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Cyborgian Self-Awareness: Trauma and Memory in Blade Runner and Westworld
- Theory & Event
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 22, Number 4, October 2019
- pp. 820-841
- 10.1353/tae.2019.0055
- Article
- Additional Information
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Abstract:
This paper examines the idea of memory being a dangerous weapon through the genre of sci-fi, specifically as the basis of a collective history for artificial life forms which poses a danger to the state, as I examine three shows: Blade Runner, Blade Runner 2049, and the HBO series Westworld. Furthermore, the affect of traumatic memories in artificial life parallels the ways that the state deals with post-traumatic stress (PTS) in soldiers; in this revelation I examine parallels to veteran testimonies of military atrocities. Overall, three things arise within these stories: 1) Memory is dangerous to the state; 2) The state attempts to manage and control memory; and 3) Memory can be liberatory, as it is an act of resistance.