Bodies and technologies in Los cuerpos del verano

Abstract

The body is a contended space in today’s society – theories of transhumanism and posthumanism interact with models of embedded, embodied and extended cognition in ways which makes us question the limits of the body, and the demarcation between technology and biology. Science fiction has long been interested in this space, and even the possibility of disembodied human life: consciousness as code, identity as information. Martín Felipe Castagnet is one recent author to conduct this thought experiment, imagining a futuristic society where minds can be uploaded and stored on the internet, and bodies can be inhabited and discarded. On the surface, this work – Los cuerpos del verano, 2012 – is an exploration of teleological disembodiment, a portrait of the inevitable triumph of information over matter. Yet a methodology which integrates thematic analysis and close reading with cognitive science and linguistics opens up the text in new ways, revealing that rather than eschewing the body, Castagnet’s novel affirms the importance of the body in mind. In exploring how the digital age influences the relationship of time, bodies and environment, Los cuerpos del verano shows the complex influences of technology on our bodies, and the significance of the body even in a technological world.