Can we all be cyborgs? An analytic discussion on whether the plays Blow Off (2016) and Square Go (2018) can exist in a non-gendered world, using aspects of Donna Haraway’s Cyborg Concept to unpick thematic representations of gender and identity

Abstract

Donna Haraway’s exploration of humanity’s relationship with technology has transformed the way gender, feminism and politics is discussed in the modern day. Her urgency to deconstruct the rigid boundaries supplied by identity politics in A Cyborg Manifesto (1991) has been described as one of the most influential posthumanist studies of its time as she explores and critiques the how deeply the gender discourse is engrained on society. This study aims to extract aspects of Haraway’s cyborg concept and construct a critical framework to then unpick and analyse the thematic presence of gender in the play Blow Off (2016) and Square Go (2018). This analysis should then insight a discussion of the relevance of gender in both plays, and determine whether each text could exist in a non-gendered world.