EVOLUTION OF THE CYBORG IN 21ST-CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION

Аннотация

This paper examines the evolution of the cyborg figure in twenty-first-century English-language science fiction. We conduct a comparative literary analysis of key texts by Iain M. Banks, William Gibson, Margaret Atwood, and Martha Wells, focusing on the poetics, symbolism, and narrative functions of cyborg characters. Using philosophical and socio-cultural frameworks (including Haraway’s cyborg theory), we find that contemporary SF often depicts cyborgs as hybrids blending human and machine. These characters reflect modern anxieties and aspirations: for example, Atwood’s bio-engineered creatures’ critique corporate power, Gibson’s characters inhabit neural avatars, and Wells’s “Murderbot” explores autonomy under corporate control. Our discussion highlights how twenty-first-century cyborgs signal a shift toward nuanced posthuman visions, interrogating identity and humanity’s technological future