Posthumanism and The Role of Technology: Between Myth and Metaphor in H.G. Wells' Dystopian Novel the Time Machine

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to demonstrate how H G Wells' novella, The Time Machine examined the contemporary social, cultural, and political environment via a posthumanist perspective of far future. Methodology. Adopting a qualitative research design, the study emphasized on critical and analytical techniques in the novella. The study was carried out with close reading method of the text, identifying sections which relate to posthumanism and the impact of technology in futuristic perspective. The data so identified was analyzed with the view to verify the theoretical underpinnings and the posthumanist perspective and examine the narrative rolling between myth and metaphor. Findings. The findings revealed how tremendous upheavals of the Industrial Revolution in the early eighteenth century influenced several aspects of society. It was evident that Wells was portraying and analyzing the futuristic and experimental changes that society was confronting, including technological advancement, its role, societal divisions, and inequality as society changes from Victorian England to a future time in 802,701. Implications for Research and Practice. The findings imply that despite the futuristic ambition to project technology to achieve innovative results, it may also replace humans; therefore, we should still de-mask that superstitious ambition to the extent that its role may still be restricted to supplementary means, whether personal or societal, and as tools that work for humans` benefit in proving their material goods. The study also implies how philosophical and scientific conception on the excessing role of the technology can serve for the human benefit.