Ann Fountain's Preface
What is the (Fe)Man/ual? Its headings indicate that is a modernist tool that seeks to impose order and control on our otherwise unruly thoughts. However, the use of topics was futile: many of our questions engaged several different issues and some questions were so central to our thinking that they accompanied each and every question, as was the case with purpose. In our imagination, (Fe)Man/ual is multiple, prism-like, and infinite. In this sense, the (Fe)Man/ual defies the modernist inclination towards complete rationality and order and transcends into the alleged "post-modern," if that does indeed exist.
If we can't quite pin down the (Fe)Man/ual in terms of theory, perhaps we should ask when is the (Fe)Man/ual? In some senses, the (Fe)Man/ual is a distillation of issues and questions that have become increasingly more important in the modern age. In this sense, the (Fe)Man/ual is a history lesson. When we ask questions about "personhood" and "identity" we are affirming the importance of the rational, self-authoring subject that evolved out of Enlightenment thinking in the 18th century. But more importantly, the types of questions we ask indicate our situatedness in this specific historical moment, Spring 2004, at Sarah Lawrence College. To get a sense, here are some reference points, within a small frame of time and space. We are: four years after the coming and going of the "millennium," three years after the bombing of the World Trade Center, two years after George Bush declared war on Iraq, two months after probes set out to explore the surface of Mars in hopes of gaining data that will be used in the creation of a permanent human presence on said planet, one month after our own college cancelled all classes in order to conduct a Teach-In on Race, Bias and Exclusion on the SLC campus. In addition, we are in the midst of the 75th anniversary of a school that, despite changes in makeup and curricular policies, remains intently focused on interdisciplinary studies, writing, discussion, and equal (if not better) education for women and men. Looking forward, we are: two months from a historic Olympics back in Athens, Greece, where the tradition began more than 2000 years ago, six months from one of the most heavily-anticipated presidential elections in the history of the United States. But this too is futile. I could go on and on.
Is it possible, then, to ask why the (Fe)Man/ual? This question is harder to answer in a concise way, but in the least it has a more definite answer: the (Fe)Man/ual arose out of our desire to explore the implications of building a cyborg. We write this (Fe)Man/ual in hopes that future cyborg-makers will consider ask themselves questions, as well as the infinite prism of questions that emanate from the ones we have written here. Furthermore, we hope that future cyborg-makers will be inspired by our efforts to recognize their own situatedness and come up with new questions that may have become more relevant in their own time, place, and culture.
Finally, then, it is a joy to ask what does the (Fe)Man/ual do? We can answer this question for ourselves: it allowed us to think critically about these issues of personhood, identity, education, purpose, human and non-human, spirituality, race, class, sex, desire, culture and what we value in the consideration of those issues. As I have stated above, it has also allowed us to locate the situatedness of our knowledge. But the real joy is asking this final question of you, the future cyborg-makers. What will this (Fe)Man/ual do for, to, and of you and your cyborg creations? We hope that you will approach your endeavor with all and more of the enthusiasm, earnestness, seriousness, and dedication that we have demonstrated in our work on this (Fe)Man/ual, and we hope that you continue asking as many questions as we have asked. May your questions never cease, and may your answers always have room for change, implosion, and explosion, in true cyb/org/ian fashion. |
