The Cyborg of the House : Posthuman Reconfigurations of the Feminine Space in Electronic Literature

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The main objective of this contribution is to reflect upon the different ways in which women authors of electronic literature in English have used intermediality and computational tools to reconfigure the concept of the home as a traditionally feminine space. This study has involved the selection and analysis of a set of works belonging to the same decade, which include Mary Flanagan’s “[domestic]” (2003) and “[thehouse]” (2006); Roxanne Carter’s “Housing Problems” (2009); Christine Wilks’ “Talespin” (2008); Juliet Davies’ “Pieces of Herself” (2005); and J. R. Carpenter’s “Entre Ville” (2006) and “In Absentia” (2008). By analyzing a heterogeneous mixture of media formats and genres, this article will trace a trajectory of real, possible, and imagined technological incursions in female spaces: from posthuman reconfigurations of domesticity in data landscapes to cyborgic transformations of the “angel of the house.” The authors selected illustrate the way in which the digital space can be also used to contest traditional roles, expose the cultural politics that lies behind normative categories, and call for a revision of the demands that the digital room of one’s own impinges on women.