TESTI / 4 / Karin Harrasser /
The article starts with an outline of the current debate on the technical extension and modification of the body. Subsequently, I will argue in favor of adopting a skeptical stance towards any form of versioning and optimization logic related to the body. I will, by contrast, propose other terms: semi-sovereignty and a conception of the body in the future perfect, framed within an understanding of the relation between bodies and technology that I have tentatively called ‘parahuman’. Futuristic scenarios all too often already know where the body will end up, which is why they mostly have the character of a curse or a rather banal self-fulfilling prophecy. Therefore, I am asking to consider first of all how it is possible to rethink in a more interesting way the already existing hybridization between bodies and technology, and how it is possible to challenge futuristic scenarios according to which the ‘post’ of post-humans is an overcoming of something flawed (the ‘natural’ body).
