This essay discusses Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods (2007) in light of human and nonhuman re... more This essay discusses Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods (2007) in light of human and nonhuman relationships. The author presents us with quite a paradoxical situation, whereby what is human seems to be less human than what is said to be nonhuman. The ontological instability produced by such a peculiar paradigm generates interesting consequences in terms of fundamental rights, especially when applied to hybrid forms of life such as those represented by “Robo sapiens.” Hence, Winterson’s novel invites a reconfiguration of the notion of rights and “legal personhood” in the context of AI systems. Robots demand that their “humanity” is acknowledged and, as a consequence to that, they also demand that they are granted rights. One could notice that Robot’s existential condition is very similar to that of slaves, precisely like slaves they are submitted to servitude, forced or bonded labour. And yet the fact that they are not “fully human”, only very similar or close to them, puts robots i...
This essay addresses the topic of “temporalities of mod- ernism” through the example of Sylvia Pl... more This essay addresses the topic of “temporalities of mod- ernism” through the example of Sylvia Plath, whose only novel The Bell Jar presents a significant continuity with some of the major features of modernist style.
This paper addresses the issue of posthuman bodies in Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go agai... more This paper addresses the issue of posthuman bodies in Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go against the background of organ transplants and prosthetic surgery. The novel posits a number of questions about what qualifies a human being and/or what distinguishes a human being from a clone, suggesting that art, perhaps, might be a discriminating factor. Further, it also raises questions about the kind of regulation should be applied to organs “donations,” especially when they are not voluntary, but part of a programmed response inscribed in someone’s DNA. Accordingly, the last section of the paper will investigate the social impact of the exploitation of the clones and the medico-legal issues pertaining to it.
Reading Joycean Temporalities examines Joyce’s experimental treatment of modalities of time, (in)... more Reading Joycean Temporalities examines Joyce’s experimental treatment of modalities of time, (in)finitude, narrative presentation of temporal simultaneity, and psychological, historical, and Homeric time.
Il saggio si concentra sulle dinamiche tra testo e paratesto negli ultimi due libri profetici di ... more Il saggio si concentra sulle dinamiche tra testo e paratesto negli ultimi due libri profetici di William Blake, Milton e Jerusalem . A partire dalle riflessioni di Genette in Soglie , si ragionera su come parola e immagine interagiscono nelle tavole e concorrono a produrre significato. I libri profetici, in quanto opera d’arte “integrata”, implicano una partecipazione attiva da parte del lettore, che deve saper interpretare i molteplici livelli di interazione tra le componenti testuali e paratestuali, all’interno della complessa cornice rappresentata dalla letteratura apocalittica alla quale l’ultima produzione di Blake appartiene.
This essay discusses Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods (2007) in light of human and nonhuman re... more This essay discusses Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods (2007) in light of human and nonhuman relationships. The author presents us with quite a paradoxical situation, whereby what is human seems to be less human than what is said to be nonhuman. The ontological instability produced by such a peculiar paradigm generates interesting consequences in terms of fundamental rights, especially when applied to hybrid forms of life such as those represented by “Robo sapiens.” Hence, Winterson’s novel invites a reconfiguration of the notion of rights and “legal personhood” in the context of AI systems. Robots demand that their “humanity” is acknowledged and, as a consequence to that, they also demand that they are granted rights. One could notice that Robot’s existential condition is very similar to that of slaves, precisely like slaves they are submitted to servitude, forced or bonded labour. And yet the fact that they are not “fully human”, only very similar or close to them, puts robots i...
This essay addresses the topic of “temporalities of mod- ernism” through the example of Sylvia Pl... more This essay addresses the topic of “temporalities of mod- ernism” through the example of Sylvia Plath, whose only novel The Bell Jar presents a significant continuity with some of the major features of modernist style.
This paper addresses the issue of posthuman bodies in Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go agai... more This paper addresses the issue of posthuman bodies in Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go against the background of organ transplants and prosthetic surgery. The novel posits a number of questions about what qualifies a human being and/or what distinguishes a human being from a clone, suggesting that art, perhaps, might be a discriminating factor. Further, it also raises questions about the kind of regulation should be applied to organs “donations,” especially when they are not voluntary, but part of a programmed response inscribed in someone’s DNA. Accordingly, the last section of the paper will investigate the social impact of the exploitation of the clones and the medico-legal issues pertaining to it.
Reading Joycean Temporalities examines Joyce’s experimental treatment of modalities of time, (in)... more Reading Joycean Temporalities examines Joyce’s experimental treatment of modalities of time, (in)finitude, narrative presentation of temporal simultaneity, and psychological, historical, and Homeric time.
Il saggio si concentra sulle dinamiche tra testo e paratesto negli ultimi due libri profetici di ... more Il saggio si concentra sulle dinamiche tra testo e paratesto negli ultimi due libri profetici di William Blake, Milton e Jerusalem . A partire dalle riflessioni di Genette in Soglie , si ragionera su come parola e immagine interagiscono nelle tavole e concorrono a produrre significato. I libri profetici, in quanto opera d’arte “integrata”, implicano una partecipazione attiva da parte del lettore, che deve saper interpretare i molteplici livelli di interazione tra le componenti testuali e paratestuali, all’interno della complessa cornice rappresentata dalla letteratura apocalittica alla quale l’ultima produzione di Blake appartiene.
CALL FOR PAPERS - "BORDERS OF MODERNISM"
PERUGIA 14-16 DECEMBER 2016
Deadline for proposal submis... more CALL FOR PAPERS - "BORDERS OF MODERNISM" PERUGIA 14-16 DECEMBER 2016 Deadline for proposal submission is 31 MAY 2016
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Papers by Annalisa Volpone
PERUGIA 14-16 DECEMBER 2016
Deadline for proposal submission is 31 MAY 2016