«how children’s fiction presents child readers alternative ways of imagining interconnectedness between human and the machine» en «The Case of Thinking Machines» de Shubneet Kaur Kharbanda
por Juan Pablo Anaya
«Technological innovations in medical science, social media biotechnology, life extensions that fuse biology and technology have led to an unprecedented degree of intimacy and dependence between flesh and machine. Also, Ning De-Eknamkul points out that ‘The changing relationship between man and machine defines the thinking machine’ (2016: 60). This change in relationship is also manifest in fiction for children as the selected texts provide scope to deal with the ideas of thinking machines – a type of mechanical device thought to be capable of replicating human bodily motions, as well as function of human thought (Lausa, 2009: 5). This paper discusses how children’s fiction presents child readers alternative ways of imagining interconnectedness between human and the machine that is suggestive of the cybernetic ontology.
Dan Gutman’s Homework Machine (2006) and its sequel Return of the Homework Machine (2009) are examples of burgeoning ubiquity of technology in the lives of children and how in their everyday use of technology they derive pleasure and entertainment from it. They also engage with the complexity of technology with respect to the moral and ethical implications of the use to which it is put to. The narrative of the Homework Machine revolves around a group of fifth graders who come together because of a machine code named- ‘Belch’ that does their homework for them.»
Texto completo aquí: https://culturemachine.net/vol-21-antropoficciones/the-case-of-thinking-machines-posthumanism-and-techno-human-hybrydity-in-childrens-literature-shubneet-kaur-kharbanda/