Augmentation: From Cyberpunk to Supercrip

What happens when we examine the cyborg heroes of science fiction through the lens of disability studies? While academic discussions of cyborgs, the posthuman, and disability cover similar territory when examining the human condition, the three lines of inquiry are often held separately. This collection investigates how these overlapping subjects ‘punk’ ideas of technology, biology, and social justice, within the dystopia of cyberpunk fiction. Originally conceived as a course at the University of Amsterdam, then further developed as an MA tutorial, Augmentation illustrates the role of the prosthesis as a cultural, social, and literary phenomena: focusing on several key dystopian texts (the now canonical texts of Cyberpunk fiction, as well as peripheral texts where disability is a main theme) the collection brings together scientific, philosophical, and cultural discussion to better understand the role of disability within future-forecasting texts. Increasingly, contemporary media portrays the prosthetic as a means toward superhuman; this collection investigates how the cyberpunk became the contemporary supercrip.