Abstract
H. G. Wells’ novel The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896) is a bleak critique of the Victorian notion that evolution can provide ethical or social guidance to humanity. This essay reads the novel in the context of the contemporary debate between posthumanism and transhumanism. By applying theoretical models derived from Braidotti, Agamben, Wolfe and others, the essay argues that Wells’ evolutionary antihumanism provides a corrective to both critical posthumanism’s attempts to articulate a non-anthropocentric ethics, and to transhumanism’s dreams of transcending humanity. The essay considers the chronotope of an island polity in the context of evolutionary antihumanism by comparing Wells’ novel with the contemporary biotech thriller Island 731 (2013) by Jeremy Robinson.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 219-232 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Journal of Posthumanism |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 31 Oct 2023 |
Keywords
- Antihumanism
- H. G. Wells
- Victorian culture
- evolutionary ethics
- pain
- science fiction