Gothic literature evolves into posthumanism: Jeanette Winterson'sFrankissstein as a 21st century rewriting of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Jeanette Winterson's Frankissstein: A Love Story is a posthumanist reimagining of Mary Shelley's iconic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. This adaptation is not merely a thematic update, but rather a contemporary literary reconstruction that redefines the concepts of the human, the body, and the mind. The gothic sci-fi masterpiece of Shelley is given a lead to get a place in the twenty-first century surrounded by artificial intelligence and high technology. Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, which is a gothic masterpiece of Shelley, can be evaluated to be a step from a gothic novel to a posthuman perspective since it scrutinizes the representation of the human and the monster just like Frankissstein: A Love Story demonstrates the representation of the human and artificial intelligence. In order to understand the connection between gothic and posthumanism, Humanism and Transhumanism must be known with their basic definitions. Frankissstein: A Love Story is a re-written version of Shelley's Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus and it springs up to present day to hold out a posthuman environment focusing on the relationship of human beings with hybrid robots and non-biological creatures. Both of the novels question the ascendency of humans against other forms of nature through the main characters as well as their ultimate desire for creation and transformation. Dr. Frankenstein creates a living being, which becomes a reason of fear for him and Victor Stein fictionalizes a cybernetic life dimension by creating robots. Winterson's novel variegates the posthuman environment by presenting the transgender Dr. Ry falling in love with Victor Stein who dignifies cyber practices as a living. Jeanette Winterson connects the first gothic science-fiction novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus with the future of humanity by recreating the same idea of transforming in a different perspective. This thesis investigates the transformation of gothic literature into the realm of posthumanism, focusing on the transition from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus to Jeanette Winterson's Frankissstein: A Love Story. Throughout the thesis, these two novels will be compared and contrasted in the frame of gothic and posthuman discourse.