The Posthuman Imagination of Digital Opera in the 21st Century: Michel van der Aa's (2019-2020)
The Korean Society of Culture and Convergence, Yuseon Won · 문화와 융합 · 2023
This study explores the post-human imaginative aspects present in Michel van der Aa's opera Upload(2019-2020). This work serves as a motif based on the concept of ‘mind uploading’ which has been extensively discussed in connection with the advent of posthumanism in the future. After examining the shifts in contemporary opera due to the proliferation of technology, this study delves into the futuristic imagination realized in “Upload” through three perspectives: ‘post-death and disembodiment imagination,’ ‘the dichotomy of mind and body in a gender context,’ and ‘transition from transhuman narratives to posthuman narratives.’ While this piece seemingly portrays a techno-fantasy that aims to overcome human limitations through technology, it also presents the problems that could arise from technological failure through its stagecraft transcending the stage and screen, narrative strategies of reversal, and the intertwining of electronic and acoustic music.