The figure of the posthuman has probably been haunting us from the very beginning. He-she-it comes to us in all shapes and forms—mythological, spiritual, material, technological, fictional, virtual, actual, singular, communal, political, ethical, metaphysical… And all along, its embodiments have been telling us about boundaries: about what is human and what is not, whether angelic or diabolic; animal or machine or both; male, female, sexual or asexual; pure or hybrid; organic or plastic; natural, biological or ethereal. From current technology-driven forms of cyborgisation to much older prefigurations and prosthetic extensions, new and not so new media, contemporary and timeless anxieties and desires—everything that we now are and all (and more) that we have always been. Posthumans R Us—the monsters and gods that we have created, as well as the diverse forms of our recreated, reclaimed or forsaken humanity.
However, for all its timelessness, a posthuman sensibility does appear to prevail particularly strongly now. Our very environments have become haunting us in a posthuman sense—whether this refers to “object ontologies”, smart or postnatural environments, new and “deep” ecologies, extinction angst and ecocide, autopoietic systems and climate change, cognitive and digital technoscience, global capitalism, new media virtual realities and socialities, etc. It is impossible to contain or survey all of this, or to designate it by one term—the posthuman—and yet the attempt seems necessary, even urgent.
The Posthuman Review is interested in “curating” submissions on all of this. We’re calling for commentaries, examples, practices, narratives, poetry, short fiction, reviews, links, etc.: all submissions will be considered, as long as they constitute a critical engagement with the ongoing process of “posthumanisation”.
The qualifier “critical” is meant to denote a self-reflective review on how our academic and other professional fields have shaped the posthuman as well as a decidedly theoretical / philosophical orientation when framing the issues at hand.
The idea is to build up this platform and eventually turn it into a fully peer-reviewed online journal.
The function of the editorial board will be exercised by the Critical Posthumanism Network.
Please submit your work to (tba).
1.2015: Posthumanism and the Present
It is no coincidence that posthumanism is being discussed now. It is no coincidence that specific figurations of the posthuman proliferate in our time. It is no coincidence that this 500-year-old venerable tradition of humanism is dissolving now. In this sense – in the face of global threats (ecocides, climate change, human and nonhuman extinction) – posthumanism is historically specific and concerns our “present” and the very possibility of (a) future(s).