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Book Cover
E-book
Author Thompson, Tok Freeland, author

Title Posthuman folklore / Tok Thompson
Published Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, [2019]

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Description 1 online resource (xvi, 188 pages)
Contents Introduction : posthumans and us -- part 1. The conscious planet. Folklore beyond the human : toward a trans-special understanding of culture, communication, and aesthetics -- The ape that captured time : folklore, narrative, and the human-animal divide -- Do animals have souls? Mythologies and worldviews on the concept of personhood -- You sexy beast : animals and sexuality in western discourse -- part 2. Becoming cyborg. Beatboxing, mashups, and cyborg identity : folk music for the twenty-first century -- Netizens, revolutions, and the inalienable right to the internet -- part 3. Us and them: re-imagining ontology in the cyborg age. Ghost stories from the uncanny valley : androids, souls, and the future of being haunted -- New myths for modern times : changing ontologies and the green-skinned other -- When your BFF is an AI : artificial intelligence as folk -- Conclusion : being after being human, a how-to guide
Summary "Can a monkey own a selfie? Can a chimp use habeas corpus to sue for freedom? Can androids be citizens? Increasingly, such difficult questions have moved from the realm of science fiction into the realm of everyday life, and scholars and laypeople alike are struggling to find ways to grasp new notions of personhood. Posthuman Folklore is the first work of its kind: both an overview of posthumanism as it applies to folklore studies and an investigation of "vernacular posthumanisms"--The ways in which people are increasingly performing the posthuman. Posthumanism calls for a close investigation of what is meant by the term "human" and a rethinking of this, our most basic ontological category. What, exactly, is human? What, exactly, am I? There are two main threads of posthumanism: the first dealing with the increasingly slippery slope between "human" and "animal," and the second dealing with artificial intelligences and the growing cyborg quality of human culture. This work deals with both these threads, seeking to understand the cultural roles of this shifting notion of "human" by centering its investigation into the performances of everyday life. From funerals for AIBOs, to furries, to ghost stories told by Alexa, people are increasingly engaging with the posthuman in myriad everyday practices, setting the stage for a wholesale rethinking of our humanity. Posthuman Folklore traces both the philosophies behind these shifts, and the ways in which people increasingly are enacting such ideas to better understand the posthuman experience of contemporary life"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references
Notes Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on January 13, 2020)
Subject Artificial intelligence -- Folklore
Animals -- Folklore
Humanism -- Folklore
Technology -- Anthropological aspects.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Folklore & Mythology.
Technology -- Anthropological aspects
Animals -- Folklore
Agent (Philosophy)
Animals
Artificial intelligence
Humanism
Genre/Form Folklore
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2019981570
ISBN 9781496825100
1496825101
149682511X
9781496825124
1496825128
9781496825131
1496825136
9781496825117