Human Magic, Fairy Technology and the Place of the Supernatural in the Age of Cyberculture
Anna Bugajska · 2011
Artemis Fowl, written at the dawn of the twenty-first century by Eoin Colfer, hails a new era of cyberculture, one so immersed in technology that even a book for young adults is hardly understandable without the knowledge of a specialized jargon. Part of the success of Colfer’s series lies in his striking combination of supernatural and technical elements. He forces us to take a new vantage point, which no longer allows for the ordinary division of the ‘technical’ from the ‘magical.’ In the age of cyberculture, yesterday’s magic is today’s technology. The twentieth century was a time of rapid technological advancement. Even at its start, one could read in Sir James Frazer’s The Golden Bough how technology had replaced the magical, the supernatural, and the fantastic. More than a century later, however, we cannot confirm his description. The two spheres co-exist and merge, being indispensable for humans. The ‘Supernatural’, the ‘magical’, and the ‘fantastic’ become separated, which is clearly visible in Artemis Fowl. All of these, traditionally considered together, come to interact with a highly technical world: fairies deprived of natural wings use their artificial counterparts; dwarves are practically walking machines; invisibility is achieved by ‘shielding’; and Artemis uses ‘human magic’ to heal a fairy, but must rack his brain to escape ‘fairy technology’. The convergence point comes at the search for a Booke of Magick and at a failed ritual performance. This chapter intends to examine the consequences of the meeting of these two worlds. Apparently, the supernatural has not been swallowed up by technology, and is vital to human life. It is, rather, our approach to it that has changed; and this needs to be discussed. In the face of scientific progress, we have to redefine our stance and combine ‘fairy’ with ‘technology’.