The Posthuman Body Writing In Vernor Vinge’s Zones Of Thought Series

Vernor Steffen Vinge(1944-)is a highly acclaimed cyberpunk author who has won multiple Hugo Awards.Vinge’s novels are characterized by solid settings and rigorous logic,and are particularly known for their technological detail and stunning predictions,which culminate in the Zones of Thought Series.The Zones of Thought Series consists of A Fire Upon the Deep(1992),A Deepness in the Sky(1999),and The Children of the Sky(2011).This series of works mainly tells the story of the adventures that take place in the universe of the Zones of Thought billions of years later.Through the various image of life in the future universe,Vinge resorts to decades of profound thinking about technological development and the post-human future.In addition to the introduction and conclusion,this thesis has four chapters.The first chapter analyzes Vinge’s thoughts on the spiritual dilemma brought about by the abandonment of the material body in technological development,taking the two posthuman body forms of the novel,the superintelligence “the Blight” and the Power in the Transcend,as objects.The second chapter divides the embodied beings in the novel into natural bodies and transformed bodies,revealing the importance of the body and its contact to the posthuman future,and giving the path of posthuman evolution to the combined force of natural evolution and technological boost.The third chapter uncovers the realistic view of war and ecological environment hidden behind the posthuman body by analyzing the history of war and diverse symbiotic environment in the novel.The fourth chapter explores the professional and literary foundations of Vinge’s posthuman body,analyzes his efforts to fill the technological void of traditional science fiction and push the posthuman imagination to the cosmic level,and also puts forward optimistic countermeasures facing uncertain future.Exploring the writing of the posthuman body in the Zones of Thought Series will help to complement the scholarly study of Vernor Vinge’s science fiction and provide a new way of thinking about the posthuman future.