Mimesis in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
In Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? the androids are the bioengineered mimesis of a human yet designed to lack empathy so as to serve more effectively as slaves. Drawing on the anthropological studies of Michael Tomasello, René Girard, and Eric Gans, this essay shows that...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2022
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| In: |
Anthropoetics
Year: 2022, Volume: 27, Issue: 2 |
| Further subjects: | B
Philip K. Dick
B Eric Gans B Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? B Simulation B Mimesis B René Girard B Uncanny B Michael Tomasello B Anthropology B Androids B Mimetic Theory B Science Fiction |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | In Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? the androids are the bioengineered mimesis of a human yet designed to lack empathy so as to serve more effectively as slaves. Drawing on the anthropological studies of Michael Tomasello, René Girard, and Eric Gans, this essay shows that mimesis as psychological identification is the root of empathy—humans imitate the attention of others to their joy and sorrow—and the novel identifies empathy as the defining characteristic of humans. But the androids are capable of imitating humans and becoming both independent and empathetic, just as infants imitate those around them in order to learn language and develop self-consciousness. Psychological mimesis blurs the boundary between self and other, which, in various forms, is the most common topos of Philip K. Dick’s novels. The androids’ status as doubles of the humans is uniquely motivated; they are a mirror that offers unrivaled insight into what it means to be human. The uncanny androids reflect the ambivalence of mimesis, which is the source of empathy but also rivalry leading to violence. The fear of the androids expresses the fear that humans are simply mechanical creatures controlled by the mimetic drive and the biological imperative to survive and reproduce. |
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| Physical Description: | 43 |
| ISSN: | 1083-7264 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Anthropoetics
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