The Logic of “Both/And” in The Matrix: Eutopian Mapping in a Posthuman World
Abstract
The paper analyses the first part of The Matrix trilogy with a view of discussing its dialogue with posthumanism in the context of utopianism. It argues that the film’s dialogue with posthumanism follows the logic of “both/and,” in which contrasting perspectives are juxtaposed and embraced. On the one hand, the film can be interpreted as a critical dystopia, whereby the way out of the nightmare of posthuman future is sought in the return of “the thinking subject” of the Cartesian tradition. On the other hand, the film encourages the viewer to take seriously the radically anti-anthropocentric premise of posthumanism. In such reading, the utopia of the Matrix offers a way out of the ecological apocalypse engineered by human beings.
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