Digital Souls and Physical Bodies: Consciousness, Embodiment, and Power in Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon
Bodhi International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Science April 30, 2026 DOI: 10.64938/bijsi.v10i3.26.apr072 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Altered states of consciousness |
| Key points | Argues that Altered Carbon normalizes technological systems that regulate life, commodify the body, and embed power within everyday existence, and that the novel marks a shift from cyberpunk's emphasis on resistance to a postcyberpunk condition of adaptation and integration in which technological infrastructures and economic logic shape human subjectivity rather than individual autonomy. |
Abstract
This article examines the relationship between digital consciousness, embodiment and power in Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon within the framework of postcyberpunk literature. Drawing upon N. Katherine Hayles’ posthumanism, Michel Foucault’s biopolitics and biopower, and theories of late capitalism by Frederic Jameson and David Harvey, and Jean Baudrillard’s simulacra, this study argues that the novel normalises technological systems that regulate life, commodify the body, and embed power within everyday existence. Through a close analysis of cortical stack technology, re-sleeving, and governance mechanisms the article also examines how Altered Carbon marks a shift from cyberpunk’s emphasis on resistance to a postcyberpunk condition of adaptation and integration. In thiscontext, technological infrastructures and economic logic shape human subjectivity rather than individual autonomy. The study contributes to postcyberpunk scholarship by offering a systematic and integrated analysis of consciousness, embodiment, and power, thereby offering new insights into the cultural and theoretical implications of technological normalisation