Humanist vestiges in contemporary science fiction

Abstract

Both Spike Jonze’s her and Alex Garland’s ex machina make references to such outdated media and cultural techniques as the handwritten letter, the hand-drawn sketch, oil paintings and the bound volume of the book. An analysis of the use and function of these seemingly obsolete cultural techniques in the two science fiction movies reveals a surprising commitment to traditionally humanist values as grounded in the invocation of the individualized, mortal human body.---Original in English.