Antiutopies apocalyptiques et posthumaines
Apocalyptic and Posthuman Dystopias

Summary/Abstract: After the Second World War and after the discovery of the atomic bomb, apocalyptic fears have intensified in modern literature, giving rise to a series of antiutopian writings, in which human civilization as we know it comes to an end in the wake of various catastrophes, such as: environmental, climatic, astronomical, epidemic, and human induced (wars, overpopulation, genetic mutations, etc.). Authors of antiutopias often populate their post-apocalyptic worlds with characters or groups of survivors that suffer anthropological, moral, or spiritual mutations. Technological and genetic manipulations engender robotic (Karel Čapek) or mechanized individuals (David Bunch) and decerebrated (T. J. Bass) or post-human mutants (Margaret Atwood). In these antiutopias, post-humanity is usually not only the heir but also a witness to the extinction of the human race, providing a testimony for the “last man on earth.”

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