THE APORIAS OF TRANSHUMANISM: “LA SEGUNDA CELESTE” BY ALBERTO CHIMAL, AND SINFÍN BY MARTÍN CAPARRÓS

Abstract

In this paper we propose to analyze two recent works that have as a common theme the utopia of immortality achieved through technological means, that is, mind uploading: the short story of the Mexican Alberto Chimal, “La Segunda Celeste”, included in Manos de lumbre (2018) and the novel written in the form of chronicle, Sinfín (2020) by Argentine Martín Caparrós. Our aim is to show that the two works treat the theme of the uploading as a utopia in the sense given to this term by Matthew Beaumont, as a look at a historicized present from the perspective of a fantastic future, thus reflecting rather the contradictions of the present vision on the human than a real investigation of an implacably opaque future. At the same time, we will show that both works reveal the paradox observed by Fredric Jameson regarding the impossibility of distinguishing between utopia and dystopia when it comes to investigating the future. Finally, we will try to highlight that, in the two texts, the utopian uploading, which is one of the fundamental objectives of the transhumanist agenda, is viewed with the scepticism derived from a pessimistic view of a subject, who accesses technology without being able to overcome his human weaknesses, thus failing to become “post-human”.