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Chapter 19 - Posthuman Cities

from Theory in the City

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2021

Kevin R. McNamara
Affiliation:
University of Houston-Clear Lake
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Summary

This chapter considers the idea of a posthuman city and its representation in American literature. Surveying posthumanism as a field of inquiry emerging from animal studies, which considers the blurring of species-based definitions of “human,” and cybernetics, which figures human agency as constituted by technological adjuncts, the chapter also traces the growing body of inquiry into urban life from these perspectives. Tracing the discourse of the smart city and earlier projects such as archologies and megastructures in experimental architecture, the chapter considers science fiction as a site for critiquing the social control nascent in smart cities by instead imagining intelligent cities. The chapter considers Ann Leckie’s Imperial Radch trilogy (Ancillary Justice (2013); Ancillary Sword (2014); Ancillary Mercy (2015)) as emblematic of this critique and as a model for imagining cities that embody emotional intelligence in addition to standard sensing practices more widely associated with smart cities. Leckie uses a truly posthuman city to challenge how human agency is figured in architecture and urban planning.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Posthuman Cities
  • Edited by Kevin R. McNamara, University of Houston-Clear Lake
  • Book: The City in American Literature and Culture
  • Online publication: 06 August 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108895262.020
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  • Posthuman Cities
  • Edited by Kevin R. McNamara, University of Houston-Clear Lake
  • Book: The City in American Literature and Culture
  • Online publication: 06 August 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108895262.020
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Posthuman Cities
  • Edited by Kevin R. McNamara, University of Houston-Clear Lake
  • Book: The City in American Literature and Culture
  • Online publication: 06 August 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108895262.020
Available formats
×