Souls of Cyberfolk

Foster, Thomas. ''Souls of Cyberfolk, The: Posthumanism as Vernacular Theory." Minneapolis: U of MN P, 2005.

Rev. Karen Hellekson, 'SFRA Review#280, April-June 2007: 10-12, our source for this citation. KH says "The title of the book's introduction, 'Cyberpunk's Posthuman Afterlife,' serves as a summary of Foster's aim throughout the volume." I.e., c-p has "moved beyond text into other media, including artwork and comics," and Foster looks at these areas and brings "to bear on the subject" vasious "intellectual frameworks as diverse as posthumanism, queer theory, racial hisory, and globalization." TF covers "many well-known science fiction authors" (Hellekson 10), including Greg Egan, Ken McLeod, Pat, Cadigan, Nancy Kress, with a close reading of W. Gibson's Neuromancer and David J. Skal's Antibodies (Hellekson 11). "The last chapter ... extends the nature of race by considering transnational forms of political economy. Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash (1992) epitomizes Foster's concerns, and Foster analzes it following Mark Poster's notions of "virtually mediated forms of ethnic identity' (207)" (Hellekson 12). TH finds TSCf "a must-read for any scholar working on cybernarratives" in any medium, esp. scholars of SF and recommends it for graduate courses, not undergrad. What we'll call "civilians" may find it well-written academic prose, but heavy-going. (RDE, 8 July 2007)