Citation

Silva M. Critique Stud. Contemp. Fiction 2009; 50(2): 208-224.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009)

DOI

10.3200/CRIT.50.2.208-224

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In Operation Wandering Soul, Richard Powers attempts to write a humanistic novel in which a pediatric resident (Richard Kraft) and a pediatric psychiatrist provide therapy for dying children by reading narratives to them. Galatea 2.2 also foregrounds narrativity, as character Richard Powers attempts to construct a coherent narrative out of his past through writing his autobiography. Both novels feature characters who cannot cope with the horrors of the twentieth century: Wandering Soul's Richard Kraft suffers a breakdown, while Galatea's Helen, an artificial intelligence, commits A. I. suicide. This essay argues that Powers's attempt in Wandering Soul to write a humanistic novel fails due to the psychotic breakdown of Kraft. However, whereas Powers is unable to sacrifice the human, he sacrifices the posthuman on the character Richard Powers's behalf, freeing him from his writer's block and allowing him (character and novelist) to write Galatea. Copyright © 2008 Heldref Publications.

Language: en

Keywords

Posthumanism; Humanism; Narrative