Finding and Sharing New Frames for Enhancement Discourses?

By Shawn Harmon

Frames are associations that ‘cluster around a single image or phrase, directing the reader into certain familiar channels of cognition’ (Huxford, 2000). Often these frames are less ‘in’ the text, and more projected ‘onto’ the text by the reader on the basis of cues or invitations. Framing is often a critical component of presenting information for consumption, and so for making sense of the world (Cappella and Jamieson, 1997; Fowler, 1991). One of the central frames for the ethical discourses around technology-instigated enhancements in human beings has been that of ‘human nature’, a frame that often allied to competing imaginaries, one utopian and the other dystopian. Those opposed to enhancement are concerned about a loss of humanity, and they construct dystopian narratives characterised by disembodiment, inequality, and a loss of touch with our nature. Those who embrace enhancement see human nature as dynamic and evolutionary, pushing against and beyond limitations, and they construct utopian narratives in which people can better align their physiology with their identity; it is a future of ‘freedom to’ and ‘freedom from’, both grounded in how technology will allow us to unshackle our true self.

Essay - From superheroes to science fiction: Archetypes of enhancement in British comics

By Michael Morrison, Oxford, HeLEX

‘The comic book heroes I know of, including the ones I created, were created out of a cultural environment of the time, and a perception of audience acceptance […] When this reader-contact was unerring creators succeeded in producing popular mythical heroes.’ Will Eisner

There is a strong case to be made that superheroes are a quintessentially American phenomenon. Comics, in the form of humour and adventure strips were a common feature of many US newspapers from the beginning of the twentieth century. In the 1930s, US publishers began to repackage reprinted newspaper strips as 32 or 64 page collections. The popularity of these reprints soon led to a demand for new material and new (and not yet copyrighted) characters. Adventure strips drew on a wide range of influences, from ‘Western’ stories featuring fictionalised exploits of famous movie cowboys like Roy Rogers, adaptations of existing works like Tarzan and The Three Musketeers, to crime novels and especially popular ‘pulp’ serials of the day, such as The Shadow. The latter, in particular gave rise to the first tales of costumed crime fighters, which were to have a major influence on the nascent comic-book industry. In a highly competitive market, it was not long before someone came up with the idea of a costumed adventurer with powers above and beyond the range of heroic attributes common to the competing milieu of rival adventurers.