Jani Ylönen

A Created Adult and the Ideal Childhood

Introduction

A created adult and the ideal childhood. Anne Charnock's 'A Calculated Life' examines sci-fi ethics, reproduction, and genetic technology, linking them to class and childhood. Explore how social constructs shape future tech.

Abstract

Science fiction has discussed questions of ethics and reproduction since its birth. This article demonstrates how Anne Charnock’s A Calculated Life (2013) contributes to these discussions by connecting questions of genetic technology and reproduction to discourses on class and childhood. The analysis of the novel demonstrates how childhood as a social construct is connected to social class and to ethical questions that carry over to the discussion on the possibilities of reproductive technology. The interaction between the protagonist, Jayna, a programmed lower-class human, and Alice, a child of middle-class privilege, shows how discourses of the past are always included in speculations about the future. The article shows how science fiction can serve as an important site for examining the prospects of new technologies by producing speculative yet concrete scenarios about imminent yet abstract technologies.

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