(R)evolutions: Genetics and Ethics in an Era of Technological Transformations in \'Las constelaciones oscuras\' by Pola Oloixarac

Pola Oloixarac’s second novel Las constelaciones oscuras (2015) has been one of the most eagerly awaited novels to come out of Latin America this year. Her first novel Las teorías salvajes (2008) earnt her a literary scholarship to the United States, a place amongst Granta’s best young novelists, as well as causing controversy amongst literary elites and students, alike, in Argentina. In her words: ‘The book has sparked verbal violence and sexist uproar precisely because it doesn’t deal with the issues that are traditionally associated with “women's literature”, but instead contains a sociological critique that is both intelligent and satirical, which are apparently traits solely reserved for men’. Her second novel is likewise provocative and sophisticated in its philosophical and sociological engagements. It begins in the world of anthropological study at the end of the nineteenth century and moves through a world of Hackers, porn, and videogames, to a project in the future which combines both genetics and technology. This apocalyptic fusion taps into some of our greatest present anxieties with regards to the control of biological/personal data and what would happen were it to fall into the wrong hands. The linguistic links between biology and technology (the main character is called Cassio), as well as a demystification of the human behind the virus (‘Virus es potencialmente un amigo’), provide a platform for examining the contact, connection, and ‘contagion’ between these two worlds. This powerpoint was part of a presentation given at the University of Cambridge 'Contagion and Containment' conference May 2016.