Trkač po ivici brijača: Figuracije humanog i posthumanog identiteta u romanu Borislava Pekića 1999 i filmu Ridlija Skota Istrebljivač

Abstract

The paper is methodologically organized as the comparative analysis of principal ontological and ideological tenets of Borislav Pekić’s novel 1999 and Ridley Scott’s film Blade Runner. The analysis is established upon the premise that both the film and the novel share the same thematic preoccupations, which are the issues of technological subjectivity, end of humanity, and deconstruction of the following binary oppositions: nature/culture and human/machine. The first part of the paper focuses on developing the theoretical framework within which the central concepts of human and posthuman identity are to be explored. Hence, the paper puts forth an argument that the current posthuman philosophical discourse, being fraught with notional ambiguities or contradictions and characterized by high degree of contention, cannot serve as a stable basis for such an analysis. Instead, we turn to the two seminal texts concerning technological subjectivity: ”The Question Concerning Technology” by Martin Heidegger and ”A Cyborg Manifesto” by Donna Haraway, in order to establish the grounds upon which the basic hypothesis of the paper might be formulated and consequently proven: the humanist concept of selfhood needs to be radically reexamined and redefined so as to answer to the demands of the contemporary world. Heidegger warns that one potential consequence of technological practices can be the creation of an extremely humanized world, the one governed by strictly logocentric principles, within which the man himself might become the standing reserve of technical enframing, which would in turn prevent humankind from reaching the Truth. The cautionary tone of Heidegger’s hypotheses is contrasted by Haraway’s implicit optimism contained in the fact that the cyborg identity, formed through the amalgamation of the human principle with that which is immanently foreign to it, i.e. the technological Other, might bring about human redemption through transcending the self-imposed notion of false ontological supremacy. The paper then attempts to identify the similarities between Pekić’s novel and Scott’s film within the said ontological framework, and it does so by illustrating how both 1999 and Blade Runner are heavily characterized by the complex and subtle interplay between their respective formal and notional configurations, that is to say genre elements and underlying ideological premises. The paper also discusses the intricate motif networks, all the while trying to identify the potential influence Scott’s film might have had on the Serbian author, bearing in mind that Pekić was not only aware of the film but also inspired by it, which is an argument we have managed to corroborate. In conclusion, by insisting on self-destructing nature of our extremely rational and anthropocentric civilization, both Pekić and Scott have constructed the worlds which can be deemed as battlegrounds where, due to the rapid automatization and mechanization of the human principle, the radical ontological transformation is taking place. Interpreted both as cautionary tales and harsh criticism of our civilization, the two works of art offer us a chance to gain original insight into the true nature of human identity.