Reclusiveness and posthumanist subjectivity

Abstract

What happens if one wishes to affirm reclusiveness at the very time in history when it is physically and pragmatically most difficult to be alone? In such times, what does it mean to be a recluse and to opt out of present and future connectedness? The article briefly reviews strategies and cultures of reclusiveness in history, from anchoritic existences to the enigmatic withdrawals of figures like Maurice Blanchot. It also assesses claims of inescapable panopticism in contemporary social structures. Reference is made to fictional and nonfictional narratives that prefigure the fortunes of reclusiveness in posthuman times. At the same time, however, the article tries to avoid any glib suggestion that reclusiveness is technologically readaptive. Rather, it considers how the natures, cultures and timescapes of aloneness in a futurological age of techno-generalized nodality might help us better understand the atemporal and timeless dimensions of posthumanist subjectivity.