Disability and the Posthuman

An Open Access edition of this book is availableon the Liverpool University Press website and through Knowledge Unlatched.Disability and the Posthuman is the first study to analyse culturalrepresentations and deployments of disability as they interact withposthumanist theories of technology and embodiment. Working across a wide rangeof texts, many new to critical enquiry, in contemporary writing, film andcultural practice from North America, Europe, the Middle East and Japan, it coversa diverse range of topics, including: contemporary cultural theory andaesthetics; design, engineering and gender; the visualisation of prosthetictechnologies in the representation of war and conflict; and depictions of work,time and sleep. While noting the potential limitations of posthumanistassessments of the technologized body, the study argues that there areexciting, productive possibilities and subversive potentials in the dialoguebetween disability and posthumanism as they generate dissident crossings ofcultural spaces. Such intersections cover both fictional/imagined andmaterial/grounded examples of disability and look to a future in which thedevelopment of technology and complex embodiment of disability presence align toproduce sustainable yet radical creative and critical voices.  

‘Alas, I have no space to say more than that this is a beautifully produced book both as an aesthetic object and as a thought-provoking text. Together with its compelling scholarship, the reading experience of Murray’s Disability and the Posthuman could scarcely be bettered.’Margrit Shildrick, Lambda, 'Murray makes a strong case that to understand modern film, literature, and contemporary society, people who have not thought much about disability studies should do so ... Murray's book provides many helpful ideas for this exploration.' Arthur Blaser, Disability Studies Quarterly

Stuart Murray is Professor of Contemporary Literatures and Film in the School of English at the University of Leeds.