Donna Harraway, "A Cyborg Manifesto"
(After skimming the beginning of the article, begin reading in earnest at the section marked Fractured Identities.)
Question:
Born in Flames is a sci-fi look at a fictional future wherein a socialist revolution has taken over the country and all people are supposedly "equal." How does the film represent technology and the media? Are they tools for empowerment or repression, or both? Does the film represent technology as "gendered?" Did you see any connections between the film and Sobol's discussion of oral culture and literate values? How do you feel the film resonates with issues of identity and technology that Donna Harraway discusses in her article, specifically with regard to her conception of the cyborg?
A reminder about our schedule over the next couple of weeks:
Thursday, November 22nd - Eat turkey
Thursday, November 29th - In class we will discuss afro-futurism, the intersections of technology and race and gender, and Born in Flames. Open Korsakow workshops - Computer labs will be open for you to work on your projects independently with guidance from the TAs.
Thursday, December 6th - Presentations of completed Korsakow projects. Projects due to your TA by the end of class.