The Fragmented Self: Posthuman Subjectivity in Cory Doctorow’s Walkaway

Abstract

In an era where digital consciousness and post-scarcity economies challenge the foundations of human identity, Cory Doctorow’s Walkaway (2017) offers a radical exploration of posthuman subjectivity. This paper argues that the novel reconfigures the self through mind uploading, digital replication, and decentralized existence, presenting subjectivity as fluid, networked, and plural rather than singular and stable. Unlike traditional cyberpunk narratives that portray fragmented identity as a dystopian crisis, Walkaway depicts the dissolution of selfhood as an act of liberation from capitalist structures that commodify labor and mortality. Drawing on posthuman theory (Haraway, Hayles, Braidotti), the analysis examines Doctorow’s representation of consciousness duplication, the erosion of individualism, and the socio-political stakes of posthuman futures. Ultimately, Walkaway functions as a utopian counter-narrative to cyberpunk’s prevailing anxieties, redefining identity in the age of digital transcendence while raising urgent ethical and philosophical questions about the politics of posthumanism.