo quiero el dominio
una realidad. Inglaterra, que había de- del mundo, por cuanto a él me dan dere-
caído de su antiguo esplendor por la libe- cho las bulas de mis santos predecesores.
ración definitiva de las Indias, por el co- —¡Para conquistar el mundo, me ima-
mercio de Oriente abierto a todos los gino que pretenderéis comenzar por algu-
pueblos a través del canal de Suez y por na parte!
las grandes minas de hierro descubiertas y —¡Pretendo comenzar por Roma! Deseo
excavadas por los rusos en el centro de expulsar de la sede de los apóstoles a esos
Asia, pretendía vengarse de las naciones excomulgados que han irrumpido allí para
conservando religiosamente la manzana de consagrar la impiedad y la mentira.
la discordia. Como aquella veía que, solo —Bien, yo os ayudaré a recobrar Ro-
con sus fuerzas, el papa habría permaneci- ma: pero ¡las cuentas claras!, que mi par-
do a bordo mucho tiempo sin pescar ni al- te del mundo la quiero conservar yo.
mas ni peces y sin darle a ella la oportuni- —¡Ay, majestad, si accedierais conver-
dad de pescar poder y millones en aguas tiros! Si...
revueltas, tramó un tratado secreto con —¡Basta! En eso ya pensaremos des-
Rusia y depositó al santo padre con catorce pués. Entretanto, yo os designo como re-
cardenales en las playas de Crimea. sidencia las ruinas de Sebastopol, y allí
Nicolás II, zar de aquel tiempo, no se podréis pontificar a mis expensas hasta
parecía en nada al paciente Alejandro II, que las naves de Inglaterra y mis tropas
vencedor del Cáucaso y emancipador de hayan abierto la desembocadura del Tíber
los siervos. Era de esos que quieren robar- y las puertas de la Ciudad Eterna. ¡Dios
le el oficio al tiempo y hacer solos en su sea con vos!
reinado aquello que quizá únicamente —¡Y que el cielo bendiga las armas de
pueda llevar a término una dinastía larga su majestad! —a partir de aquel día, Se-
y afortunada. Tener la cabeza en las nie- bastopol se convirtió en la tercera Roma o
blas heladas del Nevá y del mar Blanco, la segunda Aviñón, y de allí partían cada
los pies sobre las arenas doradas del Bós- domingo muchas cargas de excomuniones
foro, una mano sobre China y la otra so- para uso de los occidentales.
bre Italia, señorear los dos mundos y las Mientras tanto, el zar e Inglaterra no
dos Romas, e imponer al universo entero perdían el tiempo. Con el pretexto del pa-
el sello cosaco: era un designio que no pa, estaban de acuerdo en invadir Italia,
desagradaba al heredero de Pedro el tomar de ahí el impulso para subvertir el
Grande y del primer Nicolás. nuevo orden establecido en Francia y di-
Los dos soberanos, los dos papas, se rigirse después, naturalmente, a dominar
encontraron sobre la costa de la Táuride: Alemania, que, sierva habitual de Rusia y
Juan XXIII, el déspota del pasado, y Nico- atrapada entre dos fuegos, no se plantea-

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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

ría oponer resistencia. El zar se converti- Por aquel entonces hubo aún un Bona-
ría entonces en el emperador universal, el parte que, mediante la restauración y la
papa de Roma quedaba como un vasallo reorganización del poder militar en Fran-
suyo e Inglaterra, como su esbirro. Los cia, rompió aquel antagonismo solitario y
tumultos internos franceses y las rivali- peligroso de los dos colosos y, al erigirse
dades de los dos reinos italianos les facili- en una tercera potencia, posibilitó el pro-
taron llevar a buen término la primera yecto de una liga europea. Pero para lle-
parte del plan. Se restauró el papado ro- gar a esto hacían falta muchos años toda-
mano; Francia, invadida, se sacudió es- vía, y más que cualquier otra cosa, una
pontáneamente la dinastía orleanista, y revolución en Rusia.
Occidente parecía listo para caer de hino- Esta sucedió en 1950 y, con el des-
jos ante el ídolo del Septentrión. Pero la membramiento del cuerpo del imperio ex-
perezosa Alemania fue esta vez quien terminado y la persecución de los últimos
desbarató los cálculos. reductos de los turcos en Arabia, dio ori-
Ya desde hacía mucho tiempo, las pa- gen en la Europa oriental a la reconstitu-
siones socialistas y la agitación sansimo- ción del imperio bizantino, del reino de
niana bullían bajo los somníferos cipreses Polonia y del imperio ruso propiamente
de la patria de Arminio. Avivadas por la dicho, que poseía la confederación asiáti-
vileza de los gobernantes, que no se opo- co-persa en el centro de Asia igual que In-
nían para nada al predominio ruso, y azu- glaterra había sido dueña de las Indias en
zadas por la necia insensatez de los seño- el periodo anterior.
res cruzados, aquellas pasiones se Entonces, por invitación de Francia, se
desencadenaron y ejércitos de proletarios reunieron en Varsovia los representantes
alemanes ebrios de cerveza, vino y fana- de los distintos pueblos europeos para lle-
tismo descendieron de los Alpes y del Rin. gar a una federación; y se contaron doce
Veinte años duró este nuevo diluvio, Estados: los imperios ruso y bizantino, los
durante los cuales nada de aquello que reinos de Inglaterra, Polonia, Italia, Ir-
había en el mundo permaneció vivo e in- landa, Escandinavia y España, las repú-
tacto. La revolución que un siglo antes blicas francesa, alemana, suiza y danu-
había tenido lugar en Francia no había biana. La federación vino precedida por
sido sino un pequeño proemio descolorido un tratado que ratificaba, como garantía
de esta. Se dice que un poeta alemán, un de los pueblos, la tripartición de Rusia; la
tal Heine, la había profetizado, y que por separación de Inglaterra con respecto a
eso murió exiliado de su patria. Irlanda; la unificación de las dos penínsu-
Hacia 1920, dos potencias colosales en- las, la italiana y la ibérica; la cesión del
contramos en Europa, Alemania y Rusia: poder temporal del papa; la independen-
la republicana y la despótica, la una fren- cia de la nueva república cantonal danu-
te a la otra. Francia, España e Italia van biana, que comprendía a los magiares, los
siguiendo, a disgusto, las huellas de esa, serbios, los dálmatas, los búlgaros y los
sobre todo la última, a la que el papado, si rumanos; por último, la anulación de Aus-
bien mediatizado y reducido a un puro sa- tria y Prusia, y la paz universal basada en
cerdocio, sigue molestando mucho. Ingla- un código internacional y una Dieta euro-
terra comercia, muda y miope como un si- pea, con reuniones cada tres años en Var-
glo antes Holanda. América aplaude no sé sovia, Hamburgo, Marsella y Venecia.
si más la ruina industrial o las bacanales Este acto se juró en 1960; y en 1961 se
democráticas de la antigua Europa. ultimaba en América la federación del

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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

continente septentrional con la gran pe- arriba, asaltándoles por el estómago, que
nínsula meridional y española. Así, desde de arriba abajo, deslumbrándoles con me-
ese momento, al margen de la parte bár- tafísica. Fichte quedó derribado.
bara y China, dos grandes ligas de pue- Hegel, con cuarenta años de filosofía,
blos civilizados avanzaban diligentemente logró tan solo a un verdadero adepto, y
hacia el perfeccionamiento de la sociedad. era su portero. Mayer, en veintiocho me-
ses, tuvo a un pueblo de creyentes; y las
más hermosas señoritas y los más vivaces
LIBRO TERCERO galanes de Praga, Dresde y Múnich en-
traban en ese número. El secreto de la
Desde la Federación de Varsovia fortuna reside en esto, en dejarse remol-
hasta la revolución de los campesinos car por la moda; y el Papa de la buena
(2030) gente adivinó este secreto.
Fuera como fuere, la buena gente cre-
Aconteció poco después que un agricultor ció hasta tal punto que el Gobierno ale-
de Bohemia llamado Giovanni Mayer hizo mán creyó oportuno inspeccionar sus in-
correr la voz de que él era el Mesías, que tenciones. ¡Qué cierto es que todo
había llegado la plenitud de los tiempos y Gobierno apesta a Carlos V! Se convocó
que, por obra suya, comenzaría en el mun- una asamblea y se llamó al Papa de la
do el siglo de oro o el milenio verdadero. buena gente a dar cuenta de sus princi-
Como la tolerancia absoluta ya se había pios.
convertido en un dogma social, no se pres- —¿Quién sois vos? —le preguntó el re-
taba atención a los cuentos del buen arren- ferendario, pues los alemanes, hasta
datario. Pero estos, entretanto, arraigaban aquel siglo, habían conservado muy puras
entre aquellas gentes sencillas de Bohemia, las tradiciones de la pedantería patria.
y, puesto que las doctrinas que enseñaba —Soy Giovanni Mayer de Josephstadt,
Mayer eran de una moral purísima y de ca- Bohemia, antes agricultor de profesión,
rácter jovial, así, sin encontrar oposición ahora Mesías y Papa de la buena gente.
alguna, sus prosélitos iban creciendo cada —¿Con qué derecho os habéis hecho
vez más en número y en fervor. papa?
Una condesa de Moravia, para hacer —Con el derecho con el que mi her-
que su marido se las pagase por haberla mano se ha hecho zapatero y su señoría,
tenido tiranizada toda la vida, pensó a su referendario.
muerte en dejar a Mayer como heredero —¿Y por qué hacéis creer que sois el
de su patrimonio, que ascendía a unos Mesías?
cuantos millones. Entonces, este se esta- —¡Cáspita! ¡Porque lo soy!
bleció con gran pompa en su nuevo seño- —¿Cómo? ¿Vos sois el Mesías? ¿Pero
río, mostró a sus adeptos el dedo de Dios dónde tenéis las pruebas?
con aquella fortuna inesperada y tomó el —Mesías quiere decir, por lo que sé,
título de Papa de la buena gente. aquel que porta la buena nueva; pues
Toda Alemania se llenó de sus segui- bien, yo he portado la buena nueva y soy
dores. Él mantenía la mesa servida a lo un mesías.
largo de las cuatro estaciones; y parecía —¡Oigamos esta buena nueva!
realmente que la Providencia le hubiera —La buena nueva que yo he traído es
advertido de que era más fácil conquistar esta: que se vive para vivir, que por eso
los intelectos de los alemanes de abajo hay que vivir bien, y que a vivir bien con-

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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

tribuyen el buen humor, el trabajo mode- aquellas novedades muchísimos protes-

rado y hacer y recibir buenas obras. He tantes, cismáticos y hebreos, se ilusionaba
aquí mi religión, que salva, alegra y con- a veces con que se produjera un feliz giro
tenta a todos, menos a los ociosos y a los en favor de la ortodoxia. Pero el Papa de
granujas. El mundo está hecho para to- la buena gente respondió a las ilusiones
dos. Hace falta apartar aquel viejo salmo del papa de Roma con una invitación a
de la mortificación de la carne, inventado almorzar, y las negociaciones quedaron
por los ricos en detrimento de los pobres. ahí.
Es preciso dar a todos una porción de feli- Entonces el ruso, el otro papa del nor-
cidad aquí, en este mundo, donde tenemos te, comenzó a resentirse; y entre apretar
la seguridad de disfrutarla. Que del resto por aquí y resoplar por allá, por obra de
se ocupe Dios, ¡y salud a todos! los papas y a causa del tercero, se cernía
La asamblea se quedó estupefacta. El sobre Alemania una guerra espantosa.
referendario y su mujer acudieron aquella Bajo ningún concepto habrían querido que
misma tarde a visitar al Papa de la buena el mundo se enamorase de una moral tan
gente y se inscribieron entre sus fieles. clara, sencilla y alegre. ¿Dónde encontra-
Desde entonces, ya no suponía una humi- rían, entonces, a sus cosacos, a sus jesui-
llación inclinarse ante el sentido común tas? El miedo era legítimo.
allá donde se encontraba, y el Mesías de El Papa de la buena gente, Giovanni
la gozosa nueva tuvo una óptima acogida Mayer, de excelente memoria, ofreció un
por parte de las más distinguidas perso- trato. Él se tomaba dos años de tiempo
nalidades de la ciudad. para salir de Europa a condición de que le
En Viena, algunos descendientes de los prometieran no estropear sus propósitos
Schwarzenberg, de los Lichtenstein y de en Asia y Australia. Dicho y hecho: él
los Metternich quisieron hacerle la gue- mandó a los confines de Siria a algunos
rra. Él los excomulgó con un brindis, y un miles de sus devotos con un cargamento
inmenso fragor de carcajadas desde el Rin de esquejes de vid del Rin y de la Cham-
hasta el Danubio hizo justicia con aque- paña; y, una vez que tuvo noticia de que
llos godos pigmeos. La nueva sociedad se los terrenos estaban dando frutos en
iba ampliando más y más; no se la llamó abundancia y que las plantas habían
religión, porque no exigía la obligación de prosperado, se embarcó con una jovial
religión alguna sino la de estar contentos. multitud de seguidores y se asentó en su
El extraordinario desarrollo de la agricul- nueva patria.
tura, del comercio, de las industrias, del Los jesuitas se mofaban al observar la
vapor y de las máquinas en general la be- poca firmeza de estas misiones emprendi-
neficiaba sobremanera al abaratar la vi- das sin auténtico fervor en los países de
da. Todo era actividad, comodidad y ale- los árabes y los turcomanos. Giovanni
gría. ¡Imaginaos una república inmensa Mayer reía y canturreaba jurando que el
con Béranger como presidente! vino del Rin prensado a orillas del lago
El papa de Roma, que no por haber de- Aral era mejor que el original.
jado de ser rey del Lacio y exarca de las Las tribus indígenas que vagaban por
Romañas era menos papa que antes, no los alrededores se encapricharon en buena
podía ver semejantes innovaciones con medida del atractivo modo de vida de los
buenos ojos, e hizo todo lo posible por ave- recién llegados. Trabajar con moderación,
riguar a qué aspiraban esas extrañas teo- vivir tranquilos y alegres, y librar uno de
rías. Puesto que se habían mezclado en cada tres días era mejor que deslomarse

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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

noche y día para desvalijar una caravana dre patria ante una revolución intestina y
cada dos años. Por decirlo en pocas pala- brutal, que habría esterilizado en ella to-
bras, sin tanto sermón, se convirtieron: no do germen de civilización. Planeó una ex-
se dice si se bautizaron, pero se sabe con pedición de los suyos para restablecer allí
certeza que fijaron su residencia, que co- el orden y la armonía entre las distintas
menzaron a cultivar la tierra, a hablar clases sociales convirtiéndolas, si era po-
lenguas occidentales y a hacerse civiliza- sible, en una sola. Respaldados por Italia,
bles. Crecía la emigración de Europa, cre- España y Francia, donde los nuevos dis-
cían las conversiones de los asiáticos y la turbios habían encontrado pocos partida-
nueva federación del Asia central se vol- rios, los nuevos civilizadores pacificaron
vía una novedad imponente. El despotis- en seis años Alemania, las provincias da-
mo ruso quedó escarmentado al menos nubianas, Polonia y Escandinavia. Y
por ahí. mientras se producían semejantes prodi-
Entretanto Europa, abandonada por gios en Europa y se sentaban las verdade-
sus mejores ciudadanos y minada una vez ras bases de la sociedad actual, en Asia,
más por las intrigas despóticas y religio- los rusos abrían las puertas de China de
sas, estaba expuesta a nuevas convulsio- par en par y conquistaban trescientos mi-
nes. El orgullo y la holgazanería penetra- llones de prosélitos a la influencia euro-
ron poco a poco en las plebes rústicas pea.
junto con aquel barniz de educación que En el año 2030, la federación asiática
la avaricia de los señores no se había to- abarcaba la mayor parte de ese continente
mado la molestia de profundizar y conso- desde Siria hasta las Indias y China. Las
lidar. Fue un momento de crisis tan vital variedades más grandes de estirpes, len-
que, si no llega a ser por el sentido común guas y razas concurrían allí con la misma
natural de las gentes latinas y el reflujo riqueza de agricultura, industria y ciencia
desde Asia de los buenos elementos insti- práctica. La vía férrea realizó aquel año su
lados treinta años atrás, la humanidad primer recorrido de Estocolmo a Pekín, y
habría estado acabada. de Petersburgo a Calcuta.
Adolfo Kurr había sucedido a Giovanni Entonces se pensó en un congreso de
Mayer en el buen papado del Asia central: todos los pueblos del mundo, es decir, de
había edificado una nueva Babilonia y la las tres grandes federaciones: la europea,
llamaba «la capital de la humanidad». Su la americana y la asiática. Ese congreso
imperio se había extendido en poco tiem- se reunió en Constantinopla bajo la presi-
po desde las tribus de Arabistán hasta las dencia de Adolfo Kurr y trató todas las
fronteras de China, y, junto con el impe- cuestiones de interés para el bien de la
rio, también las industrias, el comercio, humanidad. Antes que nada, se abordó la
las vías férreas y los telégrafos. Las mate- de la ciencia. Y, puesto en pie con una
rias primas, que con tanta abundancia se larga oración para demostrar que la
recogían en aquellas regiones, alimenta- abundancia y la maldad de los libros ha-
ban esta repentina resurrección de vida, y bía ocasionado hasta ese momento la di-
la energía musulmana se había fundido y versidad de clases y las revoluciones más
transformado en aquella forma general de perniciosas, el propio presidente propuso
actividad civilizada. En el centro de Asia la destrucción universal de estos libros,
no había ya ni turcos, ni persas, ni afga- una vez que una sociedad de eruditos hu-
nos, ni curdos: había hombres. biera extraído un índice enciclopédico, co-
Adolfo Kurr no quiso dejar sola la ma- sa que se llevó a cabo para gran provecho

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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

de los hombres. Y después, tras muchas quier otra obra que haya seducido la ima-
otras deliberaciones de excelso ingenio, se ginación humana.
disolvió el congreso con la proclamación Todos reparan en cómo aludo a la in-
de Adolfo Kurr como sumo patriarca del vención de los homúnculos, también lla-
mundo y benefactor del género humano. mados «hombres de segunda mano» o «se-
Este contaba a la sazón ochenta años de res auxiliares». Su creación, no más de
edad y murió tres años más tarde, y le su- ciento sesenta años antes de nuestra épo-
cedió, por libre elección, Samuele Dalne- ca, se pierde ya en la incertidumbre y la
gro de Pisa, celebérrimo economista. oscuridad de la leyenda; pero las mejores
autoridades se ponen de acuerdo en atri-
buir su mérito a Jonathan Gilles, mecáni-
LIBRO CUARTO co y poeta de Liverpool. He aquí, según
cuentan los cronistas, cómo sucedió.
Creación y multiplicación Jonathan Gilles y Teodoro Beridan
de los homúnculos (2066-2140) eran vecinos. Ambos fabricaban máquinas
de coser; ambos eran despiertos de ingenio,
El azar, es decir, la actividad humana in- pobres, viciosos y envidiosos. Se espiaban
dividual e irregular, ha presidido los pe- mutuamente para tener ocasión de mur-
riodos históricos de la vieja sociedad; la murar el uno del otro y robarse las prácti-
nueva reconoce su desarrollo creciente y cas, los clientes y los secretos del oficio.
regular a partir de la industria, es decir, De pronto, Beridan comenzó a llevar
de la actividad humana colectiva y en una vida retirada, a abandonar las taber-
progreso. Nos referiremos ahora a una re- nas que tanto solía frecuentar, a descui-
volución científica que obró en la sociedad dar el comercio habitual y a no dejarse
humana el mayor cambio que se haya ver en el taller. No bajaba casi nunca de
producido jamás; y, después de una osci- la planta superior de la casa y a menudo,
lación espantosa de algunos lustros, la de- a muy altas horas de la noche, se veía el
tuvo de forma estable sobre los cimientos brillo de su lámpara a través de las rendi-
inamovibles en los que ahora descansa. jas de los postigos. Pero él se daba cuenta
La introducción de las lenguas articula- de que lo observaban y tapó toda rendija a
das, la formación de las familias, el des- conciencia. Desde entonces, solo algún
cubrimiento de la navegación, la agricul- que otro martillazo daba señales, durante
tura, el establecimiento de las ciudades, dos o tres días, de que esa casa estuviera
la codificación moral religiosa, el dogma habitada.
de la igualdad humana, la invención de la Jonathan padecía todos los suplicios de
pólvora y la imprenta, el triunfo de la li- la envidia. ¿Qué estaría haciendo Beri-
bertad de conciencia, la aplicación del va- dan? ¿Qué máquina sobrenatural estaría
por y la electricidad, la ordenación defini- perfeccionando? Se devanó los sesos hasta
tiva de la nacionalidad, la concordia tal punto que, para no volverse loco, deci-
democrática universal y la sanción social dió satisfacer su curiosidad a cualquier
del derecho a vivir bien habían llevado a precio. Una noche se encaramó al tejado
la humanidad, metamorfosis tras meta- del vecino, descendió con cuidado por el
morfosis, a no reconocerse ya en su forma conducto de la chimenea y, detrás de una
original. Pero la revolución que ahora nos pantalla diligentemente perforada, se
ocupa supera, por el milagro de la causa y quedó a aguardar la revelación del miste-
por la grandiosidad de los efectos, cual- rio. Sabía que aquella era justamente la

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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

chimenea del laboratorio de Beridan. Un día, el pobre Jonathan llamó cabiz-

Espera que te espera, este entró por bajo a la puerta de Teodoro y le anunció
fin. ¡Pero cuál fue el asombro de Jonathan que tenía que comunicarle asuntos de la
al ver que aquel no estaba solo! Le hacía máxima importancia. Teodoro le hizo en-
compañía un hombrecillo pálido y enjuto trar y se sentaron junto al hogar, uno a
que movía las piernas y los brazos en án- cada lado. Ahora bien, antes de abrirse
gulo recto y, en lugar de voz, dejaba oír un más, Jonathan exigió al vecino que le ase-
cierto sonido gutural que se parecía al gurase que, si tuvieran que unirse los dos
lenguaje de las ocas. El hombrecillo se para lograr algún propósito milagroso, lo
plantó delante del mecánico como un sol- harían de buena fe, sin envidias ni dispu-
dado que se dispone a aprender el ejerci- tas sobre las ganancias, que se dividirían
cio. —¡Siéntate! —le gritaba Beridan, y el por la mitad. Beridan asintió a todo y se
hombrecillo se sentaba—. ¡Camina! —Y el dispuso a escuchar.
hombrecillo caminaba—. ¡Escribe! —Y el —¡Escucha! —murmuró el otro a su
hombrecillo se sentaba al escritorio y tra- pesar—, he hallado la manera de hacer
zaba un par de palabras—. ¡Siempre esas que una máquina humana artificial actúe
dos palabras!, ¡nada más que esas dos pa- casi libremente dentro de una esfera de
labras! —exclamaba el mecánico—. ¿Qué acción determinada.
he de hacer, qué he de hacer para que sus —¿La habéis encontrado? —exclamó
movimientos no se rijan por los muelles Beridan con una mirada de rabia y codi-
que tiene en las articulaciones, sino por la cia.
necesidad de la labor a que se apresta? —Sí, la he hallado —añadió con énfa-
—¿Qué puedes hacer? —pensó Jonat- sis Jonathan—, pero para sacarle partido
han detrás de la pantalla de la chime- me falta algo muy esencial; me falta la
nea—, ¡hay que elaborar mecanismos, máquina humana, pues, por más que lo
muelles y aparatos químicos tan delicados haya intentado en tres meses, aún no he
que sientan la diferencia y el valor de los conseguido componerla.
obstáculos con los que se topan y trabajen —¿No os falta nada más? —gritó Beri-
en consecuencia! ¿Así que tú has creado el dan echándole los brazos al cuello—. La
autómata...? ¡Chiquitín, ya verás de aquí máquina humana ya la he confeccionado
a tres o cuatro meses! ¡Yo habré creado al yo. ¡Observad! —Y abrió un armario, del
hombre! que hizo salir al autómata con voz de oca.
Volvió a alcanzar el tejado a fuerza de —¡Lo sabía! —agregó Gionata con pi-
rodillas, desde allí regresó a su casa y se cardía—. Pero ahora no es momento ni de
puso a trabajar en el embrión del hombre, confesiones ni de cumplidos, sino de au-
es decir, el autómata. Pero por más que nar nuestros descubrimientos y emplear-
hiciera y deshiciera, imaginara, ejecutara los lo antes posible para lograr nuestro
y probara, aquel bendito autómata no sa- máximo provecho. Con diez de estas má-
lía nunca. El pobre autor sentía la poten- quinas nos convertiremos en unos verda-
cia de terminarlo y no la de comenzarlo; le deros Rothschild.
faltaba la paciencia mecánica, ¡a él, que A partir de aquella conversación, Jo-
en tan alto grado poseía la síntesis cientí- nathan y Teodoro trabajaron juntos, ence-
fica! Tres meses de trabajo y él seguía es- rrados misteriosamente en el laboratorio
tancado en el primer paso; el autómata no de este último. Los vecinos murmuraban
se movía ni realizaba ningún movimiento acerca de esta curiosa desaparición y en-
convulsivo a la manera de un epiléptico. tonaban chanzas sobre ellos como si de

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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

dos locos se tratara. En cambio, cesaron oían, acudieron todos los vecinos, hallaron
las bromas cuando ambos creadores de al pobre Beridan a punto de expirar en
hombres salieron a la luz del mundo con brazos de un hombrecillo amarillo y des-
su hijito, muy bien instruido en el arte de carnado que le había acribillado el cuerpo
la zapatería. Habían acordado disponerlo a puñaladas. Aquel espectáculo resultaba
para este oficio por ser aquel que precisa- aún más espantoso porque, alrededor de
ba un menor número de movimientos. Y la víctima y su verdugo, había seis zapa-
el extraño hombrecillo, al que habían teros trabajando tranquilamente como si
puesto el nombre de Adán, trabajaba día no se hubieran dado cuenta en absoluto
y noche sin comida ni bebida, preparando de la fechoría que se estaba cometiendo.
con asiduidad ejemplar una buena canti- Hizo falta mucha sagacidad para encarce-
dad de zapatos, botas e incluso botines de lar al pequeño asesino y apartar a los seis
señora. zapateros de sus puestos, pero finalmente
La sociedad marchó estupendamente se los llevó a juicio, donde, una vez acla-
mientras el trabajo ocupó todo el tiempo rada la naturaleza del hecho, y por impo-
de los dos fabricantes, pero una vez que sible que pareciera semejante milagro, se
confeccionaron media docena de zapateros dudó largo rato si para el asesino de Beri-
en un mes, como las ganancias eran muy dan se debía admitir o no la imputabili-
cuantiosas, Beridan comenzó a recorrer dad moral. Al final, el prudente jurado in-
las tabernas, a beber grandes pintas de glés convino sentenciar a muerte a
porter y a jurar y perjurar que sería capaz Jonathan Gilles, pero lo condenó en cali-
de preparar al mejor orador del parla- dad de mandante de un asesinato; y tam-
mento en una semana. Jonathan reprochó bién se quiso condenar a la pena por de-
a su socio esta extraña forma suya de pro- capitación al homúnculo mecánico como
ceder, que, con la difusión pública de la reo de un homicidio material premeditado
fuente de sus ganancias, les acarrearía y consumado. Jonathan se disponía a
mil contrariedades y, posiblemente, les arrostrar el corte de cabeza y a llevarse el
obligaría a revelar a los demás el maravi- secreto a la tumba, sin dejar más herede-
lloso secreto. Beridan objetó que era due- ros que los seis zapateros y su pequeño
ño de sus asuntos, y, ante las nuevas pro- cómplice, ya condenado a un suplicio
testas de Jonathan, amenazó con enseñar igual, cuando la dirección de la banca, la
gratis el arte de su fabricación y arruinar clase de los honorables industriales y las
así el negocio que tenían en común. Jo- mejores sociedades del reino se conmovie-
nathan guardó silencio, pero como era un ron ante el temor de que un arte tan sin-
hombre insidioso y resuelto, se retiró a su gular y capaz de transformar tan profun-
casa a reflexionar y no se dejó ver en tres damente las condiciones de la humanidad
días. pudiera perderse de forma infeliz, e impe-
¿Os imagináis en qué obra había em- traron del rey que perdonara la vida del
pleado aquellos tres días? En fabricar un culpable a condición de que declarara el
homúnculo montado adrede para que fue- secreto de su fabricación ante una comi-
ra a encontrar al socio Beridan y le ases- sión de químicos, filósofos, economistas e
tara veinte buenas cuchilladas entre las ingenieros mecánicos.
costillas. De hecho, así sucedió: la fuerza Podéis creer que, por muy resignado
muscular del hombre no pudo resistir la que estuviera a morir, Jonathan acogió la
potencia mecánica del autómata; y cuan- propuesta de buen grado. Y, desde aquel
do, ante los gritos desgarradores que se momento, la fabricación de los homúncu-

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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

los, u hombres mecánicos, pasó a ser una ban al estudio sufrían con facilidad ata-
especulación industrial como cualquier ques cerebrales y muertes repentinas por
otra. La facilidad y la simplicidad con las apoplejía nerviosa, dolencia que los médi-
que, al cabo del tiempo, se llegó a fabri- cos achacaban a la excesiva actividad con-
carlos, así como su adaptabilidad a los ofi- centrada por completo en el cerebro du-
cios más diversos, delicados y fatigosos, rante dos o tres generaciones.
conllevaron su generalización y rebajaron Hasta 2140, los hombres se habían de-
su precio hasta tal punto que, muy pron- dicado a fabricar únicamente homúnculos
to, su número igualó al de los hombres macho, pero se cuenta que, aquel año, un
reales. Ahora lo supera con creces, y, dado hijo de Gionata Gilles, heredero de un se-
que su existencia es indefinidamente lar- creto suyo, llegó a fabricar un homúnculo
ga hasta que se produce el desgaste de su hembra o mujércula. Los economistas se
materia por el roce de las piezas, el traba- alarmaron en buena medida por esta inno-
jo para la reproducción necesaria es tan vación, que amenazaba al género humano
mínimo que puede parecer más un pasa- con la esterilidad al proporcionar un susti-
tiempo y un útil ejercicio gimnástico que tuto de la mujer. Por este motivo, se man-
otra cosa. tuvo vigilado al hijo de Gilles mientras vi-
Los cambios que acontecieron en el es- vió para que no pudiera comunicar a otros
tado social y económico, y la total revolu- aquel peligrosísimo descubrimiento. Y
ción de las condiciones acostumbradas en después de su muerte, como parecía que el
la humanidad a consecuencia de la multi- secreto de esa fabricación radicaba plena-
plicación de los homúnculos resultan más mente en una cierta levadura del hígado
sencillas de imaginar que de describir. de gata, Gregorio Alison, presidente del
La comodidad y el ocio de que pudieron décimo congreso de la humanidad, ordenó
gozar todas las clases de la sociedad die- la destrucción de toda la raza felina. La
ron una predominancia temporal a los sentencia se ejecutó al punto y los derechos
campesinos, que, aún desavenidos por las de las mujeres quedaron a salvo, pero la
últimas derrotas en el terreno político, se tierra resultó plagada de una cantidad de
vengaron con la imposición legal de su ratas muy molesta.
mayoría ignorante y tiránica sobre las Las guerras, las disputas y las discu-
otras clases. Pero este mal no duró más siones religiosas a propósito de los ho-
allá de 2110, pues en esa época, cuando múnculos serían demasiado largas de na-
habían sucedido ya dos generaciones a los rrar. Baste decir que el papa de Roma
contemporáneos de Gilles, los últimos en excomulgó en 2180 a todos aquellos que
criarse contaban con una educación y una los fabricaban; y luego, al ver que la
mentalidad tan distantes de la antigua prohibición daba pocos frutos, ante la du-
rudeza y tan próximas a la civilización da, ordenó que se bautizara a aquellas
que las diferencias entre las distintas cla- criaturas para salvarlas de la condena-
ses desaparecieron por completo. Solo que ción, si de alguna forma estaban dotadas
el ocio prosperaba sobremanera en los há- de alma, y para arrancarlas de las garras
bitos de la sociedad, y, junto con el ocio, el de Satanás, si no eran otra cosa que ins-
uso de los narcóticos como el tabaco, el trumentos de la actividad humana. Con
opio y el betel, que hacían morir de estu- estos dos decretos se cerró el bulario de
pidez a un gran número de ciudadanos. los pontífices, que abarcaba dieciocho si-
Además, aquellos que querían preservar- glos, desde el V de la era vulgar hasta el
se de semejantes desgracias y se entrega- XXIII: pero la primera parte, que era la

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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

más extensa, había quedado incluida en muerto, que el mundo siga en peligro, se
la destrucción de libros de 2030. enderece o se desplome no me importa
gran cosa. Solamente ruego a mis herede-
ros que tengan a bien, por afecto a mi
LIBRO QUINTO Y ÚLTIMO persona, tomarse la molestia de esparcir
tabaco de España sobre mi sepulcro, pues
De 2180 a 2222, o el periodo soy muy aficionado a ese aroma. Que así
de la apatía sea.
Estos cinco libros de historia los he es-
Desligados de los prejuicios de los siglos crito yo, Vincenzo Bernardi di Gorgonzola,
pasados, liberados de un cúmulo de cono- para uso y deleite míos en el año 2222 de
cimientos inútiles y dañinos, desembara- la era vulgar, 198 después del decreto del
zados del tedio de aquel trabajo manual patriarca Adolfo Kurr, que ordenó la des-
que impedía la paz, la igualdad y la pros- trucción de todos los libros anteriores al
peridad universal, los hombres han llega- 2000. ¡Que su alma descanse en paz!
do ahora a tal punto que casi parecería
una suerte no poder tener ya fuerza con-
tra ellos. Pero, por desgracia, la naturale- EPÍLOGO
za intrínseca de los humanos está tan vi-
ciada que no admite para sí condición de Yo no sé qué decir al respecto. Estoy algo
existencia sin un conjunto más o menos desalentado de publicar semejante mon-
grande de contrariedades y males. serga como Historias de los siglos futuros,
Sin repetir lo que hemos dicho acerca pero parece que nuestro venidero Vincen-
de los ataques apopléticos del cerebro y el zo Bernardi di Gorgonzola pensará o es-
abuso de los narcóticos, añadiremos la cribirá esto en 2221 y yo lo he transcrito
aparición de una enfermedad contagiosa desde la primera palabra hasta la últi-
que, sobrevenida a raíz de la fiebre amari- ma... ¿Será todo cierto? ¡Que lo juzgue la
lla y el cólera, amenaza con resultar fu- posteridad! Nosotros, en todo caso, limi-
nesta para la humanidad entera. Los mé- témonos a implorar en estas últimas lí-
dicos la denominan peste apática y, en neas a la futura majestad del patriarca
efecto, parece tener origen en la indolen- Adolfo Kurr para que este libro, que por
cia relativa a la que están condenados su fecha y autor pertenece a 2222, quede
ahora los órganos humanos tras tantísi- dispensado del exterminio universal que
mos siglos de fatiga excesiva y definitiva. él declarará contra todos los libros ante-
Esta enfermedad pútrida y espantosa, el riores al 2000. Así podrán comprobar si el
evidente enfriamiento de la superficie te- relato del señor Vincenzo Bernardi ha si-
rrestre y el aumento gradual del tedio y do verídico hasta el final. Y yo solo añado:
de los suicidios debidos a él son los tres ¡Que su alma descanse en paz, y que, en
peligros hacia los que nos dirigimos, y, en su momento, le ayude a venir al mundo
un momento u otro, la humanidad acaba- una buena comadrona!
rá por sucumbir a uno de ellos. Por mi
parte, yo creo que tendré tiempo de morir FERDINANDO DE’ NICOLOSI
en mi dulce lecho mullido; y, una vez Filósofo-químico

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 Antônio Gomes Neto

El país que nadie soñó

Traducción de Mariano Martín Rodriguez © Mariano Martín Rodríguez, por la traducción, 2021

Doscientos años antes de esta modesta his- ble que aniquilaría los dogmas engañosos
toria, esto es, a mediados del año de gracia en que se apoyaban las bases de las falsas
de 1925, el telégrafo difundía a las cinco religiones.
partes del mundo la noticia siguiente: Así pues, gracias a los procesos cientí-
«Favorecidos por un clima especial, los ficos de orden terapéutico ejecutados por
monos de Eritrea, colonia italiana del un núcleo de hombres de negocios con una
oriente de África, acaban de ser seleccio- intuición mercenaria y, por eso mismo,
nados como los mejores especímenes para repugnante para las personas dotadas de
producir las glándulas que el Dr. Voronoff sentido común, Eritrea, la zona olvidada y
destina a dar la eterna juventud. lejana de la accidentada África, se volvía,
»Se ha formado una compañía italiana con el transcurrir paciente de los años, el
para criar esos monos y formar con ellos país de los precursores del hombre, gori-
un tipo más cercano al humano. las y chimpancés, que habrían de ser in-
»Aunque los monos de Eritrea sean molados para la satisfacción criminal del
hoy los más buscados con este fin, la com- género humano, en la resurrección mila-
pañía espera desarrollar el mejor tipo grosa de quienes caen en el ocaso doloroso
mediante cruces y selección. de la vejez.
»Debe haber una completa selección de Y, hacia junio, el glacial y lagrimoso
los especímenes más jóvenes y hermosos. mes de los inviernos australes, una legión
A fin de que cumplan satisfactoriamente feroz de cazadores eminentes recorría to-
el objetivo científico al que se destinan, da la selva, hasta entonces inviolable, de
las glándulas de los monos se trasplanta- la misteriosa posesión itálica, en busca de
rán a monos perfectos al efecto de intensi- los pobres y rudimentarios simios, los
ficar cada vez más las cualidades de ju- cuales, en la fase risueña de su existencia,
ventud, hasta que se produzca un animal usufructuando los sagrados derechos con-
que los científicos puedan considerar el feridos a toda especie animal, serían sa-
más perfecto para su investigación». crificados en favor de una casta superior,
Indudablemente, si la humanidad más que, una vez arruinada por la acción des-
curiosa e imposible de contentar de todos tructora del tiempo, sería sometida al tra-
los tiempos hubiese meditado, en la ex- tamiento de Voronoff, mejor dicho, injer-
trema locura que la dominaba, sobre la tada con la glándula joven robada al
ambición innominable de algunos espíri- antropoide ignorante.
tus demasiado débiles como para aguan- Cierto es que no tendremos la preten-
tar la tentación mefistofélica de los place- sión necia y poco recomendable de narrar,
res, los hechos asombrosos e incalculables aunque sea pálidamente, el movimiento
que vamos a contar, como meros especta- que se produjo en todo el planeta, tras di-
dores, nunca habrían ocurrido sobre la faz fundirse el resultado de las primeras apli-
de la tierra, para honor y gloria del más caciones, que se recibieron en medio de
sabio de los sabios, el gran Darwin, crea- una delirante alegría en todo el mundo.
dor del Evolucionismo, la teoría irrefuta- Semejante movimiento era el preanuncio

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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

de las grandes tragedias que enrojecerían miescas, los caracteres peculiares de la

los horizontes, durante mucho tiempo, familia de los cuadrumanos iban pasando
hasta el día de la reivindicación fatal, por metamorfosis radicales y asombrosas,
cuando, entonces serenados los espíritus, «evolucionaban» naturalmente, hasta
la humanidad volvería, arrepentida, al ci- constituir una nueve especie de indivi-
clo biológico trazado por la sabiduría del duos no considerados en la escala zoológi-
Creador de los mundos. ca de Perrier y semejantes en todo al ho-
Al poco, una verdadera peregrinación mo sapiens.
de viejos impotentes se arrastraba a la El mono había dejado de existir para
tierra llamada santa por los forasteros, dar lugar a un espécimen inconfundible
que atraía de los lugares más alejados del en sus mínimos detalles, con la espina
universo a centenares de seres fanatiza- dorsal sinuosa como en los vertebrados
dos en una mezcla babilónica de lenguas y superiores, privado completamente del
costumbres. rabo que, en el hombre, se esboza debajo
Nadie se entendía, ni siquiera intenta- del cóccix y, ¿por qué ocultarlo?, el propio
ba entenderse, pues el motivo que los ha- encéfalo había adoptado idéntica confor-
cía acercarse unos a otros era la perspec- mación a la de los racionales, desarrollado
tiva de una nueva vida, la transmutación y equilibrado por la inteligencia lúcida, le-
meteórica de la senilidad en juventud, así jos de parecerse al cráneo de un mono mi-
que todas las razas se confundían en los serable de otras eras…
caminos tortuosos que llevaban a la tierra Sí, porque los monos de antes pasaron
de promisión, por el anhelo angustioso de a andar a pie, igual que sus esclavizado-
traspasar la meta antes de la muerte... res, que nunca se habían dado cuenta de
Y, andrajosos, agotados por las infer- la evolución milagrosa, paseando de la
nales caminatas, con los pies sangrando, mano por las «urbes» de Eritrea, como si
blancos, negros y amarillos proseguían su fueran personas mayores.
jornada fatigosa, atraídos fatalmente por Ellos razonaban, pensaban en los gra-
la visión fantástica de la resurrección... ves problemas económicos y políticos que
¡Eritrea progresaba! A semejanza de la siempre habían sido objeto de reflexión de
Ciudad Eterna, en el Año Santo de la pe- la humanidad, actuando bajo la acción re-
regrinación de los fieles, cuando indivi- ceptora, refleja y «consciente» caracterís-
duos de todos los países acuden a las ma- tica de cierta especie de animales con que
jestuosas ceremonias del Vaticano, la lidiamos todos los días…
posesión italiana era un pulular de in- Cierto día sucedió aquello a lo que ha-
teresados: toda una muchedumbre de ca- bía aspirado toda la nación eritrea desde
bezas blancas como copos de nieve, trému- hacía muchos años, asfixiada por la pre-
las y vacilantes... potencia brutal de otras razas: la revolu-
Mientras tanto, el año de 2125, en que ción general, decidida y ejecutada por los
ya innumerables ancianos habían vuelto a paladines de la independencia, tras me-
la juventud soñada, estaba destinado a morable concilio público en que tomaron
registrar la página más sensacional del la palabra los oradores más influyentes
mundo, que pasaría de generación en ge- del país, todos nacionalistas hasta la mé-
neración, siglo tras siglo, como un ejemplo dula.
para la ambición humana, porque, mila- Se hacía menester que todos los hijos
gro de lo irrealizable, poco a poco, por los de la joven nacionalidad, mañana dego-
constantes cruces de diversas razas si- llados en beneficio de perdularios sin es-

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RECUPERADOS

Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

crúpulos, se coaligasen y enfrentasen a los curso apologético de la corriente idealista

pueblos que los desgraciaban, toda vez que había abrazado, con convicción, in-
que todos ellos, por obra y gracia de los flamado por el más ardiente patriotismo.
mismos, se humanizaban, con pantalones —Señores, hoy es el día, elegido por los
y gabán; pensaban y discutían; no despre- designios celestiales, para la emancipa-
ciaban las gruesas lentes sobre el apéndi- ción de nuestros derechos, frente a lo ex-
ce nasal; podían consultar las estrellas a puesto por la renombrada Liga de las Na-
través de gigantescos aparatos astronómi- ciones, que nos niega el derecho de
cos e incluso, «oírlas»… fraternidad a que hacemos por merecer.
A ellos les correspondía defender la »Vivimos oprimidos por el eterno esta-
familia estremecida, amenazada torpe- do de sitio, la libertad constituye uno de
mente en su integridad fisiológica por la los mitos más indecorosos y, por la menor
hedionda insaciabilidad de los humanos. sospecha, somos apaleados bárbaramente
Los antropoides de hacía mucho se ha- por los esbirros indecentes de los hombres
bían emancipado, definitivamente, del cuando no inventamos una mentira astu-
hombre moderno y discutían con perfec- ta, en propio detrimento, que nos libre del
cionado esmero de Derecho Constitucio- caucho despiadado.
nal, tan poco sabido por muchos licencia- »Queremos votar (en Monolandia ha-
dos, con la maestría de un consumado bía libertad de pensamiento) a nuestro
profesional. Para dejar patente, en una candidato preferido y no podemos. ¿Dónde
palabra, el grado de desarrollo intelectual está ese derecho tan pregonado por los po-
de Monolandia (este fue el nombre elegido líticos sin compostura moral, que persis-
por los republicanos), no exageraremos al ten en maniatar nuestras más legítimas
certificar los casos incontables de amor aspiraciones con vergonzosas y tristes
ocurridos entre jóvenes y bellas mujeres, promesas?
apasionadas por los varoniles hijos de la »El hambre llama a nuestra puerta con
nueva nación. sus garras amenazadoras; el cambio tien-
Blancas como el claro de luna y rubias de a cero y la nación se deshace a peda-
como la angélica Berenice, o morenas co- zos, como un velero que el mar encrespado
mo las meridionales brasileñas y román- arrojara a estrellarse contra los peñascos
ticas como una heroína de Alencar, innu- traicioneros…
merables representantes del sexo llamado »¡Echemos del país a los viles que tra-
débil habían cometido los mayores desati- fican con nuestra juventud, como hizo el
nos, seducidas por los encantadores mo- rey de los judíos al expulsar del templo a
nos… los traficantes profanadores que, en el al-
Finalmente, llegó la hora decisiva del tar sagrado, no de la patria, sino de la
gran acontecimiento reivindicador, y co- iglesia, enlodaban la casa de la bienaven-
munistas y soviéticos, anarquistas, ma- turanza!
ximalistas, todos se reunían en la plaza »Hermanos, nada nos falta por apren-
principal (la avenida de los Amores) a la der de los necios: adelante, porque, si he-
espera del tribuno más respetado del país, mos servido de injerto a todo granuja adi-
un monazo de músculos de acero y mirada nerado que hay en el universo, también
de pocos amigos, un Robespierre contem- ellos nos han servido para idéntica opera-
poráneo que, poniéndose los quevedos (los ción, gracias a nuestro proverbial instinto
monos no hacían nada sin ese gesto emi- de imitación, heredado de nuestros muy
nentemente elegante), dio inicio a su dis- ilustres antepasados.

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RECUPERADOS
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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

Y, perfectamente municionados, domi- Afortunadamente, los hombres no fue-

nadores de toda la disciplina militar de ron tan tontos como los monos que, por
los ejércitos modernos, así como de la tác- unas bananas, se habían dejado enjaular
tica bélica observada en las últimas con- por los antropólogos y, en el momento
tiendas que habían ensangrentado a las oportuno, acordaron firmar un pacto hon-
naciones, partían a altas horas de la ma- roso por el que se reconocía la indepen-
drugada para atravesar la frontera los ba- dencia y autonomía de los cuadrumanos,
tallones aguerridos de Monolandia, ga- elevados a las mismas condiciones de los
llardos e irreprensibles, a los acordes del demás pueblos repartidos por la tierra.
himno nacional… ¡Cuán tarde había abierto el mundo los
Aquí podríamos imaginar, si tuviésemos ojos! Pero Darwin, aquel viejecito, todo
ingenio y los hombres nos lo permitiesen, la dulzura y simpatía, jovial como todos los
más calamitosa y estúpida de las guerras, iluminados, tuvo la consagración mereci-
con cataratas de sangre, como un Niágara da que los hombres le habían negado por
encarnado. Pero la humanidad, astuta, no parte de los monos equiparados, que eri-
lo decidió así y rechazó el cartel de desafío gieron en la principal avenida de Eritrea
recibido: una bala gigantesca de azúcar el más grandioso monumento existente en
cande que sostenía a un simio humanizado, toda la República, como tributo de eterna
con el ultimátum de la República. gratitud a su genio excelso.

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 Apéndice: texto original

Antônio Gomes Neto

O país que ninguém sonhou

Há duzentos anos antes desta modesta de ordem terapêutica postos em execução

história, isto é, em meados do ano da por um núcleo de homens negocistas, no
graça de 1925, o telégrafo espalhava pelas intuito mercenário e, por isso mesmo, fa-
cinco partes do mundo a seguinte noticia: cilmente repugnável pelas pessoas dota-
«Favorecidos por um clima especial, os das de bom senso, a Eritreia, a zona es-
macacos da Eritreia, colónia italiana do quecida e longínqua de acidentada África,
Oriente da Africa, acabam de ser escolhi- tornava-se, com o transcorrer paciente dos
dos como o melhor espécimen para produ- anos, o país dos precursores do homem—
zir as glândulas que o Dr. Voronoff desti- gorilas e chipanzés, que teriam de ser
na a dar a eterna mocidade. imolados para a satisfação criminosa do
»Formou-se uma companhia italiana gênero humano, na ressurreição miracu-
para criar esses macacos e formar deles losa dos que tombam no ocaso doloroso da
um tipo mais próximo do homem. velhice.
»Embora os macacos da Eritreia sejam E, por volta de junho, o glacial e lacri-
hoje os mais procurados para esse propó- moso mês das invernias, uma legião feroz
sito, a companhia espera desenvolver o ti- de caçadores eméritos percorria toda a
po melhor pelo cruzamento e seleção. floresta, inviolável até então, da misterio-
»Deve haver uma completa seleção dos sa possessão itálica, á cata dos pobres e
espécimenes mais jovens e mais belos. As rudimentares símios, os quais, na fase ri-
glândulas dos macacos afim de preenche- sonha da existência, usufruindo os sagra-
rem satisfatoriamente o objetivo científico dos direitos conferidos a toda espécie
a que se destinam, serão transferidas pa- animal, seriam sacrificados em favor de
ra macacos perfeitos, afim de intensificar casta superior, que, uma vez arruinada
mais e mais as qualidades da mocidade, pela ação destruidora do tempo, seria vo-
até que se produza um animal que os ronoffisada, ou melhor, enxertada com a
cientistas possam considerar o mais per- glândula moça, roubada ao antropóide ig-
feito para a sua investigação.» norante.
Indubitavelmente, se a humanidade Certo que não teremos a pretensão es-
curiosa e incontentável de todos os tem- tulta e pouco recomendável de narrar,
pos houvesse meditado, na extrema lou- embora palidamente, o movimento que se
cura que a empolgava, sobre a ambição operou em todo o planeta, após a irra-
inominável de alguns espíritos fracos de- diação do resultado das primeiras apli-
mais para suportar a tentação mefistoféli- cações, que foram recebidas debaixo de
ca dos prazeres, os factos assombrosos e delirante alegria por toda parte do mun-
incalculáveis, que passaremos a relatar, do. Semelhante movimento era o prenún-
como meros espectadores, nunca teriam cio das grandes tragédias que enrubesce-
ocorrido sobre a face do globo, para honra riam os horizontes, por muito tempo, até o
e glória do mais sábio dos sábios—o gran- dia da reivindicação fatal, quando, então,
de Darwin, criador do Evolucionismo, a serenados os espíritos, a humanidade re-
teoria irretorquível que aniquilaria os tornaria, arrependida ao ciclo biológico
dogmas enganadores em que se assenta- traçado pela sabedoria do Criador dos
ram as bases das falsas religiões. mundos.
Assim, graças aos processos científicos Em pouco, uma verdadeira peregri-

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RECUPERADOS
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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

nação de velhos impotentes se arrastava seus mínimos detalhes, a espinha dorsal

para a terra cognominada pelos forastei- sinuosa, como nos vertebrados superiores,
ros santa, atraindo dos lugares mais lon- destituída inteiramente da cauda, que, no
gínquos do universo centenas de seres fa- homem, se esboça abaixo do cóccix, e, por
natizados numa mescla babilónica de que ocultá-lo?—o próprio encéfalo tomara
línguas e costumes. idêntica conformação á dos racionais,
Ninguém se compreendia, nem tão desenvolvido e equilibrado nela inteligên-
pouco procurava entender-se, pois o moti- cia lucida, longe de se parecer com o
vo que os fazia aproximar, uns dos outros, crânio de um macaco miserável de outras
era a perspetiva de uma nova vida, a eras...
transmutação meteórica da senilidade em Sim, porque os macacos de ontem pas-
juventude, confundindo-se todas as raças, saram a palmilhar solo, tais os seus es-
nos caminhos tortuosos que iam ter á te- cravizadores, que jamais se aperceberam
rra da promissão, na ânsia consternados da evolução milagrosa, passeando de
de galgar a meta, antes da morte... braço dado pelas urbs da Eritreia, como se
E, andrajosos, depauperados pelas in- fosse gente grande!
termináveis caminhadas, os pés sangran- Eles raciocinavam, pensavam nos gra-
do, brancos, prelos e amarelos prosse- ves problemas económicos e políticos, que
guiam na jornada fatigante tantalizados sempre foram objeto de cogitação por par-
pela visão fantástica da ressurreição... te da humanidade, agindo sob a ação rece-
A Eritreia progredia! Á semelhança da tora, reflexa e «consciente» característica
cidade Eterna, no Ano Santo da peregri- á certa espécie de animais com que lida-
nação de fieis, em que indivíduos de todos mos todos os dias...
os países acorreram as cerimónias majes- Certo dia aconteceu o que toda a nação
táticas do Vaticano, a possessão italiana eritreiana aspirava havia longos anos, as-
formigava de interessados—todo um fixiada pela prepotência brutal de outras
mundo de cabeças alvas como flocos de raças: — a revolução geral, resolvida e
neve, trémulas e vacilantes... posta em execução pelos paladinos da in-
Entretanto, o ano de 2125, que já vira dependência, após memorável concílio
inúmeros macróbios voltar á mocidade público, em que usaram da palavra os
sonhada, estava fadado a registrar a pa- mais influentes oradores da terra, todos
gina mais sensacional do mundo, que pas- nacionalistas até a médula.
saria de geração em geração, seculos após Tornava-se mister que todos os filhos
seculos, como um exemplo á ambição do da jovem nacionalidade, amanhã trucida-
homem. Porque, milagre do irrealizável, a dos em benefício de perdulários inescru-
pouco e pouco, com os constantes cruza- pulosos, se coligassem e enfrentassem os
mentos das diversas raças simiescas, os povos que os infelicitavam, uma vez que
caracteres peculiares á família dos qua- todos eles, por obra e graça dos mesmos,
drúmanos iam passando por metamorfo- se homenisavam, de calças e paletot, pen-
ses radicais e assombrosas, «evoluíam» savam e discutiam, não desprezavam as
naturalmente, de molde a constituir uma grossas lentes acavaladas ao apêndice na-
nova espécie de indivíduos não considera- sal, podiam consultar as estrelas através
dos na escala zoológica de Perrier e em os gigantescos aparelhos astronómicos e,
tudo semelhantes ao homo sapiens. até, «ouvi-las».
O macaco deixara de existir, para dar Cumpria-lhes, a eles defender a famí-
lugar a um espécimen inconfundível nos lia estremecida, ameaçada torpemente na

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RECUPERADOS
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Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

sua integridade fisiológica pela insaciabi- somos barbaramente esbordoados pelos

lidade hedionda dos humanos. beleguins indecentes dos homens, quando
Os antropóides de há muito se haviam não forjamos uma mentira astuciosa, em
emancipado, definitivamente, do homem detrimento próprio, que nos livre da bo-
moderno. e discutiam com requintado rracha impiedosa!
apuro o Direito Constitucional, tão pouco «Queremos votar (na Macacolândia
sabido por muitos bacharéis, com a maes- havia liberdade de pensamento) no nosso
tria de um profissional consumado. Para candidato preferido e não podemos. Onde
patentearmos, em uma palavra, o grão de esse direito tão apregoado pelos políticos
desenvolvimento intelectual da Maca- sem compostura moral, que persistem em
colândia —este foi o nome escolhido pelos algemar as nossas mais legítimas aspi-
republicanos—, não iremos ao exagero se rações, com vergonhosas e tristes promes-
afirmarmos os incontáveis casos de amor sas!?
ocorridos entre jovens e lindas mulheres, »A fome bate-nos á porta, de garras
apaixonadas pelos másculos filhos da no- ameaçadoras; o câmbio caminha para
vel nação. zero, e a nação se esfacela, aos bocados,
Brancas como o luar e loiras como a tal um veleiro que o mar encapelado arro-
angêlica Berenice, ou morenas como as jasse de encontro os rochedos traiçoeiros...
meridionais do Brasil e românticas como »Corramos do país com os vis negocis-
uma heroína de Alencar, inúmeras repre- tas da nossa mocidade, como fez o rei dos
sentantes do sexo dito fraco haviam come- judeus, expulsando do templo os ven-
tido os maiores desatinos, seduzidas pelos dilhões profanadores que, no altar sagra-
encantadores macacos... do, não da pátria, mas da igreja, enla-
Afinal, soara a hora decisiva do grande meavam a casa da bemaventurança!
acontecimento reivindicador, e comunis- »Irmãos! nada nos falta mais aprender
tas, sovietistas, anarquistas, maximalis- com os patetas: para frente porque, se
tas, todos se reuniam na praça principal temos servido de enxerto a quanto ma-
—a Avenida dos Amores— á espera do landro endinheirado há pelo universo,
mais acatado tribuno do país, um maca- também eles nos têm servido para idênti-
cão de músculos de aço e olhar de poucos ca operação graças ao nosso proverbial
amigos, um Robespierre hodierno que, co- instinto de imitação, herdado dos nossos
locando o pince-nez (os macacos nada muito ilustres avoengos.»
faziam sem esse gesto eminentemente E, perfeitamente municiados, senhores
elegante), principiou o seu discurso apolo- de toda a disciplina militar dos exércitos
gético á corrente idealista que abraçara, modernos, bem como a tática de guerra
com convicção, inflamado do mais ardente observada nas últimas refregas, que en-
patriotismo. sanguentaram as nações, madrugada al-
—Senhores, hoje é o dia, escolhido pe- ta, partiam para além fronteira os batal-
los desígnios celestiais para a emanci- hões aguerridos da Macacolândia,
pação dos nossos direitos, em face do ex- garbosos e irrepreensíveis, ao som do hino
posto pela famigerada Liga das Nações, nacional...
que nos nega o direito de fraternidade a Aqui poderíamos forjar, se habilidade
que fazemos jus. tivéssemos e os homens o permitissem, a
«Vivemos opressos pelo eterno estado mais calamitosa e estupida das guerras,
de sítio, a liberdade constitui um dos mais onde o sangue rolasse em catadupas, tal
indecorosos mitos e, pela menor suspeita, uma Niágara rubra.

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RECUPERADOS

Humanos y equivalentes: dos historias
prospectivas satíricas

Mas, a humanidade, sabida, assim não dições dos demais povos espalhados pela
o determinou, recusando o cartel de desa- terra.
fio recebido —uma bala gigantesca de Quão tarde o mundo abrira os olhos!
açúcar-cande, sustentando um símio ho- Mas Darwin, aquele velhinho todo
menisado com o ultimatum da Republica. doçura e simpatia, jovial como todos os
Felizmente, os homens não foram tão iluminados, teve a consagração merecida
tolos quanto os macacos, que, á custa de que os homens lhe negaram por parte dos
bananas, se deixaram engaiolar pelos an- macacos equiparados, que ergueram, na
tropologistas, e, em boa hora, acordaram principal avenida da Eritreia o mais
em assinar um pacto honroso, reconhe- grandioso monumento que há em toda a
cendo a independência e a autonomia dos República, como preito de eterna gratidão
quadrúmanos, elevados ás mesmas con- ao seu gênio excelso.

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Visiones tras los
apocalipsis: cuatro
poemas épico-fantásticos
sobre ruinas

Nota introductoria y traducción © Mariano Martín Rodríguez, 2021

de Mariano Martín Rodríguez

Si abandonamos el terreno del mito y acompañó paradójicamente un sentimien-

prescindimos también de las visiones del to difuso de decadencia, que inspiró las
fin inspiradas en la ciencia (cataclismos expresiones estéticas del llamado período
cósmicos, entropía, etc.) para volver nues- decadentista, que cabe situar entre el fi-
tra mirada hacia la historia de la huma- nal de la experiencia revolucionaria de la
nidad, el apocalipsis, completo o no, puede Comuna de París en 1871 y el estallido de
dejar de ser un acontecimiento único de la Gran Guerra en 1914. La sensación de
categoría mítica, situado en un pasado estar viviendo el final de una civilización
ahistórico o en un futuro que lo es igual- hizo a muchos escritores volver la mirada
mente, para convertirse en una sucesión al declive y caída del imperio romano, con
geográfica y cronológica de catástrofes todas sus supuestas perversiones que ha-
apocalípticas localizadas. Cada una de bían propiciado su acabamiento, según
ellas entraña la desaparición de una civi- numerosas narraciones arqueológicas de-
lización, a menudo con gran parte de sus cadentistas. Otra manera de recalcar el
habitantes o con todos ellos. Para estas carácter transitorio de la civilización con-
personas, el fin de su mundo ha tenido lu- temporánea era imaginarla en ruinas,
gar efectivamente, aunque algunas de unas ruinas que contemplaría un arqueó-
ellas sobrevivan en un marco cultural logo del futuro a la búsqueda de vestigios
esencialmente alterado y otras, en un fu- que contribuyeran a explicarla, por ejem-
turo más o menos lejano, contemplarán plo, a la manera irónica de Alfred Fran-
los vestigios de aquel mundo e indagarán klin (1830-1917) en Les ruines de Paris en
sobre la historia de la civilización desapa- 4875 [Las ruinas de París en el año 4875]
recida, de modo que hay tanto un antes (1875).
como un después de la destrucción. Este procedimiento fictocientífico coin-
Esta mirada retrospectiva hecha desde cidió en la época con otro que podríamos
un planteamiento prospectivo cobró nueva considerar épico-fantástico, ya que se ba-
actualidad en la segunda mitad del siglo saba en la creación de un mundo secun-
XIX, cuando a la enorme expansión eco- dario ficcional consistente en una ciudad o
nómica y geopolítica de Europa y de algu- edificio en ruinas sin un referente claro en
nas de sus dependencias lingüísticas nuestro mundo primario o fenoménico.

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RECUPERADOS

Visiones tras los apoclipsis: cuatro poemas
épico-fantásticos sobre ruinas

Estas ruinas constituyen el tema y el ob- también imágenes de ángeles, magos, vír-
jeto de la focalización de la descripción o genes y reyes, sugiere que nos encontra-
la narración. De acuerdo con la larga tra- mos ante un mundo secundario inventa-
dición europea de la poesía en torno a las do, parecido a un París postapocalíptico.
ruinas, fue la descripción el discurso pre- Con todo, se trata más bien de una ciudad
ferido al principio para la configuración inexistente fuera de la fantasía, a cuyas
de las ficciones con este tema. Así ocurre ruinas se confía la misión de representar
en el primer gran poema épico-fantástico simbólicamente el final de una civiliza-
de este tipo que vio la luz en este período, ción impresionante desde el punto de vis-
el titulado «La visión des ruines» [Visión ta de sus creaciones artísticas y, al mismo
de las ruinas], que el joven y futuro gran tiempo, llena de impiedad, por lo que el
novelista Anatole France (1844-1924) in- final apocalíptico que dio lugar a las rui-
cluyó en su colección poética Les poèmes nas parecería merecido. De esta manera,
dorés [Poemas dorados] (1873)1. Las rui- al ocultarse su probable referente pari-
nas ahí descritas podrían pertenecer a un siense, France consigue que las ruinas
París abandonado y destruido, tal y como salgan de la historia para acceder a la
pueden indicar la topografía de la ciudad, dimensión fantástica del símbolo, sin re-
con su río que rodea una isla y la presen- nunciar por ello a la verosimilitud racio-
cia en ella de un edificio que evoca la ca- nal y arqueológica de su visión. De hecho,
tedral de Nuestra Señora de la capital no hay nada en ella que eluda las leyes
francesa, también situada en un islote naturales de nuestro universo o, al me-
fluvial. También sirve de indicio de ello el nos, de la historia humana conocida o con-
pasaje en el que poeta abandona su acti- jeturada gracias a los avances coetáneos
tud parnasiana de rechazo de toda fun- de la Paleontología y la Arqueología.
ción literaria que no sea la propiamente Desde este punto de vista, aún más ve-
estética al sugerir que la ruina de la ciu- rosímil parece la ciudad arruinada que da
dad se debe a sus vicios, especialmente los título a «La Ville ruinée» [La ciudad
sexuales, de acuerdo con el vínculo, en- arruinada], de Auguste Angellier (1848-
tonces estereotipado, entre lo que se tenía 1911), uno de los últimos «épisodes» [epi-
por costumbres depravadas y la supuesta sodios] de la serie Dans la lumière antique
decadencia de la civilización contemporá- [Bajo la luz antigua] (1908-1909)2. Se tra-
nea, sobre todo de la capital francesa, a la ta de un poema narrativo que cuenta con
que acudían burgueses y aristócratas de detalle la progresiva pérdida de actividad
todo el mundo para encanallarse y disfru- económica de una imaginaria ciudad cos-
tar de su rica vida nocturna y erótica. Sin tera independiente, el consiguiente empo-
embargo, este poema de France mantiene brecimiento de sus habitantes y la doloro-
la vaguedad suficiente como para no per- sa emigración de estos a otras regiones,
der su valor de especulación de amplio al- de manera que la ciudad queda abando-
cance. De hecho, el propio eclecticismo de nada a los elementos hasta su ruina. La
los vestigios, entre los que hay templos ciudad tenía su propia civilización, inclui-
con figuras de ninfas danzantes, pero dos sus propios dioses, y había tenido los
————— —————
1 El texto de la traducción que sigue se ba- 2 La traducción se basa en la edición origi-
sa en la primera edición de este libro: Anatole nal: Auguste Angellier, «La ville ruinée», Dans
France, «La vision des ruines», Les poèmes do- la lumière antique: Les épisodes (seconde par-
rés, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1873, pp. 41-46. tie), Paris, Hachette et Cie, 1909, pp. 94-104.

REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen 7, n.º 1 166  PRIMAVERA-VERANO 2021

RECUPERADOS

Visiones tras los apoclipsis: cuatro poemas
épico-fantásticos sobre ruinas

altibajos bélicos habituales en las ciuda- por los dioses y la Naturaleza, viviendo en
des-estado antiguas, pero su destrucción armonía con esta última. De esa época so-
se había debido simplemente a la inercia lo quedan las ruinas, signo de los deca-
y la entropía natural, hasta caer en un ol- dentes tiempos contemporáneos.
vido tal que ni su nombre consta. De este Un espíritu nostálgico similar, por el
modo, podría servir de ejemplo inmejora- que se contrapone de forma implícita un
ble del «ciclo de decadencia y de decrepi- mundo secundario dichoso a la triste
tudes» que este poema ilustra con un alto realidad actual, baña el poema en verso
grado de verosimilitud, siguiendo proce- libre «Cetatea moartă» [La ciudad muer-
sos conocidos de civilizaciones similares ta], de Alexandru Petroff (seudónimo de
de la historia humana. Dumitru Theodorescu, 1885-1940), publi-
Aun aprovechando los conocimientos cado póstumamente en una antología de
aportados por la Arqueología, hubo otros poesía decadentista rumana en 19434. No
textos decadentistas en los que las ruinas obstante, su cosmovisión plenamente de-
remitían a unas épocas fabulosas, cuando cadentista hace pensar que se escribió a
lo sobrenatural se manifestaba realmente. principios del siglo XX, cuando su autor
Así ocurre, por ejemplo, en un poema so- tuvo mayor actividad literaria pública. Su
bre un tipo de edificios que, por ser mora- poética simbolista corresponde a la que se
da de la divinidad, podían hacer admitir encontraba en auge en aquellos años y es-
mejor la existencia y actuación de entes tas se oponen al objetivismo parnasiano
sobrehumanos. En el soneto de Arturo patente en el tratamiento del tema de las
Graf (1848-1913) titulado «Tempio dis- ruinas por France, Angellier y Graf. Pe-
trutto» [Templo destruido] y publicado en troff adopta un planteamiento más lírico,
su libro Le Danaidi (1897, con versión ya que la voz poética se dirige, empleando
ampliada en 1905)3, unas pobres piedras la segunda persona verbal, a la ciudad
dispersas en una altura son lo único que muerta del título, declarándole el dolor y
queda del templo. Allí se rendía culto a un la tristeza que le suscitan sus ruinas, en-
numen en una época pretérita y lejana, tre cuyas piedras crecen raquíticas hier-
cuando la Naturaleza (con mayúscula ini- bas y anidan tan solo las salamandras. En
cial que la diviniza) oía los ruegos de los su mente, revive su pretérito de urbe por-
seres humanos, cosa que rara vez ha he- tuaria con toda la animación de los navíos
cho después, en los tiempos históricos. No que fondeaban en ella, imaginando que
obstante, esta velada alusión a una época también la visita de esta forma, pero se
fabulosa más allá de la (pre)historia do- trata solo de una visión que acaba resul-
cumentada por la Arqueología o la Filolo- tando, más que el recuerdo que aparenta
gía es prácticamente el único indicio de ser, una mera ilusión personal, un «sueño
un mundo secundario épico-fantástico de engañoso» que reside en el propio yo.
orden sobrenatural. La alusión a los ritos Este sueño cobra aún mayor protago-
y sacrificios incruentos que se celebraban nismo en «Ruínas» [Ruinas], un intere-
en el templo sugieren un pasado más feliz sante soneto del poeta portugués António
en el que la humanidad estaba protegida
—————
————— 4 El texto que sigue la traducción castella-
3 Esta edición definitiva aporta el texto na es el de una antología posterior: Alexandru
original traducido abajo: Arturo Graf, «Tempio Petroff, «Cetatea moartă», Climat poetic sim-
distrutto», Le Danaidi, Torino, Ermanno Loes- bolist, ediţie, prefaţă şi note de Mircea Scarlat,
cher, 1905, p. 14. București, Minerva, 1987, pp. 127-128.

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RECUPERADOS

Visiones tras los apoclipsis: cuatro poemas
épico-fantásticos sobre ruinas

Feijó (1859-1917) publicado póstumamen- su propia presencia. Su materialidad queda

te en 19815. Esas ruinas son las de una resaltada por las imágenes sensoriales que
fortaleza batida por el mar de cuyas he- les confieren notable visualidad, como ocu-
roicas glorias militares no quedan más rre en un pasaje en el que Petroff describe
que torres que se derrumban. No se indica unos islotes sedimentarios petrificados en
en ningún momento ni su ubicación ni su la desolación de unas aguas opacas y pesa-
época. Tan solo se sugiere que pertenecen das como la pez. De esta manera, la visión
a unos tiempos de pasado esplendor. Sin fantástica de unas ruinas sin referentes
embargo, su función no es tanto la de dar reales directos produce mundos secunda-
idea de lo pasajero de la civilización como rios épico-fantásticos que sostienen la
la de servir de símbolo de un estado emo- perspectiva lírica, al igual que lo hacen con
cional presentado en términos universa- la más paisajística y exterior de France y
les. En el último terceto, los restos caídos Angellier. En todos los casos, las ruinas son
se comparan a un corazón que sigue la- las imágenes del proceso histórico univer-
tiendo pese a la frustración de sus ilusio- sal de la decadencia hasta su consumación,
nes. Las de la fortaleza son realmente las tras la cual solo quedan los tristes restos
ruinas del Sueño, con una significativa que se describen. Así se combinan ficción
mayúscula inicial que sirve para designar épico-fantástica no sobrenatural y visión
un concepto general más que un senti- postapocalíptica para anunciar, recurrien-
miento estrictamente personal. do a la analogía y la estética de lo sublime,
Pese al subjetivismo de estos dos últi- el destino que acecha a toda civilización,
mos poemas, las ruinas imponen en ellos incluida la nuestra.

—————
5 Se trata de la edición utilizada para la

traducción castellana: António Feijó, «Ruínas»,

Sol de inverno seguido de vinte poesias inédi-
tas, Lisboa, Imprensa Nacional Casa de
Moeda, 1981, p. 142.

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 Anatole France

La visión de las ruinas

El río que, libre y tranquilo, arrastra sus brado las piedras de los muelles y las ca-
margas y sus aguas en medio de las páli- lles, y las moradas desaparecidas yacen
das cañas estrecha entre sus brazos una bajo los túmulos en flor.
larga isla. Esta parece un navío encallado Al sur de la isla, un montón confuso de
por alguna aventura heroica y que ha muros, capiteles y fustes corona las lade-
perdido su forma y naturaleza, cual dur- ras de una colina donde se inclinan las
miente entregado al olvido. tuyas.
El grito rauco y el vuelo de las grullas Por la noche croan las ciénagas. Hacia
perforan las nubes macilentas; los cisnes el oeste, a lo lejos en la verde llanura, se
y los verdes patos nadan siguiendo la co- alza una puerta abierta contra el cielo
rriente acrecida. lluvioso y negro.
En la isla, un pórtico y dos torres, reti- Esculpidos en las paredes triunfales,
ro familiar a los búhos, erigen bajo el hombres, bueyes, caballos evocan las an-
musgo y la hiedra sus perfiles negros, du- tiguas labores y se rompen al choque de
dosos y pesados. las ráfagas.
Delgadas figuras de piedra yacientes Y hacia el norte, aunque menos lejos,
entre el espesor de los lirios, con las ma- suenan lánguidamente al viento candela-
nos juntas, siguen en paz el sueño que bros, balaustres, losas, escaleras, muros
cierra sus párpados. en largos dédalos, ruinas de un templo
Todos aquellos cuyas imágenes roe donde cuelgan liras con clavijas de oro,
lentamente el viento del norte, ángeles y donde los pies de ninfas aún danzan en
reyes, vírgenes y magos, amaron abun- gozosos delirios.
dantemente la muerte, pues la rigidez de Muda, la casa de los Reyes descansa,
su estatura y la aridez de su carne hacen como una viuda, en la orilla derecha del
ver el gran valor que concedieron a aspi- río, entre los nenúfares fríos y blancos;
rar al sepulcro. mira las joyas que le quedan en las aguas
No quedará turbado en mucho tiempo descoloridas, y desparrama sus reales co-
el silencio de la isla santa: se ha derrum- llares cuajados de iniciales y emblemas.
bado el arco de los puentes en el río que la En un pabellón, las palideces de la lu-
ciñe. na, al borde una nube, animan una forma
¿Acaso no es esa la ruda cuna de la desnuda que sonríe y esparce flores. Es el
grande y hermosa ciudad que, más ade- cuerpo de una mujer en cuclillas, un
lante, se asentó voluptuosamente en estas cuerpo lascivo, joven y cansado que acari-
soledades? Pero la tierra avara ha reco- ció sin duda la mirada de un siglo impío.

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 Arturo Graf

Templo destruido

Esta altura veteada de enjutos codesos, Y aquí al nuevo sol traían los coros de
lentas retamas y labiérnagos ya fue sacra las danzantes la alegre ofrenda de los
a un numen, cuando Natura oía los votos blancos panes y las perfumadas flores.
de la humana estirpe. Ahora la luna desierta contempla el
Entonces crecía la selva oscura for- monte miserable y vacío y, entre los ba-
mando espesura en torno al díptero ful- rrancos y los hoyos, las sagradas piedras
gente, y de aquella llambria brotaba un abajo diseminadas por la pendiente.
manantial de pura y límpida agua lustral.

REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen 7, n.º 1 170  PRIMAVERA-VERANO 2021

 Auguste Angellier

La ciudad arruinada

De la orgullosa, rica y poderosa ciudad seguridad y la esperanza, y con esta se

cuyas flotas singlaban a lo lejos no ha hunde la fuerza y el gusto de la voluntad,
quedado, a la orilla del mar, más que una de cuya muerte nacen los hastíos, ¡ciclo de
acrópolis árida, cuyos lienzos de muralla decadencia y de decrepitudes!
marcan el recinto vacío. A veces un pastor
hace pacer allí un rebaño mientras enga- Entonces empezó la gran ruina. Las al-
ña su soledad tocando el caramillo. Entre menas de la muralla colmaron el foso.
los grandes cardos y los arbustos de es- Aquí y allá se torcía y venía abajo una ar-
pino, la víbora desaparece bajo los bloques cada que no se volvía a construir; a lo lar-
dispersos. En sus grietas, más arriba, pu- go de una fachada, las grietas cruzaban y
lulan los lagartos y sus huecos sirven de hendían la casa. En los templos desaten-
madriguera a los zorros. A veces pasan los didos, un fragmento de frontón caía sobre
lobos o se reposan las águilas, y cuando los escalones, rompiéndolos, y a los pies
verdea la tarde, la lechuza taciturna llena de los fustes yacían trozos de voluta. A in-
los ecos con su ulular. El puerto antaño tervalos, y con más frecuencia por la no-
famoso, vasta colmena que enjambraba che debido al silencio, se oía el ruido de
hacia tráficos lejanos o hacia las colonias una pared que se derrumbaba y se mar-
sus grandes vuelos de navíos con velas chaban quienes vivían en la calle obstrui-
tostadas y hacia donde volvían otros vue- da, pues todos los habitantes, cada vez
los de los mares, es ya solo un estuario de menos numerosos, al encontrar más casas
riberas desiertas que, prolongando sus que las que necesitaban, huían de los lu-
aguas amarilleadas en marismas, fre- gares donde el abandono los dejaba aisla-
cuentan las garzas y las aves de paso. dos y se iban juntando en torno a la acró-
polis y a templos sin puertas con el altar
Aunque no le faltaron asaltos y asedios, apagado. Su pobre rebaño, cada día más
aunque más de un incendio ennegreció estrechado por un círculo invasor de
sus arcos y más de un saqueo rompió sus muerte y ruina, entorpecido por lo que se
estatuas, aunque el fragor de sus torres acaba, también decaía por la esterilidad.
desplomadas removió los huesos de los En los suburbios, en el puerto devastado,
antepasados durmientes y aunque el sa- veían extenderse, a lo largo de todo un
crificio a Dioses enemigos insultó a sus horizonte, los restos de antiguos edificios
Dioses protectores en sus templos, su de labor o de comercio rotos y derribados
nombre no figura inscrito entre los gran- por una larga ruina. Quienes se habían
des ejemplos de aquellas ciudades que un quedado vivían como proscritos, fuera de
día de matanza y sangre, al pasar entre todo; tenían que abrirse paso entre los es-
clamores inmensos de desesperación, dejó combros para llegar al campo y a las tie-
derribadas para siempre en el silencio. Es rras de labor, que permanecían infecun-
una de esas ciudades que un declive con- das. Allí no se podían guardar ni rebaño
tinuo y la mano del Tiempo han borrado ni cosechas: merodeaban los saqueadores
lentamente. La vida disminuyó por grados y ya vivían fieras entre las ruinas que,
entristecedores, hubo menos trabajo y por la noche, entre las sombras, hacían
menos claras empresas: llega la inercia peligroso regresar a la ciudad. Ningún ser
allí donde se hunde el éxito junto con la humano, de ningún sitio y en ningún

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RECUPERADOS

Visiones tras los apoclipsis: cuatro poemas
épico-fantásticos sobre ruinas

momento, se acercaba a ellos, ni siquiera entre sus manos y uno, tendido delante de
un buhonero apoyado en su vara, ni si- su asiento, parecía muerto.
quiera un mendigo para pedir limosna. Su
ruina vegetaba cada vez más estrecha al- Subiendo y bajando por los escombros,
rededor del gran foro, que habían labrado la comitiva, entre sollozos, atravesó ba-
para sacar algo de centeno y legumbres. rrios despoblados desde hacía mucho, al-
Un último herrero, sobre el último yun- gunos casi intactos, otros derrumbados
que, componía alguna herramienta, he- por completo y en los cuales parecía que
rrero último sin aprendices. Todos sentían los árboles se habían juntado para desen-
que iban a extinguirse como un fuego. Los cajar los mármoles. Tras descender peno-
ancianos en quienes muere la necesidad samente hasta el puerto, ganó la otra ori-
de quejarse parecían aceptarlo, pero los lla sobre el puente que quedaba, allí
varones, menos cansados, cuyas esposas donde había aún suburbios que se exten-
llevaban en los brazos un niño y que con- dían sin límite. De construcción endeble y
servaban para este la voluntad de vivir, habitados por la plebe, son los primeros
decidieron por fin abandonar la ciudad, en caer tan pronto como se abandonan;
prometiendo su apoyo a quien quisiera estaban recubiertos de arbustos y de ma-
seguirlos. Y ese resto de pueblo, incitado torrales. A veces se veían, entre las cuatro
por sus voces, tras haber votado por el paredes de las casuchas sin techo, monto-
éxodo en los comicios supremos, llevó pa- nes de maleza que crecían por los aguje-
ra los últimos y pobres sacrificios los úl- ros e impedían la entrada. Más lejos y pa-
timos y flacos bueyes a los altares carco- ra rematar el duelo, encontraron el
midos de los Dioses, de los pálidos Dioses camino de las tumbas que guardaban a
que no volverían a invocar y que abando- los antepasados. Tras detenerse la comi-
nar parecía un sacrilegio. Tan solo algu- tiva, dos viejos sacerdotes hicieron una li-
nos de esos ancianos de cabezas nevadas, bación de un poco de aceite y vino para los
que ya no tenían ni hijos ni nietos, dije- muertos gloriosos, cuyos nombres borra-
ron, sordamente y entre sollozos sofocan- dos se buscarían en vano en las estelas
tes, que preferían acabar en sus moradas agrietadas.
los pocos días tal vez u, ojalá, las horas
que les quedaban por vivir; y pese a los Entonces se abrió la extensión de una
largos clamores de ruego unánime y las áspera landa, cuyas largas ondulaciones
palabras enternecidas de quienes los co- cubrían bajos matorrales que separaban
gían de la mano para obligarlos, quisieron entre ellos vastas llanuras, cruzadas por
terminar de morir cerca de los Dioses. Se lentos arroyos y negras ciénagas por don-
colocó a su lado, al partir, lo que cada uno de galopaban bueyes salvajes a saltos fo-
aportó tomándolo de su parte, algunos sa- gosos. El vuelo de los gavilanes rayaba el
cos de harina y jarras de aceite, mientras cielo. Sorprendidos por esos ruidos desco-
volvían a cerrar, en su rostro inmóvil que nocidos, aparecían en las rocas, por todos
la horrible desesperación envejecía aún lados, linces, grupos de chacales o alguna
más, sus pobres ojos llorosos para no ver. hiena inmunda que asomaba su cabeza
El sonido de una bocina puso en marcha a obscena por el borde de su agujero. El sol,
la multitud. Cuando los que la escoltaban, rojizo en aquellos horizontes desnudos,
al doblar el último arco, volvieron la mi- que aun bajo su mirada permanecían du-
rada, los ancianos, sentados en su banco, ros y fúnebres, iba a entregarlos a las ti-
habían dejado caer sus blancas frentes nieblas al abandonarlos; la angustia de la

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RECUPERADOS

Visiones tras los apoclipsis: cuatro poemas
épico-fantásticos sobre ruinas

noche invadía los corazones. Los desgra- ban de apagarse los hogares que ninguna
ciados presentían la cercanía del terror: mano volvería a encender nunca!
por primera vez, perdidos en plena exten-
sión, la inmensidad del vacío era una Largos siglos han visto derruirse la ciu-
amenaza y sus miembros temblaban por dad: se borraron las carreteras que a ella
falta de refugio; la bruma llenaba cada conducían y lejos de ella pasaron los ca-
hueco en sombra. Sin embargo, avanza- minos de las naciones; el mar demolió sus
ban con valor; a la cabeza, la tropa de los malecones y sus muelles, cuyos restos se
más fuertes iba armada y lista para los marcan aún bajo las aguas, cayeron los
encuentros con hombres o fieras ham- templos sobre las plazas públicas; se de-
brientas; la comitiva de atrás la cerraban rrumbaron los pórticos alrededor del foro;
también otros que sabrían combatir y de- se hundió el puente en el río encenegado y
fenderla. Entre ambas escoltas, la marcha se quebró la muralla en desmembrados
hacía dilatarse unas veces y otras estre- lienzos. Las tormentas y la lluvia, cavan-
charse todo un pueblo confuso de vírge- do torrenteras con sus trombas de agua,
nes, ancianos y niños cogidos de la mano arruinaron las ruinas; clavando sus es-
del abuelo, y también de madres subli- tragos en el suelo desnudo, arrastrando el
mes, capaces de atravesar los abismos con terreno con sus aguas derrubiadas, dis-
su tesoro dormido, el querido bebé, sin gregando la roca y diluyendo la arcilla,
otra ansiedad que la de ver si se agotará arrancando los pesados bloques como dé-
pronto la leche en su pobre pecho, cuando bil arena, ensanchaban su lecho bajo los
su seno sentirá abrirse la mano mimosa. cimientos más profundos y unidos por las
Solo ellas sonreían a veces al caminar. En argamasas más duras. Los muros perma-
medio, los sacerdotes salmodiaban un necían en pie colgantes sobre el vacío; mi-
canto mientras llevaban vasijas llenas de nados cada vez más por la pérfida labor,
la tierra natal. Bajo el resplandor san- caían de golpe, rotos. Pero el torrente
griento, oblicuo y vespertino, iniciaban así agrandado por su derrumbe, exasperado
el camino aventurado en el que más de contra ellos, arrastraba, golpeaba, desgas-
uno caería muerto de fatiga y hambre. taba, bajo sombras más cortas, los frag-
La comitiva alcanzó la cumbre de una mentos, haciéndolos pedazos y de los pe-
colina, tras la cual la ladera inclinada dazos, cascotes. Y, volviendo guijarros la
les iba a hurtar de súbito el querido y cara de los dioses, transportaba sus es-
sagrado suelo. Para el inmenso y supre- combros hasta el río fangoso. Ese es el
mo adiós desesperado, en un arrebato de sino de los montes privados de vegetación,
amor que cubrió sus zozobras, prendie- de bosques, de matorrales por el desgaste
ron en sus ojos arrasados de lágrimas su invisible, por la eterna labor de los obsti-
ciudad aún bella bajo los rayos del ocaso, nados arroyos. Ya solo pueden mostrar
blanca en torno a su roca y sobre las lar- rocas desnudas; su granito mismo acaba
gas cuestas. Un viejo sacerdote oró; so- roído, muere y se desmorona, y la monta-
naron sollozos y luego los grupos des- ña se deshace en el lago profundo. Las to-
cendieron por la otra vertiente. Allá rrenteras se acercaban, se unían por to-
abajo, invisibles, se extendían las mon- das partes a las dos orillas sobre las que
tañas lejanas, más allá de las cuales ha- colgaban muros inseguros, y la ciudad
bía, quizás, otros destinos. caía en esas enormes brechas. Después,
¡Qué noche vino a abrazar, tras aquel cuando llegaban las largas estaciones se-
crepúsculo, esas paredes donde termina- cas, y el fuego y las llamas de los veranos

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RECUPERADOS

Visiones tras los apoclipsis: cuatro poemas
épico-fantásticos sobre ruinas

devoradores cuyo ardor calcinaba los ces el desierto de alrededor, acrecentado

mármoles desmoronados, grandes torbe- por los siglos; en el estuario muerto, una
llinos blancos arrastraban su polvo y a tartana fondea a veces y zarpa al amane-
veces los azotaban los martillos del rayo. cer. ¡Y nada habla ya de un gran imperio
El nombre mismo de la ciudad ha des- extinguido!
aparecido. Una caravana atraviesa a ve-

REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen 7, n.º 1 174  PRIMAVERA-VERANO 2021

 Alexandru Petroff

La ciudad muerta

¡Cuánto has cambiado, qué vista tan tris- Y, con todo, el estremecimiento del re-
te y tan doliente, oh, tan doliente! El vien- cuerdo que bate la cuaderna de mi viejo
to abrumador quema tu extensión, antaño batel errante me lleva de vez en cuando a
tan florida, y tu cielo, en lo alto, es solo tu puerto difunto, donde tantas naves se
nube. guarecían antaño, con canciones jugueto-
Eres ruina, toda ruina; bajo la mano nas que ascendían hacia el firmamento
implacable del tiempo te has desmorona- luminoso, con tantas caras que brillaban
do piedra a piedra, y en los pesados rom- al sol y guedejas rebeldes ondeando al
pimientos de escorias y cascotes solo la viento que veo yo por turno, oh, que vuel-
salamandra hace su nido, con la cabeza vo a ver todas en mi mente.
acurrucada en almohadones de hierbas Y, siempre en la pálida puesta de sol,
aplastadas, crecidas al azar entre las rui- cuando mi batel despliega la vela de par-
nas silenciosas. tida del puerto durmiente, doblo humilde
Las mejanas se han petrificado en la una rodilla ante tu tristeza, donde te ha
trágica desolación de las aguas opacas de proscrito un sueño engañoso, perdido —
pesada pez, donde nunca se reflejará más en mí.
mi rostro, mi corazón.

REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen 7, n.º 1 175  PRIMAVERA-VERANO 2021

 António Feijó

Ruinas

Abrupta fortaleza erguida sobre la roca que el vido en las épicas batallas.
mar en furia excava y el oleaje atropella, la Tremola al aire un pendón hecho jiro-
Flor del Heroísmo brota de esas ruinas y cien nes, más expresivo aún en su mudo len-
acciones gloriosas se estrellan contra sus mu- guaje que las torres cayendo en su fragor
ros. terrible…
Del pasado esplendor subsisten esos Firme en su dolor, orgulloso y vencido,
lienzos a punto de derrumbarse bajo el es como el corazón que, desnudo de ilu-
viento convulso... Muere, en silencio y so- siones, sigue flotando sobre las ruinas del
lo, el heroico monumento que luchó impá- Sueño…

REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen 7, n.º 1 176  PRIMAVERA-VERANO 2021

Nuevas escrituras sobre
el Dios y el Diablo:
seis ficciones teológicas
dualistas

Nota introductoria y traducción © Mariano Martín Rodríguez, 2021

de Mariano Martín Rodríguez

La ficción especulativa es, tal como la en- miembros? Esta clase de interrogantes
tendemos, aquella cuyos mundos posibles sostiene dos clases de ficción amplia y
con finalidad artística se basan en una originalmente cultivadas en la edad con-
premisa fantástica que se justifica y temporánea, que son la ciencia ficción y
desarrolla de forma racional o, si se pre- la fantasía épica.
fiere, razonada. La ciencia ficción es la Además de las ciencias antes indica-
categoría de ficción especulativa más cul- das, existen otras que han tenido un
tivada en la Modernidad, coincidiendo enorme desarrollo a lo largo de los siglos y
con la ampliación progresiva del análisis que rara vez se consideran hoy como ta-
científico a realidades varias, sean estas les, ya que su objeto no tiene una existen-
de carácter natural (nuestro universo y cia que se pueda demostrar, como tampo-
sus componentes, desde las partículas co se puede demostrar su inexistencia
subatómicas hasta el cosmos entero), cul- independiente de la mente humana y del
tural (la civilización humana y sus arte- universo cuantificable. Se trata, por
factos) o formal (estructuras subyacentes ejemplo, de la ciencia centrada en unos
tanto a lo natural como a lo cultural, entes pasivos de carácter abstracto que se
desde los números hasta el lenguaje). La sitúan fuera de la realidad física como so-
ficción especulativa se inspira en los dis- portes últimos de la realidad fenoménica,
tintos métodos aplicados a su objeto por en una dimensión que estudia la Metafísi-
las diversas ciencias para proponer hipó- ca. A esta puede añadirse otra ciencia,
tesis conjeturales que se ilustran analó- muy influyente en nuestra civilización,
gicamente mediante la ficción. Por ejem- que se ocupa de unos entes de carácter
plo, ¿qué ocurriría si se inventara una igualmente abstracto, pero de los que se
máquina para viajar en el tiempo?, o afirma que están dotados de una capaci-
¿cómo funcionaría una sociedad en la que dad de acción incluso infinita.
los dioses intervinieran en la vida de sus A diferencia de los dioses de las mito-

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RECUPERADOS

Nuevas escrituras sobre el Dios y el Diablo:
seis ficciones teológicas dualistas

logías, cuyos poderes los hacen muy supe- única para todas las sectas e iglesias cris-
riores a los humanos, pero que parecen tianas2.
seres análogos a nosotros por sus móviles Al igual que el sumo Bien neoplatóni-
y pasiones, las entidades agentes de la co, los entes de la Teología podrían tener
Teología aparecen como realidades de ca- una existencia real en un universo extra-
rácter alegórico desde sus orígenes, grosso fenoménico. Como este no está al alcance
modo, en el idealismo (neo)platónico y en de nuestros sentidos, ni siquiera ayuda-
el hermetismo greco-egipcio hasta su con- dos por el instrumental que la tecnología
solidación con el triunfo del cristianismo. ha puesto a nuestro servicio para que po-
Para entender la diferencia entre ambas damos conocer, por ejemplo, el origen de
clases de seres, solo hace falta comparar nuestro universo en una explosión pri-
la divinidad del libro hebreo del Génesis, mordial, la ciencia que se ocupa de ellos
tan sujeta a arrebatos de cólera destructi- es por fuerza especulativa y, a este res-
va, con la del primer capítulo del Evange- pecto, podríamos recordar la agudeza bor-
lio de Juan, en el que el Dios1 se identifica giana de que la Teología es una rama de
con una abstracción metafísica como es el la literatura fantástica. Sin embargo, los
Verbo. Un dios como el hebreo y los semi- teólogos cristianos afrontan su objeto con
dioses de su círculo (los ángeles) forman la ayuda de unas escrituras concretas, so-
parte integrante del mundo secundario bre todo los Evangelios, que les aportan
producido mediante un proceso de sub- una base, externa a su propia mente, co-
creación mitográfica, obra de los escribas mo punto de partida para deducir de for-
hebreos y de sus continuadores, análogo ma racional sus construcciones teológicas.
al de la creación de los mundos de la fan- En el islam, la base escrituraria es otra y,
tasía épica. El Verbo cristiano es el prota- en consecuencia, también la Teología que
gonista de un mundo secundario cuya de ella procede. En cualquier caso, cada
configuración se debe a un proceso teográ- teografía, entendida como descripción de
fico en el que interviene sobre todo la ra- entes divinos abstractos y de sus tributos,
zón especulativa. No se imagina tanto en es el resultado de un trabajo hermenéuti-
este caso una historia mítica. En su lugar, co que sigue un método científico particu-
se elucubra racionalmente sobre los atri- lar, que no es el mismo de las ciencias na-
butos de los actantes alegóricos postula- turales, humanas o formales, pero que
dos. El resultado de tales reflexiones es el también es coherente y riguroso en su
amplio acervo de la Teología, con todas curso desde sus premisas escriturarias
sus doctrinas tan variadas sobre la divi- hasta sus conclusiones más comunes,
nidad trascendente y eterna, que se supone aunque estas sean tan peculiares como el
concepto de Trinidad o el de la transus-
—————
1 En el prólogo teográfico del Evangelio de —————
Juan, el Dios lleva artículo determinado y no 2 El judaísmo (rabínico) y el islamismo, así
hay razón para quitárselo a él y dejárselo, en como otras religiones proféticas similares sur-
cambio, al Diablo, aunque se sigue el uso tra- gidas entre las riberas del Nilo y las del Tigris
dicional en las traducciones que siguen para (gnosticismo no cristiano, maniqueísmo, man-
no introducir extrañezas innecesarias en la deísmo), han desarrollado teologías, también
lectura. Ambos términos van aquí en mayús- con escuelas diversas y enfrentadas. Sin em-
culas porque se trata de personajes alegóricos, bargo, nos limitaremos aquí a la Teología cris-
para los cuales se suele emplear la mayúscula tiana, que es la que aporta la base racional a
inicial. las ficciones abajo traducidas.

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RECUPERADOS

Nuevas escrituras sobre el Dios y el Diablo:
seis ficciones teológicas dualistas

tanciación, pasando por la extraordinaria fin de reprimir especulaciones que se sa-

convivencia de dos naturalezas, humana y lieran demasiado de la línea teológica ofi-
divina, en la persona de Jesús de Nazaret. cial. A juzgar por el número de doctrinas
En consecuencia, la Teología, por muy heterodoxas desde ese punto de vista a lo
fantástica que parezca, no dispone de la largo de los siglos, esa represión no sirvió
libertad creativa de la ficción. El pacto de para sofocar completamente el pensa-
lectura de la Teología exige la fe en la miento teológico heterodoxo, pero los en-
existencia de los entes que se describen y vites eran demasiado altos como para que
la aplicación del juicio crítico sobre los ar- hubiera autores que propusieran noveda-
gumentos aducidos. En la ficción, lo que des atrevidas en la materia con fines me-
cuenta es la coherencia y la impresión de ramente lúdicos y ficcionales. Fue única-
completitud del universo imaginario pro- mente la secularización progresiva, que
puesto. No obstante, la Teología y la ficción eliminó los riesgos penales de la teoficción
pueden converger cuando la primera, como herética, la que favoreció su desarrollo
cualquier otro saber derivado de la aplica- moderno.
ción de una metodología racional, aporta la La teoficción también se benefició de la
materia prima de una especulación fantás- distinción discursiva entre el lenguaje de
tica hecha con fines literarios. El resultado la ciencia y el de la ficción, consagrada de-
es distinto al de la ciencia ficción o la fan- finitivamente en el siglo XIX. El saber
tasía épica, pero no por ello deja de ser fic- científico, del tipo que fuese, incluido el
ción especulativa, según se ha manifestado teológico, debía exponerse objetivamente
esta a lo largo de la historia. en forma de tratados, mientras que los
Las visiones de los territorios metafísi- discursos de la ficción disfrutaban de la
cos de ultratumba fueron quizá las prime- libertad para tratar cualquier asunto con
ras ficciones inspiradas en la teología cualquier enfoque, ya que se trataba de
cristiana, cuya culminación fue la divina fantasías que no podían ni siquiera aspi-
Commedia de Dante Alighieri. También rar a participar en el debate científico por
fueron tempranas las teografías en las no tenerse por verdaderas. Aunque el ín-
que se conjeturaba alegóricamente sobre dice de libros prohibidos siguiera conte-
los orígenes de la dimensión divina y lue- niendo obras de ficción, las condenas ecle-
go terrenal, como las escrituras gnósticas siásticas se dirigían sobre todo contra las
de los primeros siglos de nuestra era, que teologías presentadas ensayísticamente
conocemos gracias a la Arqueología y la como tales. En estas circunstancias, hubo
Filología modernas. Sin embargo, su ca- incluso algunos escritores creyentes que
rácter ficcional es dudoso, ya que esos se atrevieron a escribir obras de ficción de
evangelios gnósticos se presentan como dudosa ortodoxia. Con menos empacho lo
escrituras que reflejarían una realidad hicieron otros que se podrían calificar de
cósmica no inventada, sino supuestamen- agnósticos o ateos, para quienes la teofic-
te revelada. Se trata de hipótesis alterna- ción supondría la oportunidad de especu-
tivas a las que estaban abrazando enton- lar creativamente sobre los interrogantes
ces las instituciones eclesiásticas oficiales, teológicos tradicionales con el fin de ofre-
las cuales no dudaron en suprimir cual- cer respuestas nuevas, principalmente a
quier otra doctrina teológica rival cuando la gran pregunta de la existencia del mal
alcanzaron la influencia suficiente entre en el mundo, frente al convencimiento
los poderosos del mundo como para tener teológico en la bondad infinita del Dios. Si
garantizado el apoyo del brazo secular a tan bueno y poderoso es, ¿cómo se explica

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RECUPERADOS

Nuevas escrituras sobre el Dios y el Diablo:
seis ficciones teológicas dualistas

que exista el Mal mismo, siquiera como Dios, el personaje alegórico que designa
sombra negativa del bien? La evidente el Bien.
existencia del Mal, voluntario en el ser Esta teología dualista ha inspirado,
humano e involuntario en la Naturaleza con matices, diversas teoficciones moder-
creada por el Dios, parece sugerir una nas que retoman el asunto y lo modifican
responsabilidad directa o indirecta, por de diversos modos, ilustrando con ella la
acción u omisión, de la propia divinidad creatividad teológica que a veces acompa-
omnipotente, responsable por su poder ña a la libertad intrínseca de la ficción.
ilimitado de todo lo que existe. Esta libertad se manifiesta también en el
Esta responsabilidad no se plantea en discurso, pues la especulación teológica
la misma medida en las mitologías. La con fines literarios se ha expresado a tra-
figura antropomórfica del dios único del vés de muy diferentes géneros de escritu-
panteón hebreo antiguo se manifiesta ra, desde el epilio hasta el poema en pro-
con tal humanidad que no resulta dema- sa, pasando por el microrrelato y el
siado extraño su comportamiento en drama, entre otros. La teoficción, al igual
momentos moralmente tan poco gloriosos que la ciencia ficción o la fantasía épica,
como el del Diluvio Universal o la des- es discursivamente diversa, y así lo de-
trucción de Jericó y otras ciudades cana- muestran varios ejemplos panlatinos de la
neas y el subsiguiente genocidio de sus primera mitad del siglo pasado que ilus-
habitantes. Era natural que un dios con- tran el vigor de la especulación dualista.
cebido a imagen y semejanza del hombre El autor de lengua catalana Àngel
(o al revés) reflejara o inspirara los crí- Guimerà (1845-1924) publicó el 2 de enero
menes que la humanidad ha perpetrado de 1902 su poema «Creació» [Creación] en
a lo largo de su historia. En cambio, el la revista Joventut [Juventud], y lo reco-
Dios cristiano de la Teología es un ente gió luego sin cambios en el volumen Segon
esencialmente distinto y superior al ser llibre de poesies [Segundo libro de poesías]
humano, y sus atributos infinitos llevan en 19203. Como su título indica, se trata
aparejada la inexistencia de cualquier de una cosmogonía, cuya brevedad inten-
otro principio o ente comparable que pue- sifica su efecto. En vez de extenderse en
da compartir su responsabilidad en lo re- detalles, el poeta limita el acto de la crea-
lativo a la existencia del Mal como noción ción a la metáfora del Dios como herrero
metafísica, así como del mal como prácti- que, sujeto al Tiempo, forja sin cesar
ca o fenómeno terrenales. Para evitar mundos. Las almas serían las chispas que
atribuir el mal a su bondad infinita, el se desprenden naturalmente del proceso,
doble modelo del Satán o ángel tentador sin que el Dios parezca haberlas creado
hebreo (que no actúa motu proprio, como voluntariamente. Estas almas ni siquiera
sugiere el mito de Job) y del dios del mal deseaban haber salido de la nada pero, en
de la mitología persa zoroastriana sirvió lugar de destruirlas, el divino herrero las
para constituir una teología dualista que, metamorfosea en animales, seguramente
pese a las condenas eclesiásticas y los inocentes y felices. Es entonces cuando
distingos ortodoxos, subyace a buena aparece en escena el Diablo, cuyo estatuto
parte del pensamiento teológico cris-
—————
tiano. A efectos prácticos, el Diablo o Sa- 3 La traducción del poema se basa en el
tán, como principio abstracto que perso-
texto siguiente: Àngel Guimerà, «Creació»,
nifica alegóricamente el Mal, se opone a Poesia completa, edició de Blanca Llum Vidal,
menudo en igualdad de condiciones al Barcelona, Edicions de 1984, 2010, pp. 238.

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RECUPERADOS
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Nuevas escrituras sobre el Dios y el Diablo:
seis ficciones teológicas dualistas

ontológico marcado por la mayúscula ini- así como la división de su prosa en ver-
cial parece estar en el mismo plano que el sículos. El paralelismo como procedimien-
Dios y el Tiempo. Es Él quien hace de al- to retórico fundamental en este escrito
gunas de estas almas seres humanos, los teográfico de Vivien corresponde al para-
cuales se presentan así como obra ente- lelismo de las acciones presentadas según
ramente diabólica, sin que el Dios se en- un esquema de contraste sostenido y ab-
tere, aunque tampoco parece que pueda soluto entre Jehová y Satán. De manera
hacer gran cosa para impedirlo, pues su más marcada que en la «Creació» de Gui-
creación parece un cometido al que no pa- merà, estos dos seres no son entes míti-
rece poder escapar. En el marco común cos, sino decididamente abstractos y ale-
del Tiempo en que ambos principios, el góricos. Ambos son dos principios eternos
Dios y el Diablo, hacen su obra, rige el de- que se contraponen eternamente en el
terminismo. Las almas surgen por sí so- seno del Caos, que es el escenario de su
las, y únicamente su encarnación corporal creación como lo era el Tiempo en el poe-
es el resultado de una rivalidad que solo ma de Guimerà. Su odio mutuo da lugar a
parece consciente para la parte diabólica. una creación paralela, de manera que a
La humanidad es el resultado de su ac- cada producción de Jehovah responde Sa-
ción. Dado el empleo secular del Diablo tán con su opuesta. Finalmente, Jehová
como principio del Mal, claro está el pe- crea el varón y Satán, la mujer. Ambas
simismo del autor. Los animales son crea- creaciones aparecen como seres determi-
ciones del Bien; los seres humanos, de su nados desde su origen por su identidad
contrario, en cuerpo y alma. No cabe, sexual o de género. El masculino es obra
pues, ni siquiera la esperanza gnóstica en de Jehová, el principio de la Fuerza,
la salvación tras dejar atrás la materia, mientras que el femenino lo es de Satán,
porque todo en el hombre tiene un origen el principio de la Astucia. El primero tie-
diabólico, ante la patente indiferencia del ne su expresión literaria en la figura de
Dios. Homero, el cantor del combate y las ma-
También en 1902, vio la luz una cos- tanzas; la mujer la encuentra en Safo, la
mogonía teológica dualista, pero la dialéc- lírica cantora del amor y el erotismo. A
tica entre el Bien y el Mal se ajusta a un esta la describe Vivien con una atractiva
esquema de rivalidad consciente que con- sensualidad que parece sugerir su supe-
trasta con el gnosticismo extremo y pesi- rioridad sobre la violenta virilidad homé-
mista de Guimerà. La británica Renée Vi- rica, en contraste con la superior conside-
vien (Pauline Mary Tarn, 1877-1909) ración literaria de ese mítico poeta varón
escribió en francés, como casi toda su a lo largo de la historia. Así pues, la géne-
obra, «La genèse profane» [La génesis pro- sis de Vivien tiene una dimensión femi-
fana], que figura en el sumario del breve nista que subvierte el canon literario, al
volumen titulado Brumes de fjords [Nie- tiempo que rechaza la doble subordina-
blas de fiordo] (1902)4. Se trata de una re- ción, mítica de la mujer y teológica de Sa-
escritura del mito hebreo de la creación tán, al principio patriarcal representado
que adopta el estilo paralelístico bíblico, por el Dios, de forma que ahora se ven en-
frentados, pero dotados de la misma dig-
—————
nidad y del mismo poder. El extremo ma-
4 La traducción sigue el texto de la prime-
niqueísmo teológico adoptado por Vivien
ra edición: Renée Vivien, «La genèse profane»,
Brumes de fjords, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, tiene su correspondencia en una distin-
1902, pp. 115-118. ción binaria entre el varón y la mujer que

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Nuevas escrituras sobre el Dios y el Diablo:
seis ficciones teológicas dualistas

parece igual de extrema. Afortunadamen- gonista se lamenta de las desgracias que,

te, se vislumbra que la oposición determi- a iniciativa de Satán y previa aprobación
nada por el odio que sienten sus creadores de Yavé, le han arruinado la vida, pero se
respectivos podría encontrar un equilibrio niega a maldecir a su dios y su constancia
entre la fuerza de uno y la caricia de la es premiada al final. En el poema de Graf,
otra, de forma que no fuera necesario es- Mefistófeles opone resistencia a la felici-
coger entre Homero y Safo, sino que se dad que tiene al alcance de la mano. Su
pudiera admirar a uno y a otra por igual. resistencia es lo único que falta para la
Análogamente, como ni Jehová ni Satán consumación de los tiempos, pues todo lo
representan principios morales, no existe demás se ha reabsorbido en una eternidad
contraste entre el Bien y el Mal en esta de beatitud en la dimensión sobrenatural
creación imaginada por Vivien. Su dua- del cielo cristiano. Siguiendo tendencias
lismo representa, en realidad, un equili- teológicas modernas entonces aún minori-
brio de principios incompatibles esen- tarias y hoy muy extendidas, no existe
cialmente, pero éticamente neutros. Su condenación eterna: todos acaban salván-
odio mutuo no da lugar, pues, a creacio- dose y el mismo Diablo, esto es, Mefistófe-
nes buenas o malvadas per se; solo son di- les tiene su lugar reservado en la Eterni-
ferentes y, en el fondo, complementarias. dad, cuya felicidad se entreoye desde
Desde su perspectiva feminista, la autora fuera. Mefistófeles está ahí solo, impi-
enmienda así siglos de maniqueísmo mo- diendo que el cielo y el todo se confundan.
ral y sexual en la especulación teológica, Para atar este último cabo, el Dios, lla-
tradicionalmente patriarcal y temerosa mado significativamente el Eterno, sale a
del Diablo, sin caer por ello ni en la mi- intentar convencerlo. No puede obligarlo
sandria ni en el satanismo. Invertir los a entrar, porque la Eternidad es amor y el
términos de la ecuación no sirve. Vivien amor no obra por la fuerza. Aunque Me-
los anula al igualarlos. fistófeles lo niegue, alberga en sí ese amor
Arturo Graf (1848-1913) dio un paso y, por lo tanto, también puede salvarse.
más en la negación o, al menos, matiza- Lo que le impide entrar no es el mal, que
ción del dualismo en un breve poema ya no existe, sino su temor a una eterni-
dramático toscano en verso de 1913 titu- dad de perfección, aburrida por inmuta-
lado «L’assunzione di Mefistofele» [La ble. Él no puede crear de la nada, pero su
asunción de Mefistófeles] (1913)5. No pa- labor secular ha sido la del crítico que po-
rece que esté escrito para la escena, pues ne objeciones a la creación, que no acepta
el coloquio entre el Dios y Mefistófeles, nada sin cuestionarlo, ejerciendo así su
nombre goethiano que adopta aquí el libertad, y arrastra a otros, acuciándolos
Diablo, parece más bien un diálogo filosó- a no darse tampoco por satisfechos, para
fico en el que se confrontan dos actitudes que imiten a Dios creando a su vez con
contrapuestas. Este diálogo no es metafí- aquello que Este ha puesto a su disposi-
sico, sino existencial, al modo del libro ción en la naturaleza. Ni siquiera podría
hebreo de Job. En este último, su prota- contentarlo la Eternidad utópica absoluta,
alcanzada por todos tras un largo periplo
————— en la dimensión sujeta al tiempo. El
5 El texto de la traducción sigue el de la
Eterno solo consigue su propósito tras
primera edición: Arturo Graf, «L’assunzione di
prometerle que, si así lo deseara Mefistó-
Mefistofele», La morte di Fausto; L’assunzione
di Mefistofele, Roma, Nuova Antologia, 1913, feles, se avendría a crear otro universo en
pp. 13-22. el que este último podría volver a desem-

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Nuevas escrituras sobre el Dios y el Diablo:
seis ficciones teológicas dualistas

peñar su papel de crítico. A su vez, esto todoxo de divinidad como sumo Bien, sin
plantea el interrogante del origen de que ello dé lugar al tradicional mani-
nuestro mundo. ¿Acaso apareció también queísmo moral. Al adoptar una mirada
por petición de Mefistófeles, para que este esencialmente estética, el juicio ético pasa
no se aburriera? O, más bien, para que no a un segundo plano, al igual que ocurría
se aburriera el Eterno mismo, como su- en la génesis dualista y laica de Vivien.
giere su ingenioso interlocutor. La labor La lucha entre el Bien y el Mal ha dejado
creadora aparece como un proceso análogo de ser pertinente. Lo que importa es la
al de la ficción, y Mefistófeles es el crítico creación misma y su cariz.
que la disfruta, pero que también la ana- Esta evolución esteticista de la teofic-
liza y cuestiona. Tal crítica estimula a in- ción convive con visiones de la creación
tentar superarse en la dimensión terrenal que, al igual que en el caso de Guimerà,
y, una vez alcanzada la cima, sirve de aci- siguen planteando la espinosa cuestión de
cate para otros ascensos, en el marco de la responsabilidad divina. Uno de los
un universo cíclico que podría sustituir al acercamientos literarios más interesantes
lineal de la Teología ortodoxa. a esta cuestión es un breve texto del lírico
El original dualismo de Graf atribuye rumano Ion Pillat (1891-1945), que los
al Diablo un cometido de cocreador en la críticos suelen considerar un poema en
práctica. Dios acaba convenciéndolo para prosa, si bien su narratividad esencial y
que acceda a la Eternidad y esta alcance su final sintético y sorpresivo acercan más
su completitud, pero se ha abierto la bien a un género bastante en boga en las
perspectiva de que el Dios acabe también últimas décadas, el microrrelato. Se trata
convencido por Mefistófeles para que la de «Oglinda» [El espejo], que vio la luz en
Eternidad vuelva a ser creadora, negán- la revista Gândirea [El Pensamiento] en
dose a sí misma a través del tiempo y el diciembre de 19226. A diferencia de Gui-
cambio. Así se sugiere, además, que la merà y Vivien, Pillat sigue el esquema de
Eternidad no es tan perfecta como decla- la creación según la mitología hebrea, ya
ran los coros angélicos citados en la obra, que Dios produce el universo en siete
cuyo discurso conformista y beato parece días. Sin embargo, tampoco se puede
dar la razón a Mefistófeles cuando se nie- afirmar que el texto sea una reescritura
ga a entrar por temor a aburrirse. Las mitográfica, porque los demás detalles
condiciones que pone para seguir la reco- son originales y obedecen a un simbolismo
mendación del Dios hacen pensar que el estético y teológico a la vez, del que no es-
dualismo aparentemente superado me- tá ausente el misterio. La creación se rea-
diante la entrada del Diablo en el cielo liza a lo largo de siglos, con lo que la indi-
bien podría continuar allí dentro, de modo cación de los siete días sería simbólica,
que se quebraría de nuevo la Eternidad, pero la vida surge de golpe el domingo del
volviéndola de nuevo fecunda. La ironía divino descanso, que se extiende a lo largo
negadora de Mefistófeles complementa la de generaciones enteras. Estas contradic-
creación y la hace posible, en el pasado y
en el futuro, aunque todo dependa al fin y —————
6 La traducción de abajo se basa en la edi-
al cabo de la suprema libertad que el
ción crítica: Ion Pillat, «Oglinda», Poezii 1906-
amor del Dios como sumo Artífice le reco-
1918, 1, studiu introductiv de Adrian Anghe-
noce a él y a todos los demás. Aunque su
lescu, ediţie îngrijită, tabel cronologic, note,
labor y su obra sean objeto de la ironía tabele sinoptice şi postfaţa de Cornelia Pillat,
mefistofélica, Graf abraza un concepto or- Bucureşti, Eminescu, 1983, p. 454.

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Nuevas escrituras sobre el Dios y el Diablo:
seis ficciones teológicas dualistas

ciones, sin duda voluntarias, sugieren que tamente de la creación. Satán no necesita
todo lo contado se desarrolla en una di- asumir la responsabilidad del Mal, porque
mensión temporal y espacial abstracta, en el espejo indica quién es el verdadero cul-
la que lo esencial no es la lógica de la su- pable. Con todo, Pillat no despeja las du-
cesión, sino el significado de unos sucesos das. Su parábola, como las kafkianas, de-
que, desde el punto de vista de la eterni- ja intacto el misterio. Rara vez ha
dad como dimensión, no están sujetos a alcanzado la teoficción un grado tal de in-
las leyes cronológicas de la narratividad definición sugestiva mediante una escri-
terrenal, a las que sí suele obedecer la fic- tura simbolista radical en un microrrelato
ción mitográfica. En efecto, «Oglinda» se sin apenas parangón en Europa, fuera de
compone de símbolos, no de mitemas. En- los del propio Franz Kafka.
tre ellos, el culminante es el de la sombra El carácter excepcional de «Oglinda» es
diabólica que se levanta ante la luz crea- mayor, si cabe, dentro de la teoficción, cu-
dora divina y le regala un espejo. Este ac- yo carácter especulativo suele hacer de la
to, que se define como el primer y único confrontación de conceptos el motor de la
acto de rebelión de Satán, es profunda- ficción. En el marco de un planteamiento
mente enigmático. Tal vez no hará falta dualista, esto se traduce a menudo en una
que Satán vuelva a enfrentarse con el disposición antitética de la trama, según
Creador, porque su cometido habría ter- un esquema de acción y reacción. Este es-
minado al declararle simbólicamente, quema, que sigue magistralmente aquel
mediante el espejo, que todo lo creado es microrrelato de Pillat, lo siguió de forma
responsabilidad suya, que nada hay que sistemática el brasileño Humberto de
pueda atribuirse a un principio maligno Campos (1886-1934) en un cuento, titula-
ajeno a él: también son obra suya las pa- do «Os dois inventos» [Los dos inventos] y
siones humanas que se estrellan en su recogido en Lagartas e libélulas [Lagartas
trono, causando sufrimiento y muerte. O y libélulas] (1933)7. Los dos inventos del
quizá la imagen que ve reflejada el Dios título se revelan al final como la culmina-
en el espejo es tan insoportable que la ción de una rivalidad entre dos creadores-
primera rebelión es la última, porque tal artistas en una época mítica de nuestro
acto es la razón del triunfo definitivo de mundo, cuando lo poblaban grandes enti-
Satán, que ha anulado de esta manera al dades divinas. Esta ambientación es más
Dios. Esta y otras posibles respuestas son bien épico-fantástica, pues es análoga al
igualmente plausibles a la hora de encon- ambiente en que se mueven entes pareci-
trar un sentido a este breve y denso rela- dos en las construcciones mitopoéticas de
to, en el que la exuberancia retórica no di- Lord Dunsany o J. R. R. Tolkien, pero
luye la sugestión, sino que la intensifica. Campos no desarrolla un panteón que pu-
Por ejemplo, Pillat retuerce el orden sin- diera dar lugar a aventuras teomáquicas.
táctico en la última frase para que el es- Se centra en un único par de dioses em-
pejo aparezca como la última palabra del peñados en superarse el uno al otro por la
texto, de modo que tal objeto asuma un originalidad de sus creaciones, siguiendo
protagonismo presencial que se impone,
sustituyéndolo, al del propio Creador.
—————
7 La traducción castellana de este cuento
Como símbolo, el espejo es polisémico, pe-
se basa en la edición siguiente: Humberto de
ro nos inclinamos a creer que significa la
Campos, «Os dois inventos», Lagartas e libélu-
demostración suprema de la relación de las, Rio de Janeiro – São Paulo – Porto Alegre,
identidad entre Dios y sus actos, y concre- W. M. Jackson Inc., 1954, pp. 43-48.

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Nuevas escrituras sobre el Dios y el Diablo:
seis ficciones teológicas dualistas

criterios estéticos aún más marcados que encontrarse al mismo nivel que el Amor o
el par creador de Vivien, por ejemplo. el Bien, sugerirían más bien un equilibrio.
Aunque Campos evita el maniqueísmo Ente más inventivo, el Diablo crea otra
moral apriorístico, la relación entre am- cosa con mucha mayor potencia destructi-
bos tiende, en mayor medida que en «La va y ante la que el amor y la concordia
Genèse profane», a la explotación de las nunca han podido hacer gran cosa, como
connotaciones positivas o negativas de las demuestra la historia pasada, presente y,
realidades naturales desde el punto de es de temer, futura, al menos hasta que se
vista de los humanos, de manera que uno haga realidad el voto borgiano de que al-
de los creadores prefiere hacer surgir se- gún día merezcamos no tener gobiernos.
res y cosas que solemos ver como positi- Aunque el narrador no lo afirma expre-
vas, como las abejas, mientras que el otro samente, no parece que el Dios sea el ga-
opone a estas creaciones otras que sole- nador en esta contienda artística. Tampo-
mos considerar negativas, como las mos- co parece que su triunfo haya tenido ni
cas. Esta dinámica abarca toda clase de pueda tener consecuencias positivas, a di-
fenómenos, plantas y animales, en un ferencia de lo que ocurre en la rivalidad
proceso que la pericia estilística del autor presentada por Vivien, en la que la mujer
libra de la mera enumeración gracias a la es también una creación satánica, pero
variedad de las imágenes y al ritmo de su que sirve para concebir optimísticamente
prosa. un nuevo equilibrio. Campos abraza una
El curso de las creaciones no procede teología pesimista acorde con nuestro
en un orden ascendente, pero su acumu- mundo natural y social, que poco tiene de
lación misma en pares de equivalente va- paradisíaco.
lor exacerba la rivalidad entre los artífi- Este dualismo pesimista no predomina
ces hasta que ambos, por separado, únicamente entre autores laicos dudosos
conciben sendas creaciones supremas que del triunfo del Dios. Aunque no se atreva a
les den la victoria ante el jurado de las extender la victoria de Satán a todo el uni-
propias criaturas, hombres y dioses me- verso, el pastor protestante y máximo es-
nores. En primer lugar, la expresiva des- critor surselvano Gian Fontana (1897-
cripción del prodigio sugiere la plenitud 1935) dibuja en «Buntad» [Bondad]8 un
del primer invento, cuyos efectos beatífi- panorama en que el Diablo consigue en-
cos se extienden a todo el planeta. Poco mendar la plana al Dios hasta el punto de
después, el otro creador desvela el suyo, que el poder divino queda fuertemente li-
cuya violencia da lugar a la matanza, el mitado en la Tierra. La elección del género
asesinato y, en suma, a una situación te- del poema en prosa para presentar ficcio-
rrenal que hace huir a los propios dioses, nalmente una hipótesis pesimista sobre la
incluidos tal vez los dos creadores, dejan- relación entre la divinidad suprema del
do la Tierra tal y como la vemos poblada cristianismo y su oponente satánico parece
hoy. Así acaba el proceso creativo de los desempeñar la función de particularizar
dos entes supremos, cuya identidad teoló- esa relación en el seno de un individuo, con
gica revela el último párrafo, a la vez que un enfoque aparentemente lírico. Se trata-
el nombre de sus dos inventos: el positivo,
—————
que es el Amor, y el negativo, que es su 8 La traducción se basa en la edición si-
contrario y que los sagaces lectores po-
guiente: Gian Fontana, «Buntad», Poesias;
drán fácilmente adivinar. No se trata ni Dramas; Novellas; Skizzas, Cuera, Union Ro-
del Odio ni del Mal, conceptos que, por montscha Renana, 1971, pp. 433-434.

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seis ficciones teológicas dualistas

ría de limitar la lucha entre el Bien y el das, por lo que no es de extrañar que Fon-
Mal a una única conciencia humana repre- tana no se atreviera a publicar en vida este
sentativa, la cual elige libremente no coger poema en prosa en una comarca que en-
la simbólica flor de la bondad cuando esta tonces era profundamente religiosa al mo-
se le ofrece. Sin embargo, la peripecia del do tradicional, a lo que hay que añadir que
yo lírico innominado adquiere un valor tanto el género discursivo de «Buntad» co-
universal más allá del ejemplo personal de mo su escritura de aire simbolista eran ar-
una frustrada aventura amorosa que se tísticamente inusitadas en su tiempo y cul-
narra a modo de botón de muestra. La tura nacionales. Seguramente por todo
bondad se presenta como una flor que cla- ello, solo se publicaría en 1971, muchos
ma sin que nadie la escuche ni la coja, años después de la muerte del autor, en la
pues el protagonista no hace más que lo colección de sus Ovras [Obras], aunque sin
que hacen todos los demás seres humanos, mención paratextual alguna que nos in-
lo que sugiere una predestinación negativa forme del momento y las circunstancias de
de toda la humanidad que exacerba la po- la escritura de un texto que puede conside-
sición calvinista. Este comportamiento rarse sintomático de la amplia difusión
confirma lo que al principio del poema se moderna de la idea de impotencia o incluso
había dado a entender mediante una pará- «muerte del Dios», al menos entre los escri-
bola teoficticia que aporta su mayor conte- tores influidos por los movimientos estéti-
nido ficcional al poema. Según la misma, el cos e intelectuales, decadentes en sentido
Dios habría mandado desde su Eternidad a lato, desde la segunda mitad del siglo XIX.
la Tierra la semilla de una planta para que Esta atmósfera, en la que se desarrolló la
la llenase de alegría y color. La bondad fantasía zaratustriana y antiteológica de
brotó y creció así, pero el Diablo arrojó su Friedrich Nietzsche, favoreció la eclosión
propia simiente y esta creció de manera de teoficciones como especulaciones teoló-
más rápida y vigorosa, envolviendo a la gicas originales, en general heréticas, in-
bondad e impidiéndole florecer. Con ello se cluso entre escritores creyentes, bajo el
sugiere que una creación diabólica tiene manto protector de la literatura. Siempre
más fuerza que la divina, al menos en la cabría aducir que esto no es Teología, sino
Tierra, objeto de la atención distraída y arte, tal y como demuestra el exquisito
ocasional del Dios por ser simplemente uno cuidado literario que presentan los ejem-
más, y no el principal, de los numerosos plos teoficticios considerados. Sin embargo,
mundos del universo. Esta concepción teo- no es menos cierto que las ideas expuestas
lógica va más allá incluso del pesimismo o sugeridas por medios literarios demues-
gnóstico, pues Fontana no ofrece esperan- tran que la Teología puede inspirar espe-
za alguna de que la bondad pueda cumplir culaciones al menos tan atrevidas y apa-
algún día su destino fijado. Seguirá atra- sionantes como las ciencias que aportan
pada por la cizaña en el corazón de los las premisas en que se basan otros tipos
hombres. Esta idea se opone esencialmente más reconocidos de ficción de la «imagina-
a las enseñanzas cristianas más arraiga- ción razonada».

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 Àngel Guimerà

Creación

Si en el horno sopla el Tiempo, en el yun- nos des vida? ¡Haznos regresar a la nada!
que es Dios quien forja; forma mundos a ¡Dios, escúchanos!
mazazos; nunca descansa. Y Dios, que las escucha mientras con-
Salta el fuego chisporroteando, y las tinúa su obra, las transforma en peces,
chispas son todas almas que van naciendo bestias y pájaros.
y a Dios se vuelven. Pero el Diablo, callado, se pone detrás
Ellas le dicen: de él y, tomándole las que puede, las con-
—Señor, ¿qué te hemos hecho para que vierte en hombres.

REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen 7, n.º 1 187  PRIMAVERA-VERANO 2021

 Renée Vivien

La génesis profana

I. — Antes del nacimiento del Universo XVI. — Satán les enseñó la sutileza
existían dos principios eternos, Jehová y aguda de la caricia.
Satán. XVII. — Jehová formó con su aliento el
II. — Jehová encarnaba la Fuerza; Sa- alma de un Poeta.
tán, la Astucia. XVIII. — Él inspiró al Aedo de Jonia, al
III. — Ahora bien, los dos grandes potente Homero.
principios se profesaban un odio profundo. XIX. — Homero celebró la magnificen-
IV. — En aquel tiempo reinaba el Caos. cia de la matanza y la gloria de la sangre
V. — Dijo Jehová: «Haya luz», y hubo luz. vertida, la ruina de las ciudades, los sollo-
VI. — Y Satán creó el misterio de la zos de las viudas, las llamas devastado-
noche. ras, el centelleo de las espadas y el choque
VII. — Jehová sopló sobre la inmensi- de los combates.
dad y su aliento hizo nacer el Cielo. XX. — Satán se inclinó, hacia poniente,
VIII. — Satán cubrió el implacable fir- sobre el reposo de Safo, la de Lesbos.
mamento con la gracia huidiza de las nu- XXI. — Y ella cantó las formas fugiti-
bes. vas del amor, las palideces y los éxtasis, el
IX. — De las manos laboriosas de magnífico desenrollamiento de las cabe-
Jehová surgió la primavera. lleras, el ardiente perfume de las rosas, el
X. — Satán soñó la melancolía del otoño. arcoíris, trono de Afrodita, la amargura y
XI. — Jehová concibió las formas ro- la dulzura de Eros, las danzas sagradas
bustas o esbeltas de los animales. de las mujeres de Creta en torno al altar
XII. — Bajo la furtiva sonrisa de Satán iluminado por las estrellas, el sueño soli-
brotaron las flores. tario mientras se hunden en la noche la
XIII. — Jehová modeló el barro. Y del luna y las Pléyades, el inmortal orgullo
barro hizo el hombre. que desprecia el dolor y sonríe en la
XIV. — De la esencia misma de esta muerte, y el encanto de los besos femeni-
carne floreció, idealizada, la carne de la nos al ritmo del flujo apagado del mar que
Mujer, obra de Satán. expira bajo los muros voluptuosos de Miti-
XV. — Jehová doblegó al hombre y a la lene.
mujer bajo la violencia y la opresión.

REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen 7, n.º 1 188  PRIMAVERA-VERANO 2021

 Arturo Graf

La asunción de Mefistófeles

Ha concluido la historia del género hu- Eterno. Más de una vez en el pasado se
mano. Se han cumplido los tiempos. Lo dignó el Padre Eterno conversar conmigo.
que antes se llamaba el mundo ya no exis- VOZ DE DENTRO.—Transmitiré el men-
te. Cuantos vivieron la vida terrena, tanto saje.
los réprobos como los santos, quienes espe- MEFISTÓFELES.—Si no molesto. Ah, es-
raron y quienes desesperaron, todos ellos te vacío, este infame vacío en el que ya no
han sido acogidos, tras las pruebas y cas- hay nada que hacer ni que deshacer, y
tigos, en la paz y el gozo de los cielos. El (aparte de esta puerta, esta prohibida,
único y último que queda aún fuera es Me- abierta de par en par, ilógica, pleonástica
fistófeles, que aparece erguido sobre una puerta metafórica) tampoco nada que ver.
nube, delante de la puerta abierta de par ¡Uh, qué desdicha! (Bosteza con fuerza.)
en par, de la que irrumpe un torrente de ¡Perdón! Alguien se acerca.
luz y fluye dulzura inefable de espirituales EL ETERNO (sin mostrarse).—¿Otra vez
armonías. aquí?
MEFISTÓFELES.—Señor, os saludo.
CORO DE VOCES ANGÉLICAS.—¡Oh, mar EL ETERNO.—La paz sea contigo.
sin orillas, mar de vida! Quien vivió revi- MEFISTÓFELES.—Tengo hasta dema-
ve en la onda infinita. Redimido, el in- siada. O sea, como tengo demasiada, no la
fierno se elevó a la paz; desaparecido lo tengo en absoluto. Tal vez me explico mal.
fugaz, triunfa lo eterno. EL ETERNO.—¿Quieres hablarme?
MEFISTÓFELES.—¡Bien, de verdad! MEFISTÓFELES.—Si place a vuestra
Buenas voces. Buena música. Seguro… bondad.
Todos juntos… Aunque algo vieja. Si no, EL ETERNO.—Pues háblame.
buena. En lo que toca a la letra… Parece MEFISTÓFELES.—Hace mucho tiempo
que están todos muy contentos allí dentro. que dejé de oír vuestra voz.
En cambio, yo, suspendido en el vacío, en EL ETERNO.—Ahora la oyes.
este vacío absurdo, estúpido, ruin e in- MEFISTÓFELES.—¡Gracias!
terminable, yo aquí me aburro muy terri- EL ETERNO.—¿Qué deseas decirme?
blemente, muy vulgarmente… (Bosteza MEFISTÓFELES.—Esa es la cosa.
con fuerza.) ¡Perdón! Puesto que donde ya Pues… ¡que me aburro…!
no hay nada… (Estornuda.) ¡Salud! — EL ETERNO.—¿Te aburres? ¿Por qué?
Hace un poco de frío en estas alturas. MEFISTÓFELES.—Ese vacío…
VOZ DE DENTRO.—¿Quién está delante EL ETERNO.—Tú antes censurabas lo
de esa puerta? lleno; ahora repruebas lo vacío. Nunca es-
MEFISTÓFELES.—¡El único que sigue tás satisfecho.
fuera! MEFISTÓFELES.—Y, ¿cómo podría es-
VOZ DE DENTRO.—¿Qué buscas? tarlo si lo vacío es peor (perdonad) que lo
MEFISTÓFELES.—¿Yo? Nada. ¿Y qué lleno? Si la Naturaleza odia el vacío,
podría buscar en la nada? Voy así zanga- ¡cuánto no lo hará más el espíritu…!
neando sin objeto, entre los que fueron EL ETERNO.—¿Crees que hay vacío?
antaño los cuatro puntos cardinales. MEFISTÓFELES.—Yo, ya sabéis, no
Bien… ¡Claro!... Me gustaría, si fuera po- puedo estar mano sobre mano. Detesto el
sible, parlotear un poco con el Padre ocio. Siempre necesito correr, atarearme,

REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen 7, n.º 1 189  PRIMAVERA-VERANO 2021

RECUPERADOS

Nuevas escrituras sobre el Dios y el Diablo:
seis ficciones teológicas dualistas

entrar, salir, poner, quitar, revolver, en EL ETERNO.—Se podría pensar.

suma, hacer algo. MEFISTÓFELES.—Bueno… Pero, mien-
EL ETERNO.—Pues hazlo. tras tanto, me siento demasiado solo…
MEFISTÓFELES.—¿Qué debo hacer si ya desocupado…
no hay mundo? EL ETERNO.—Y, ¿por qué no vienes con
EL ETERNO.—¿Lo has deshecho tú? nosotros? ¡Tienes la puerta delante!
MEFISTÓFELES.—¡Eh, no, yo no! Más MEFISTÓFELES.—Es verdad. La tengo
bien lo habéis reabsorbido vos. delante, pero es la misma puerta de la
EL ETERNO.—¿Y no te place? Siempre que me echaron hace, como poco, cinco o
decías que el mundo era feo, que el mundo seis mil siglos.
era malo y sin sentido. EL ETERNO.—Echado, no.
MEFISTÓFELES.—Pero era divertido al MEFISTÓFELES.—¿No?
fin y al cabo, y daba trabajo a quien tuvie- EL ETERNO.—Tú solo te fuiste.
se ganas. MEFISTÓFELES.—¡Ah, mira! Quizá me
EL ETERNO.—¿Lo añoras? falla la memoria. Tantos sucesos y tras-
MEFISTÓFELES.—Me aburro. tornos, y tanto tiempo… Se confunde uno.
EL ETERNO.—¿No te bastas a ti mismo? Bueno. Y ahora, ¿qué se hace ahí dentro?
MEFISTÓFELES.—Sí… No… Me basto y EL ETERNO.—Ven y verás.
no me basto. ¿U os bastabais a vos mismo CORO DE VOCES ANGÉLICAS.—Aplacadas
quizá cuando (supongo), cansado de estar las rivalidades, compuestas las disensiones,
solo, os pusisteis a crear el mundo? aparece el término de la justa compensa-
EL ETERNO.—Bueno. ción. Sobre el falso error, sobre el loco pe-
MEFISTÓFELES.—Perdonad si hablo cado triunfa el Amor, deleitoso deleite.
con alguna libertad. MEFISTÓFELES (entre amostazado e
EL ETERNO.—Habla como te parezca. irónico).—¡El Amor! ¡Ya! ¡Siempre el
MEFISTÓFELES.—Pues que me aburro. Amor! El problema es que no puedo amar.
EL ETERNO.—Mal. EL ETERNO.—No te calumnies. Quien,
MEFISTÓFELES.—Me aburro mucho. deseoso de crear, se aflige por no poder
EL ETERNO.—Y tú, ¿por qué no creas hacerlo esconde en su seno la semilla del
otro mundo? amor, ya ama.
MEFISTÓFELES.—Ahí es donde duele. MEFISTÓFELES.—Pensamiento digno
Yo puedo imaginar mundos infinitos, do- de vos. Sin embargo…
tarlos idealmente de todos los bienes, fin- EL ETERNO.—¿Qué quieres decir?
giendo todo en mi pensamiento; también MEFISTÓFELES.—Nada. No importa.
soy capaz de hacer y deshacer no pocas EL ETERNO.—¿Te acuerdas de Marga-
cosas, y aún más de moverlas, en los rita?
mundos que ya existen, pero no podría MEFISTÓFELES.—¿Margarita? ¿Cuál?
crear ni uno solo. Ha habido tantas. Una en cada casa. De
EL ETERNO.—Sin embargo, la nube verdad, no sabría…
que te sostiene es creación tuya. EL ETERNO.—La de Fausto.
MEFISTÓFELES.—Justamente. Esta MEFISTÓFELES.—¿Aquella? ¡Ah, sí!
nube… Una nube. EL ETERNO.—Y que un día sentiste
EL ETERNO.—Algo es. piedad de ella.
MEFISTÓFELES.—No soy quién para MEFISTÓFELES.—Nada se os oculta. Es
meterme en vuestra cabeza, pero ¿no po- verdad, pero fue por breve tiempo, mejor
dría ser que desearais aún crear algo? dicho, tan solo por un fugaz instante.

REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen 7, n.º 1 190  PRIMAVERA-VERANO 2021

RECUPERADOS

Nuevas escrituras sobre el Dios y el Diablo:
seis ficciones teológicas dualistas

EL ETERNO.—No importa. En ese día, EL ETERNO.—Si te entra en gana.

en esa hora, en ese instante, tú amaste. ¿Crees que me desagradan las críticas?
MEFISTÓFELES.—Ella me odiaba, y se- También me rinden servicio.
guro que me odia todavía. MEFISTÓFELES.—¿Expresar mi opinión
EL ETERNO.—No te odia, más bien con- con libertad?
fía en volverte a ver. EL ETERNO.—Seguro.
MEFISTÓFELES.—¿Volverme a ver?... MEFISTÓFELES.—¿Quedarme, ir, venir?
¿Y Fausto? EL ETERNO.—A tu gusto.
EL ETERNO.—Siempre pregunta por ti. MEFISTÓFELES.—Sois un gran tentador
Dice que aprendió mucho en tu escuela, y y casi, casi… ¿Pero si, digamos, quisiera
cuenta todas las atrevidas buenas obras irme otra vez?
llevadas a cabo con tu guía o tu favor. EL ETERNO.—Te irás.
MEFISTÓFELES.—¡Gran hombre de MEFISTÓFELES.—¿También con otros
bien, ese Fausto! ¡Un hombre completo! Y si, supongamos, quisieran seguirme?
puedo decir que yo también aprendí bas- EL ETERNO.—También con otros si
tantes cosas tratándolo. Quise hacerlo quieren seguirte.
condenar, pero cuando se me escapó por MEFISTÓFELES (tras un breve silen-
fin de las manos, me alegré. cio).—¿No seré prisionero, pase lo que pa-
EL ETERNO.—¿Qué te decía? También se?
entonces amaste. Y amas ahora cuando EL ETERNO.—No hay prisión.
hablas así. MEFISTÓFELES (como antes).—¿No se
MEFISTÓFELES.—Me sorprendo a mí cerrará esta puerta detrás de mis pasos?
mismo. EL ETERNO.—No se cerrará puerta al-
EL ETERNO.—No puedo el espíritu no guna detrás de tus pasos.
amar, aunque varíen el objeto y el modo. MEFISTÓFELES (tras un silencio algo
MEFISTÓFELES.—Sois un gran psicólo- más largo).—¿Y si luego, pongamos por
go. caso, desearais crear un nuevo mundo?
EL ETERNO.—Hay otros muchos que EL ETERNO.—Crítico eterno, te llama-
esperan verte. Todos incluso. ría a formar parte de mi plan.
MEFISTÓFELES.—Me honran demasia- (Silencio. Mefistófeles que, durante las
do. Y casi estoy tentado… Pero si luego… últimas réplicas, se había mostrado más
EL ETERNO.—Si luego, ¿qué? turbado e indeciso que antes, da un paso;
MEFISTÓFELES.—Si también me abu- se detiene; da nuevos pasos; se detiene en
rro ahí. el umbral; se vuelve; se encoge de hom-
EL ETERNO.—¡Y dale! Un bello espíritu bros; entra).
como el tuyo no se debe aburrir. CORO DE VOCES ANGÉLICAS.—En el
MEFISTÓFELES.—Si puedo entretener- vasto torbellino de la única esencia se
me con vos sin ceremonias, no me aburro aquietan las disputas, se desvanecen los
seguro. pareceres. Incólume y puro, quien vivió
EL ETERNO.—¡Por fin! revive en el mar sin orillas, en el mar sin
MEFISTÓFELES.—¿Y podré criticar? fondo.

REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen 7, n.º 1 191  PRIMAVERA-VERANO 2021

 Ion Pillat

El espejo

Y volaron miles de siglos como vuelan los raciones inacabables, arrollándolas y

instantes y, el séptimo día, el Señor des- aplastándolas en espuma de pasiones con-
cansó satisfecho, porque la mente eterna tra el trono de plata de la divinidad.
había creado los mundos y el ser humano. Entonces, como una sombra gigantesca
El cielo se agitó, los mares se estreme- en la luz de la mañana dominical, desa-
cieron, el barro retembló y la vida, de re- fiando por primera y última vez a Dios,
pente y en todas partes, siempre vencida Satán surgió triunfante, en la mano el es-
y triunfante, estalló, empujando sus gene- pejo.

REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen 7, n.º 1 192  PRIMAVERA-VERANO 2021

 Humberto de Campos

Los dos inventos

En una época remota del mundo, cuando formándose, de desierto donde vivían sin
la tierra aún permanecía bajo el dominio gusto los dioses, en vasto depósito de arte,
exclusivo de grandes entidades, que se- con sus plantas, sus flores, sus insectos,
rían los dioses de los hombres, había en- sus reptiles, con las fieras que rugen en
tre ellas dos artistas que se disputaban la las selvas y los peces que centellean en las
admiración universal por lo maravilloso olas. Si uno recortaba el pétalo y, ajus-
de las obras que concebían. Igual que hoy, tándolo, hacía la rosa, el otro tomaba uno
entre los mortales, hay concursos de pin- de los pétalos y, soplándolo al aire, hacía
tura, de escultura, de literatura, para la mariposa. Cuando el primero inventó
comprobar quién pinta el cuadro más per- las piedras preciosas, el otro cogió un pu-
fecto, esculpe la estatua más armoniosa o ñado de esas piedras de colores, las mez-
escribe el más hermoso poema, procura- cló e hizo el colibrí. Cuando uno inventó el
ban aquellos poderosos señores de la vida Hombre, el otro, al día siguiente, lo venció
primitiva imponerse mediante creaciones modelando la Mujer. Para destruir la glo-
concretas o abstractas que se convirtie- ria de quien inventó el fuego, inventó el
ran, tras desaparecer ellos, en el encanto otro el agua, que lo domina. Y apenas ha-
o el tormento de la Humanidad. Si uno de bía inventado uno el río con su corriente
esos gigantes, fundiendo la plata, cincela- mansa y suave, el otro ideó el océano de
ba un disco y, lanzándolo al cielo inmenso, aguas inmensas, que el primero, lanzando
ofrecía a los compañeros la gracia de la la sal, devaluó y corrompió. Y el mundo se
luna llena, otro acudía presuroso y, amon- iba llenando de cosas nuevas, que los dio-
tonando el oro y fabricando con él un glo- ses iban recogiendo y repartiendo. El día
bo enorme y arrojándolo a lo alto, eclipsa- en que uno inventó el ensueño para el
ba la gloria del primero con el espectáculo sueño, el otro, el rival, lo perfeccionó e hi-
radiante del sol. zo la imaginación, para los despiertos.
En esto había dos creadores que procu- Poco a poco, esta emulación iba ador-
raban permanentemente superarse el uno nando el mundo, poblándolo de cosas
al otro mediante la maravilla de sus in- buenas y malas. Y las cosas recién crea-
venciones. Si uno modelaba la palmera, das se animaban, participando en el entu-
esbelta y larga, y le abría en la cima el siasmo universal por la victoria de uno u
puñado alegre de las palmas verdes, el otro de los contendientes. Los vientos au-
otro, no menos imaginativo, fabricaba el llaban o cantaban abrazándose a las fron-
espino, todo lleno de pequeños alfileres, das y bailando con ellas en medio de los
en medio de los cuales se abría una flor campos. Y los árboles, asaltados por ellos,
blanca, que moría perfumando la noche, los repelían, moviendo los brazos vestidos
porque nadie la podía coger. Cuando uno de follaje, como ninfas atrapadas por los
inventaba la abeja y la llenaba de miel, el sátiros que desgarraran el velo en su an-
otro lanzaba al aire un puñado de moscas, sia por librarse de aquellas caricias locas.
que poblaban el silencio con sus zumbidos Sin embargo, las rivalidades son semi-
y en cuyas alas diminutas había reprodu- lla de enemistades. Un buen día, uno de
cido, en un milagro de miniatura, todos los artistas geniales empezó a sentir den-
los colores del arcoíris. Y la tierra se iba tro de sí mismo el odio, la rebelión, el des-
llenando y poblando de ese modo, trans- pecho de los vencidos. Alma envenenada,

REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen 7, n.º 1 193  PRIMAVERA-VERANO 2021

RECUPERADOS

Nuevas escrituras sobre el Dios y el Diablo:
seis ficciones teológicas dualistas

imaginó, en el silencio del corazón herido, embriagada, comprendiendo la luz del sol y
que arrojaba al mundo una creación nue- la alegría de la vida.
va que, por lo imprevisto de su finalidad, La tarde que sucedió a aquella en que
alarmara a los dioses y, al indisponer a uno de los genios rivales lanzó al mundo
los concurrentes, pusiera término de una su nueva creación, el otro surgió en el otro
vez a la contienda inacabable. Mientras extremo de la tierra, con su invento co-
tanto, el otro imaginaba una invención rrespondiente. Y, enseguida, todo cambió
igualmente asombrosa, pero que, al ser en el planeta alarmado. Dioses, hombres
ofrecida a la admiración y el gozo de los y cosas sintieron repentinamente que
hombres, fuera motivo de una gran fiesta acaba de ocurrir alguna desgracia que po-
en toda la tierra. Y ambos se pusieron a nía en peligro el destino del universo. Los
componer y perfeccionar su creación. lobos, que dormían en los rediles al lado
Una tarde, finalmente, los hombres, los de los rebaños, devoraron las primeras
dioses y las fieras notaron de súbito, en el ovejas. Los milanos se lanzaron contra las
espacio, una emanación nueva, un efluvio tórtolas que arrullaban enamoradas cerca
celeste, algo imponderable, que era como de los primeros nidos y huyeron con ellas
un vino que embriagase el alma. Al perci- en las garras ensangrentadas. Los leones
birlo, los gigantes primitivos y los hom- afilaron los dientes y no hubo animal
bres, hijos de los dioses, y las fieras de los fuerte que, experimentando su fuerza, no
bosques, y las aves del cielo, se quedaron se lanzase contra el más débil. Los dioses,
atónitos, como si acabara de producirse un inquietos, cogieron las alas olvidadas y
prodigio que los hubiera cambiado de re- abandonaron la tierra. Y fue entonces
pente. La primera ave subió a una rama y cuando el hombre, crujiendo los dientes y
gorjeó. Los jaguares, saliendo a la boca de recogiendo del suelo el primer trozo de
las cuevas, sintieron la dulzura de la noche pedernal, marchó contra otro hombre y,
de luna y soltaron el primer rugido conmo- sin que le temblaran los dedos, hundió la
vido, llamando a las compañeras distantes. primera hoja en el pecho de su hermano.
La primera mujer sintió la primera lágri- Terminaba la lucha entre los dos in-
ma sin motivo y, en la rosa de la boca, el ventores y, con ella, la tarea de la Crea-
perfume del primer beso sin dueño. Los ción. Dios había creado el Amor. Y el Dia-
vientos sacudían las frondas verdes y no blo, para inutilizarle la obra, había
había mariposa alguna que no se levantase inventado la Política.

REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen 7, n.º 1 194  PRIMAVERA-VERANO 2021

 Gian Fontana

Bondad

En lo alto de la montaña desnuda estaba En ese momento va el maligno por su

el Señor y dejaba volar su mirada por lo camino. Ve la flor en su creyente esperan-
eterno. Los mundos seguían su órbita en za y ríe de forma diabólica. Arroja su si-
torno a él, cada uno por su camino. Y en miente sobre el campo y esta crece con
medio rodaba la pequeña Tierra, intimi- fuerza ardiente, se enrosca en la bondad y
dada por las potencias gigantescas del es- absorbe la fuerza de su meollo. Las yemas
píritu universal. Estaba vacía, desnudas y suspiran y no pueden abrirse, y la cizaña
frías sus costas. Entonces llama el Señor triunfa.
a su servidor y dice con voz llena de mise- ¡Bondad! Una tarde fui a los campos.
ricordia: Una hermosa muchacha me acompañaba.
—Es triste allá abajo. Me ha quedado Ella habla con tanta dulzura y yo le en-
aún la semilla de una flor. Cógela, baja y trego mi fe y confianza, y mi corazón, que
siémbrala, y bendice el suelo para que la tiembla de alegría, porque es tan guapa y
flor crezca y se multiplique. Cuídala bien, buena. La bondad me acompaña, pobre
porque es la bondad que debe hacer que peregrino. Y cuando le he entregado todo,
unos se ayuden a otros con mirada risue- todo mi interior, ella ríe y vuelve.
ña, para que las horas penosas se vuelvan Era tarde por la noche; caminaba de-
radiantes. Es la bondad la que debe hacer primido, triste y con ideas de desespera-
florecer cada rincón en el viento primave- ción bajo el aire pesado y penoso. Enton-
ral, la que debe hacer sentir alegría y be- ces observé, en el musgo bajo la nieve,
lleza a cada corazón, para que la tierra y una discreta florecilla con un delicado
la vida sean mi casa. perfume que dice:
Y el ángel va. El Todopoderoso lanza —Quiero estar contigo, cógeme antes
luz beatífica sobre las cumbres y las lla- de que me marchite también; cógeme,
nuras. porque es de noche y no hay nadie que
Y de la semilla brota una fina planta y mire.
crece hacia el sol. Ya se desarrollan las Llora y pide ayuda y bondad también
yemas, pronto se abren y la flor misterio- por mi parte.
sa bendice y alegra la tierra con su per- Pero pasé de largo como todos los hom-
fume. bres y nunca más he hallado la bondad.

REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen 7, n.º 1 195  PRIMAVERA-VERANO 2021

 Hélice
Reexiones críticas sobre cción especulativa
Volumen 7, n.º 1 · Primavera-Verano 2021

Miscelánea
Jonathan Hay
Reflexiones
Sara Martín Alegre

Hélice 30 Primavera-Verano 2021

Francisco Collado-Rodríguez
Beatriz Domínguez-García
Lidia María Cuadrado Payeras
Rocío Carrasco Carrasco
Amaya Fernández Menicucci
Hélice: Reexiones Críticas sobre Ficción Especulativa
Mónica Calvo Pascual
[Link]
Crítica
ISSN: 1887-2905 Mariano Martín Rodríguez
Recuperados
Federico de Castro
Salvador Rueda
Ion Heliade-Rădulescu
Pietro Gori
Guerau de Liost
Ippolito Nievo
Antônio Gomes Neto
Anatole France
Arturo Graf
Auguste Angellier
Alexandru Petroff
António Feijó
Àngel Guimerà
Renée Vivien
Arturo Graf
Ion Pillat
Humberto de Campos
Gian Fontana