英语论文哪里有？本文从技术哲学视角分析小说中技术恐惧的呈现及其成因，探索技术恐惧背后呈现的人与技术关系以及作者的创作意图。
Chapter One Twinges of Unfamiliar Technology
1.1 Delusions Led by Ignorance of Unknown Technology
Gothic novelist Howard Phillips Lovecraft believes that“the oldest and strongestemotion of mankind is fear”,while“the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of theunknown”(1).He further points out that the“unknown”here refers to supernaturalthings.In The Island of Doctor Moreau,Wells describes Moreau’s biotechnology as a supernatural power which magically splicing animal limbs and trunk,and thereforecauses people’s technophobia.After its publication,The Island of Doctor Moreau iscriticized for its sensory description and rebellious spirit.The gloomy atmosphere,plot suspense,and disturbing images in the fiction all reveal the characteristics ofGothic literature.Emerging at the end of the 18th century,British Gothic novels oftenunfold their stories in dangerous and magnificent natural environments or eerieGothic architectures.Wells displaces the thrilling Gothic story to a biologicallaboratory on a remote island,creating the horror of“civilization”and“rationality”through vivisection.The unfamiliar and terrifying environment isolates the charactersfrom reality,contrasting personal insignificance with biotechnological power in aclosed environment,thus breeding the fear of unfamiliar technology.
Chapter Two Foreboding of Runaway Technology
2.1 Indulgence in Biotechnological Research despite SignificantHarm
Since the Enlightenment,technology and rationality have weakened and dispelled the fear of nature,making nature an object of human exploitation andenslavement.The fact is reflected in the fiction that Moreau is no longer as concernedabout the desecration of gods and human nature by technology as people believe inancient times.While appreciating the subjectivity of human beings and gaining asense of security,the Victorian people also highly depend on technology,leading tothe decline of divine authority,to the point when Nietzsche proclaimed God’s death.The Enlightenment not only expels people’s fear of nature and unfamiliar technology,but also gives birth to modern technophobia.Modern technophobia emerges inmodern industrial society as a long-lasting social phenomenon and a psychologicalresponse to technology.The fear of modern technology comes from the harmfulconsequences and potential risks it brings,as well as people’s insights into technology.Fearlessness comes from ignorance,and once people experience the significant harmof technology,it leads to the occurrence of modern technophobia.On the day oflanding on Moreau’s island,Prendick wakes from“tumultuous dreams”of“guns andhowling mobs”,and became aware of a brusque shouting above him(18).It can beinferred that at this point,technology has already been used in weapon manufacturing,indicating that the harm of technological products to human society has begun toemerge.
Chapter Three Dread of Technological Domination
3.1 Apprehension for Technological Victims of Cruel Experiment
sIn an era with rapid technological development,human beings find themselves inan environment of adventure,change,and risks.Wells conceives an unnamed island as a testing ground,setting up a dilemma to narrate the technophobia in the 19thcentury England.The isolated island is not only a paradise in people’s minds,but alsoa shelter to escape reality.Only in a state of isolation from the world on a desolateisland can the sovereign eliminate all external interference,and perfectly construct theimagined order and social structure in a rational manner.
The fiction achieves defamiliarization in the framework through the imaginationof adventures on the island,exposing the ruthlessness and the evil side of technology.The natural world on the island is often described as a“sanctum”far from the hustleand bustle,symbolizing the prototype of the“Garden of Eden”as a human paradisefree from knowledge.In contrast to the non-technological Garden,“human activityfrom immemorial time and across the diversity of cultures has always beentechnologically embedded”(Ihde 74-75).Traditional British island literature isinfluenced by the spirit of maritime adventure and colonialism,often portrayinghumanity as brave adventurers and practitioners like Robinson Crusoe.In the processof transforming and conquering nature with the help of technology,it displays humanvirtues such as perseverance and optimism,presenting a microcosm of civilized lifeand human evolution.Wells breaks through the traditional model of island literature,and deconstructs the myth of Eden.The unnamed island is a pure land represented bythe Kanakas,but the biotechnology brought by Moreau not only invades the unsulliednature,but also exposes alienated humanity,causing Prendick’s technophobia.
3.2 Escape from the Blurring of Human Identity
Since Michel Foucault puts forward the“death of men”in his book The Order ofThings,the concept of“humanity”becomes ambiguous and gradually disappears likefoam.In the process of developing biotechnology to perfect the human body andcontrol evolution,the definition of human beings is questioned.Once the boundary isbroken,negative emotional outburst of people will lead to technophobia,highlightingthe Uncanny Valley effect and the crisis of human identity behind it.In the 1970s,Japanese roboticist Hiroshi Mori proposes the theory of Uncanny Valley effect.Thecurve of Uncanny Valley points out that the degree of human liking for humanoidsincreases with the degree of simulation and goes down as it reaches a certain criticalpoint.The psychology of Uncanny Valley originates from the identity crisis and self survival anxiety reflected by humanoids in humanity.When the beast folks formmirror-like images with human beings,Prendick develops a strong sense ofself-protection and the fear of being replaced.
Biotechnology characterized by the transformation of natural bodies has blurredthe definition of human beings,making it no longer possible for Prendick to definemankind through appearance.Although the animal characteristics of the beast folksare undoubtedly evident,Prendick vaguely senses that he has already“encounteredexactly the features and gestures”that now amaze him(10).Prendick asks Moreauwhy he has taken the human form as a model,because there seems to be“a strangewickedness”to him(71).Prendick’s subconsciousness comes with its reason.Hisreaction implies that the boundary between humanity and technological creations isno longer clear and thus leads to the Uncanny Valley effect.
Conclusion
Wells depicts people’s fear of unfamiliar technology,runaway technology andtechnological domination over humanity in The Island of Doctor Moreau,and unveilsthe risky,harmful,and manipulative characteristics of technology.Prendick,Moreauand other human characters experience technophobia for different reasons andrespond differently in attempts to alleviate or dispel technophobia.Exploring thecauses,manifestations,and roots of technophobia ultimately answers how to take thefirst step to deal with technophobia,that is,to dispel the myths surrounding theenduring emotion of fear.
Journeying from the days when people were ignorant of technology,the fictiontakes the readers to the Enlightenment when people recognized technology as aninstrument to satisfy their desire but experienced anxiety as well,and finally settlesthem in the long-lasting fear of technology dominating humanity.In The Island ofDoctor Moreau,Prendick encountering unfamiliar technology recreates the fear ofearly humans when facing technology beyond their own cognition.Enveloped in thevast terror of the unknown,people tend to adopt passive attitude towards technologyand react irrationally.The supernatural power of biotechnology and its collision withnature reflect the irreconcilable contradiction between technology and nature,layingthe foundation for humanity’s instinctive fear of unfamiliar technology.Moreau’swrestle with runaway technology reflects the promotion of human subjectivitybrought about by technology since the Enlightenment,as well as the anxiety and fearcaused by the suppression of subjectivity due to technological failure.As the collisionbetween the inflated transhuman desire and the inevitable technological failure isexposed,the tormenting anguish under the glamour of technological prosperity hasnowhere to hide.After the realization of technological domination over humanity,Prendick’s escape from dominating technology foreshadows the forthcoming situationof human beings as the autonomy of technology grows.The alienation of humanityand identity crisis all demonstrate the permeation of technology as a ruling ideologythat shapes people’s minds and behaviors.
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