Olimpia, Samantha, Will. A discussion of man-machine love stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, Spike Jonze, and Jack Paglan (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject German Studies - Modern German Literature, grade: A/ 1,0, New York University (Department of German), course: Seminar: The Myth of the Machine, language: English, abstract: Man¿s relationship to machines has taken on various forms through the centuries and stages of machinic development. Technophile and technophobic tendencies have respectively unfold under the presumption of machines taking over physical or cognitive functions. Consequently, their impact on our way of perceiving and evaluating as well as performing in and interacting with the world is either appreciated or dreaded. Much has also been said about machines organizing and filtering interpersonal communication and thus shaping the very nature of our engagement with both human and nature. However, all these discourses conceive of the resulting man-machine interaction in terms of a paradigm that sets man as the user of the machine: It is employed as a means to a certain end and is construed as the counterpart in a relationship established under the premise of use. Entering the realm of Science-Fiction and following the course research on Artificial Intelligences has taken, it becomes clear that man¿s emotional engagement with machines and artificial intelligences pose a completely new set of problems going beyond questions of our qualitative and quantitative engagement with the world. It leads to questioning the very human itself and pushes the boundaries regarding our ideas of actually living with machines in terms of an emotional involvement.
This paper wants to trace three different textual representations of emotional relationships between man and machine. Key moments of each narrative shall be identified to gain insights into how the narratives design the man-machine relationships. The following questions shall guide the discussion of the examples: How is the significant other portrayed, i.e. what is specifically machinic about her/ him and in how far does the notion of a machine still apply at all or needs to be revised? How does the physical relationship manifest itself between man and machine? Are there identifiable specific aspects of this new kind of emotional interaction? What prospects do these textual representations formulate regarding man-machine relationships?