"Frankenstein" and Technology

a reading of Mary Shelley's novel as a critique of modern science

Abstract

When philosopher Yuk Hui (2020a) introduced the concept of technodiversity into discussions about technology, he paved the way for understanding this term and others surrounding it – such as the idea of progress – as always “situated”, meaning they are the products of our worldviews, intertwined with the material, social, historical, and political conditions of knowledge production. This study aims to contribute to this discussion through an analysis of Mary Shelley's “Frankenstein” as an exercise in critique of Western modern science, considering that the novel emerges precisely when this ideal of science was solidifying in the 19th century. The novel, by revealing fundamental tensions between the desire for knowledge and its consequences, challenges the alliances between science and similarly situated ideals of progress and nature, questioning the traditional view of science as something separate from humanity and, thus, separate from the Humanities. Shelley’s book provides significant reflections on the construction of epistemologies that integrate science and humanities as equally products of the cultures in which they are situated; both sciences and humanities are, therefore, equally rooted in their specific socio-historical-political contexts. Thus, as we examine the pages of “Frankenstein,” we are invited to reflect on the implications of our ways of knowing and inhabiting the world. This makes literature in general and science fiction in particular powerful tools for thinking about the sciences, humanities or not, and their technologies.