{"title":"Transhumanism, Utopia, and the Problem of the Real in Ready Player One","authors":"Andrew Monteith","doi":"10.3138/jrpc.2018-0054","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Ann Taves's argument about \"special things\" permits religion scholars to analyze secular texts fruitfully. Notably, Ernest Cline's Ready Player One speculates about humanity's possible future and how technological advancement could reshape it. Although the narrative assumes an atheistic stance, its central, conceptual tensions are categorically religious. Cline's imagined cyberworld sensorily immerses users into an alternative kind of space and allows them to inhabit bodies of their own choosing; this represents a kind of transhumanist, utopian impulse similar to shamanism. However, Ready Player One problematizes this created world ontologically and questions whether relationships formed in such a place can be authentically meaningful. Contrasting the book, the film adaptation, and fan fiction illustrates the controversial stakes at play.","PeriodicalId":38290,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion and Popular Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1000,"publicationDate":"2021-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Religion and Popular Culture","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3138/jrpc.2018-0054","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"RELIGION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract:Ann Taves's argument about "special things" permits religion scholars to analyze secular texts fruitfully. Notably, Ernest Cline's Ready Player One speculates about humanity's possible future and how technological advancement could reshape it. Although the narrative assumes an atheistic stance, its central, conceptual tensions are categorically religious. Cline's imagined cyberworld sensorily immerses users into an alternative kind of space and allows them to inhabit bodies of their own choosing; this represents a kind of transhumanist, utopian impulse similar to shamanism. However, Ready Player One problematizes this created world ontologically and questions whether relationships formed in such a place can be authentically meaningful. Contrasting the book, the film adaptation, and fan fiction illustrates the controversial stakes at play.
摘要:安•塔维斯关于“特殊事物”的论述,使宗教学者得以对世俗文本进行富有成效的分析。值得注意的是,欧内斯特·克莱恩(Ernest Cline)的《头号玩家》(Ready Player One)推测了人类可能的未来,以及技术进步如何重塑它。尽管叙事采取了无神论的立场,但其核心的概念紧张关系绝对是宗教性的。克莱恩想象中的网络世界让用户沉浸在另一种空间中,让他们可以居住在自己选择的身体里;这代表了一种类似于萨满教的超人文主义乌托邦冲动。然而,Ready Player One在本体论上质疑这个创造的世界,并质疑在这样一个地方形成的关系是否真正有意义。将这本书、改编电影和粉丝小说进行对比,说明了其中存在争议的利害关系。