Negotiating humanity: Anthropomorphic robots in the Swedish television series Real Humans

Abstract

Abstract:In this article I analyse the renegotiations and re-establishments of borders between humans and hubots (humanoid robots) in the Swedish sf television series Äkta människor (Real Humans) through the concepts of trans-corporeality and recyclability, where the concept of being 'recyclable' prompts questions of life and death. The use of anthropomorphism and the recyclability of the characters paradoxically articulates sameness while referring to differences, and it suggests that humans and hubots are entangled and always composed, decomposed and recomposed by, and into, other bodies. This might have practical implications for modern society in terms of ethics and rights for anthropomorphic robots.