Disability and Memory in Posthuman(ist) Narrative: Reading Prosthesis and Amnesia in Hollywood’s Re-membering of the ‘War on Terror’

Abstract

What is the memory of the human in posthuman formations of cultural narrative? To what extent is such memory driven by a powerful anti-humanism or, conversely, a nostalgia for a human(ist) modes of being? This article will argue that a consideration of disability representation offers an optic through which to addresses these questions. It will focus on two terms – prosthesis and amnesia – that describe disability experiences but are also central concepts in memory studies. Exploring the interactions and tensions between these different manifestations, the article will argue for the possibility of a productive critical mode that brings together approaches from both memory and disability studies to analyse posthumanist conceptions of culture, particularly in relation to the portrayal of war and conflict. It will then move to focus on an analysis of three high-profile Hollywood films – Green Zone (2010), Source Code (20) and The Hurt Locker (2008) – that bring together depictions of conflict, technology and selfhood, and read them from within a disability optic that focuses on prostheses and amnesia. In Green Zone and Source Code, military power is rooted in technology and networked assemblages, but the human body itself is seen to be fragile and the films frequently return to core humanist conceptions of the individual in re-membering selfhood and resolving narrative issues. The article will suggest that The Hurt Locker, which also explores questions of power, technology and the human, enacts more complex notions of disability and memory, using them to potentially undermine humanist categories. It will end by noting that, while there are emerging creative and critical opportunities for interrogating humanism through the representation of memory and disability, mainstream cinema is caught between a fascination for technological potentials and the pull of classic human/individual-centred narratives.