A Heideggerian Reading of the Posthuman Treatment of Death in Don DeLillo’s Zero K

Abstract

This article deals with the idea of death in relation to posthuman technology in the American novel Zero K (2016), by Don DeLillo. The idea of death is studied from Martin Heidegger’s existential perspectives which postulate that death and temporality constitute the “being” of humans, and death is what gives meaning to existence. Heidegger, who distinguishes between authentic and inauthentic attitudes to death, claims that authenticity entails anticipation of life as being finite, while inauthenticity is displayed by an inclination to avoid death. Relying on this postulate, we argue that the posthuman technological tendencies to eliminate death strip the person of human essence and throw him into inauthenticity and existential boredom. In so doing, we discuss the point of view which claims that posthumanism reserves a utopian future for humanity. The article concludes that Zero K alerts at the existential plight which awaits humanity under the technological apriorism of immortality.