Theo

Abstract

This thesis is an attempt to investigate William Gibson’s Trilogy; Neuromancer (1984), Count Zero (1986), and Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988), in the light of Jean Baudrillard’s critical theories which are categorized under two main headings; “simulation” and “disappearance.” Indeed, this study aims to divulge the specific kinds of ‘simulation’ and ‘disappearance,’ such as ‘the simulation of power’ and ‘the disappearance of the human (body) and the other(‘s body) in Gibson’s Trilogy. Therefore, the researcher elucidates the argument in three main chapters besides the chapters of introduction and conclusion. The second chapter provides a theoretical framework for this study through delineating Baudrillard’s key concepts, such as “hyperreality,” “simulacrum,” “simulation,” “disappearance,” etc. Baudrillard believes that power no longer exists except as “the simulation of power.” He demonstrates “the simulation of power” through expanding on “the hallucination of power,” “the circularization of power/the end of panopticon,” and “the simulation of terror.” With having recourse to these theories, the third chapter seeks to reveal the instances of “the simulation of power” in Gibson’s technological world. The fourth chapter, with an emphasis on the central notion of “disappearance,” attempts to indicate the metamorphosis of the human (body) to the post-human (body) and the recognition of the other(‘s body) which are caused by cyber- technologies, “cyborg” and “cyberspace.” Thus, the main focus of this chapter is to scrutinize the different types of hybrid characters that are continuously merging with ‘cyber- technologies’ and the different kinds of ‘cybertechnologies’ in order to delineate “the disappearance of the human (body) and the other(‘s body)” in light of Baudrillard’s theories in Gibson’s novels. Chapter five presents the findings. As this study concludes, Gibson’ novels depict the technological world in which everything might be simulated/disappeared, or rather redefined through merging with ‘cybertechnologies.’

Keywords: Hyperreality, Simulacrum, Simulation of power, Disappearance of the human (body), Disappearance of the other(‘s body), Jean Baudrillard, William Gibson

List of Abbreviations

C Z             Gibson, William. Count Zero. N.p.: Arbor House Pub Co, 1986.

F F              Baudrillard, Jean. Forget Foucault. Trans. Nicole Dufresne. Los Angeles: Semiotext(e),  2007.

M L O        Gibson, William. Mona Lisa Overdrive. N.p:N.p, [1988].

N                Gibson, William. Neuromancer. N.p:N.p, [1984].

S & S      Baudrillard, Jean. Simulacra and Simulation. Trans. Sheila Faria Glaser. Michigan:  University of Michigan Press, [1994?].

T T O E     Baudrillard, Jean. The Transparency of Evil: Essays on Extreme Phenomena. Trans. James Benedict. London and New York: Verso, 1993.

Table of Contents

Dedication .. I

Acknowledgements . II

Abstract   .. III

List of Abbreviations …V

1.1   General Background……………………………………………………………………………………….. 1

1.2   Statement of the Problem………………………………………………………………………………… 9

1.3    Objectives and Significance of the Study………………………………………………………. 10

1.3.1  Hypothesis. 10

1.3.2  Significance of the Study. 11

1.3.3  Purpose of the Study. 13

1.3.4  Research Questions. 14

1.4    Review of Literature………………………………………………………………………………………. 15

1. 5 Materials and Methodology…………………………………………………………………………… 19

1.5.1  Definition of Key Terms. 19

1.5.2  Motivation and Delimitation. 20

1. 6 Organization of the Study……………………………………………………………………………….. 21

Introduction. 23

2.1   Baudrillard’s Trajectory of Thought . … .24

2.2   Simulation . … … 26

2.2.1  Simulation of Power 31

2.3  Disappearance … 36

2.3.1  Disappearance of the Human (Body) 37

2.3.2  Disappearance of the other 42

Conclusion. 46

Introduction. 47

3.1  The Hallucinatory Signs of Power … … …49

3.2   From Panopticism to the End of Panopticism .. 51

. 52

. 60

3.3  Simulation of Terror . … …63.

Conclusion . 65

Introduction. 67

4.1  The Metamorphosis of the Human (Body) to the Post-human (Body). 69

4.1.1   Cyborg (Technologies) 70

4.1.2   Cyberspace (Technologies) 76

4.2  The Recognition of the Other(‘s Body). 86

4.2.1   The Transparency of the Other(’s Body) 86

4.2.2   Simulation of the Other(’s Body) 90

Conclusion. 92

5.1 Summing up. 96

5.2 Findings. 100

5.3 Suggestions for Further Research. 105

                                  Chapter One: Introduction

• General Background

William Ford Gibson, an American author, was born in 1948 in South Carolina. He was interested in science fictions and used to read the biographies of most American science fiction writers, and also the writings of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William S. Burroughs, thus, he was influenced by William S. Burroughs. Gibson “was among the first to explore the implication of virtual communities, reality television, nanotechnology, the digital divide, locative art, and ubiquitous computing” (Henthorne 4). His fictions represent a technological society in which the traits of street culture, such as crime, drug addiction, horror, and chaos are highlighted (Cavallaro 5). Indeed, Gibson was among the first authors who wrote cyberpunk fictions. Cyberpunk fictions “can be seen as an expansion of the tradition of science fiction” (Verhulsdonck 14), a genre which narrates new technological modes of being in “an era of blurred ontologies” (Russell 79). Gibson started his literary career by his short stories which were collected in Burning Chrome (1986). His short stories were followed by his Sprawl Trilogy; Neuromancer (1984), Count Zero (1986), and Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988). The following novels are the Bridge Trilogy; Virtual Light (1993), Idoru (1996), All Tomorrow’s Parties (1999), and the Bigend Trilogy; Pattern Recognition (2003), Spook Country (2007), Zero History (2010).

This study is focused on the Sprawl Trilogy; Neuromancer (1984), Count Zero (1986), and Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988). Neuromancer (1984) is a story of a console cowboy/ hacker, Henry Case, whose nervous system was damaged by his employers through Russian “mycotoxin,” so he cannot jack in cyberspace anymore. Case lives in a coffin in Cheap Hotel near Ninsei Street. He usually spends nights in Ninsei Street bars. Wage, Linda Lee (Case’s ex-girlfriend), and Julius Deane are the important characters in this period of Case’s life. After a year, one night when Case goes back to his coffin, a lady, Molly Millions, is waiting there. She was hired to help Case in a dangerous run which Armitage wants Case to do it. Indeed, Armitage wants to control Case through the glasses which were implanted into Molly’s eyes. After Case accepts to do the run, Armitage sends Case to a clinic to undergo a nervous system surgery in order to be able to jack in cyberspace again. Indeed, he feels alive when he is connected to cyberspace (Lloyd 8). And also, some “toxin sacs” are bonded to his arteries to control him.

After the surgery, Case and Molly live and work with each other. Whenever Molly goes to a place for work, Case controls the situation by jacking in cyberspace and connecting to her sensorium. He can see through her eyes and feel her feelings and sensations. Up to the middle of the story, they do not really know whom they are working for. Indeed, they are working for Wintermute, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) that persuades Case to help Wintermute to unite with another AI, Neuromancer, in order to increase their power. Meanwhile, Case searches about AIs, Tessier-Ashpool, and their daughter, Lady 3Jane through jacking in cyberspace and talking to Dixie-Flatline (a memory construct). Then, Molly is sent to Villa Straylight where she meets Lady