Abstract
In my paper, I want to focus on the problem of transhuman and posthuman in popular culture. I would like to take a look at main characters in Berserk by Miura Kentarō (a manga series published since 1989 until today) in order to show the relationship between the human and non-human. Especially interesting is the evolution of the main characters from a strong human to a beast (hence the title Berserk). By analyzing how the change progresses, I intend to answer the question of vision of human nature presented in popular culture and the ethics issue connected with it (Why do we want to be human or why not? Do we have to sacrifice something?). The story created by the Japanese author, occurring in a reality similar to the European Middle Ages is a good example of the intermingling of traditions and a fascinating instance of transhumanism in popular culture.
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Notes
- 1.
鷹 (たか) http://jisho.org/search/%E9%B7%B9 (7.05.2015).
- 2.
The thread that I only signalize in this paper (because of the small amount of information available), however existent and important it is for the story, is the presence of God in this world.
- 3.
The world of Berserk is inhabited by monsters known from mythology: unicorns, elves, sirens. Nevertheless, they are separate species, rarely interacting with humans and not possible to be seen by everyone. Their presence plays a role in the novel as a whole, but as they are not important for my considerations, I decided to omit their existence in the body of the text.
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Kućma, N. (2021). Transhuman and Posthuman in Popular Culture on the Basis of Miura Kentarō’s Berserk. In: Hornbuckle, C.A., Smith, J.S., Smith, W.S. (eds) Phenomenology of the Object and Human Positioning. Analecta Husserliana, vol 122. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66437-4_12
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