Posthuman Female Identities and Cyborg Alices in Orphan Black

Abstract

This article scrutinizes the reception of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through theLooking Glass (1871) in the television series Orphan Black (2013-2017) through the lenses of posthuman and feministtheories. It argues that, reminiscent of Alice’s coming of age anxieties, in the series the self-aware female clones, calledthe Leda clones, go through their own identity crisis, which can be traced in their near-death experiences followed bymetaphorical rebirths and in their conversations with their sestras through mirrors or mirror-like objects. It focuses onthese clones’ process of becoming self-aware with regard to the demands of the posthuman condition and the call ofRosi Braidotti for new ways of subject formation. It analyses the clones’ process of becoming through Julia Kristeva’stheories of the mirror phase, the symbolic, and the semiotic. It suggests that these self-aware Leda clones might beread as Donna J. Haraway’s cyborg Alices, in that they explore cyborg female identities in the twenty-first century.These clones eventually overcome their existential crisis and their anxieties over shifting identities through communitybonding. Meanwhile, the allusions to the Alice books serve as a source of symbolism and structure for the series. Likethe guidance and council of the White Rabbit, the Caterpillar and the Cheshire Cat, they provide guideposts for thedeepening, darkening, and branching Orphan Black universe to prevent the viewers from getting confused or lost asthey follow the Leda clones deeper into the rabbit hole and through the looking glass.

Keywords

• Sanat ve Edebiyat

Files

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References

1. References
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Cite this publication

@article{akgun2018posthuman,
  author = {Akg{\"u}n, Buket},
  title = {{Posthuman Female Identities and Cyborg Alices in Orphan Black}},
  journal = {Hacettepe University Journal of the Faculty of Letters},
  volume = {36},
  number = {1},
  pages = {51--60},
  publisher = {Hacettepe {\"U}niversitesi},
  year = {2018},
  month = {9},
  issn = {1301-5737},
  doi = {10.32600/huefd.460248},
  url = {https://hacettepe.hbtech.com.tr/en/publication/posthuman-female-identities-and-cyborg-alices-in-orphan-black},
  language = {en},
  keywords = {Sanat ve Edebiyat},
  abstract = {This article scrutinizes the reception of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through theLooking Glass (1871) in the television series Orphan Black (2013-2017) through the lenses of posthuman and feministtheories. It argues that, reminiscent of Alice's coming of age anxieties, in the series the self-aware female clones, calledthe Leda clones, go through their own identity crisis, which can be traced in their near-death experiences followed bymetaphorical rebirths and in their conversations with their sestras through mirrors or mirror-like objects. It focuses onthese clones' process of becoming self-aware with regard to the demands of the posthuman condition and the call ofRosi Braidotti for new ways of subject formation. It analyses the clones' process of becoming through Julia Kristeva'stheories of the mirror phase, the symbolic, and the semiotic. It suggests that these self-aware Leda clones might beread as Donna J. Haraway's cyborg Alices, in that they explore cyborg female identities in the twenty-first century.These clones eventually overcome their existential crisis and their anxieties over shifting identities through communitybonding. Meanwhile, the allusions to the Alice books serve as a source of symbolism and structure for the series. Likethe guidance and council of the White Rabbit, the Caterpillar and the Cheshire Cat, they provide guideposts for thedeepening, darkening, and branching Orphan Black universe to prevent the viewers from getting confused or lost asthey follow the Leda clones deeper into the rabbit hole and through the looking glass.},
  affiliation = {ISTANBUL UNIVERSITY}
}

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Akgün, Buket
TI  - Posthuman Female Identities and Cyborg Alices in Orphan Black
T2  - Hacettepe University Journal of the Faculty of Letters
VL  - 36
IS  - 1
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/09/15/
SP  - 51
EP  - 60
PB  - Hacettepe Üniversitesi
SN  - 1301-5737
DO  - 10.32600/huefd.460248
UR  - https://hacettepe.hbtech.com.tr/en/publication/posthuman-female-identities-and-cyborg-alices-in-orphan-black
AB  - This article scrutinizes the reception of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through theLooking Glass (1871) in the television series Orphan Black (2013-2017) through the lenses of posthuman and feministtheories. It argues that, reminiscent of Alice’s coming of age anxieties, in the series the self-aware female clones, calledthe Leda clones, go through their own identity crisis, which can be traced in their near-death experiences followed bymetaphorical rebirths and in their conversations with their sestras through mirrors or mirror-like objects. It focuses onthese clones’ process of becoming self-aware with regard to the demands of the posthuman condition and the call ofRosi Braidotti for new ways of subject formation. It analyses the clones’ process of becoming through Julia Kristeva’stheories of the mirror phase, the symbolic, and the semiotic. It suggests that these self-aware Leda clones might beread as Donna J. Haraway’s cyborg Alices, in that they explore cyborg female identities in the twenty-first century.These clones eventually overcome their existential crisis and their anxieties over shifting identities through communitybonding. Meanwhile, the allusions to the Alice books serve as a source of symbolism and structure for the series. Likethe guidance and council of the White Rabbit, the Caterpillar and the Cheshire Cat, they provide guideposts for thedeepening, darkening, and branching Orphan Black universe to prevent the viewers from getting confused or lost asthey follow the Leda clones deeper into the rabbit hole and through the looking glass.
KW  - Sanat ve Edebiyat
LA  - en
AD  - ISTANBUL UNIVERSITY
ER  -