포스트휴먼 소설의 한계: 메리 셸리의 『프랑켄슈타인』에 나타난 인간성에 대한 향수

Abstract

This paper examines Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in light of philosophical posthumanism, a critical discourse of undermining the notion of anthropocentrism in traditional Western thought. The main purpose is to cast doubt on the claim that Frankenstein dramatically epitomizes the basic tenets of posthumanism both through Victor’s superhuman engagement in scientific experiment of creating a new life and through the hybrid traits of the inhuman Monster, particularly revealed in his relationship with other human characters. Rephrasing Lyotard’s idea that postmodernism is an attempt to rewrite modernity in such a way that posthumanism is an attempt to rewrite humanism, this essay illuminates not only the ways in which Shelley’s novel advocates the traditional values of humanism which are implicitly embodied in the Monster’s rhetoric, but also the ways in which this story debunks the myth of Victor’s egocentric and androcentric heroism.