Cyborgs in Literature: From 19th-Century Prosthetics to Cyberpunk

Key facts

• The article was published in art press 2 n°25 'Cyborg' (May-June-July 2012).
• 19th-century prosthetics inspired literature where artificial organs integrate or replace human bodies.
• Xavier Mauméjean's 2004 'Vénus anatomique' features La Mettrie, Vaucanson, and Fragonard creating an artificial woman.
• Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam's 1886 'L'Ève future' presents Hadaly, an augmented woman built by Edison.
• Gaston Leroux's 1923-1924 novels involve brain grafting into an artificial body named Gabriel.
• Philip K. Dick's 1968 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' includes Pris, a pleasure android.
• William Gibson's 1984 'Neuromancer' features Molly, a cyborg with metal claws and electronic eyes.
• Edgar Allan Poe's 1840 'The Man That Was Used Up' satirizes the augmented man as a 'thing indescribable'.
• Jean de La Hire's 1908 'L'Homme qui peut vivre dans l'eau' introduces the Nyctalope with an artificial heart.
• Martin Caidin's 1972 'Cyborg' is about a rebuilt pilot turned elite spy.
• Algis Budrys's 1958 'Who?' depicts a physicist with a metal egg head after an accident.
• Frederik Pohl's 1976 'Man Plus' shows a cyborg losing humanity on Mars.
• Edward Page Mitchell's 1879 'The Ablest Man in the World' features a mechanical brain for a retarded man.
• H.P. Lovecraft's 1931 'The Whisperer in Darkness' involves brain preservation in cylinders.
• Greg Egan's 1995 'Learning to Be Me' uses a crystal to record brain activity for eventual replacement.
• Isaac Asimov's 1976 'The Bicentennial Man' has robot Andrew becoming mortal.
• Andreas Eschbach's 2003 'The Last of His Kind' opens with a blind and hemiplegic cyborg.
• The article notes that many cyborgs die tragically, emphasizing their fragility.