Homo creator ultrum homo exterminator? Doświadczenie literackie

Abstract

HOMO CREATOR ULTRUM HOMO EXTERMINATOR? LITERARY EXPERIENCE

This article is based on a  partial analysis and interpretation of Dmitry Glukhovsky’s novel Futu.re. Here, the author presents a globalised world whose citizens, thanks to genetic engineering, have achieved immortality. However, the price of bringing the invention to life turned out to be very high: the authorities do not allow the birth of offspring, and those who break this ban are injected with a  substance that accelerates ageing. Old age is seen as evil, as the cult of health, beauty and youth prevails. The family ceases to be a value, as do love, tradition and attachment. Nor is the continuity of generations ensured by creativity, which is no longer necessary, since dreams and desires have disappeared. Man believes himself to be God, the soul has been separated from the body, and desecration of sacred objects is taking place. Immortality has resulted in overpopulation and associated population migrations. The aggressive activity of the human being has brought climate catastrophe and hitherto unknown diseases. Responsibility is atrophied, the human creator turns into a  creature who destroys others and himself. And although Glukhovsky’s novel is set in the 25th century, the reader realises that the events presented are about the present.