ABSTRACT
The end of the twentieth century marked the transformation of the animal into an ‘anomal’. In the aftermath of technological and cultural advance, primarily brought on by computer and biomedical sciences, as well as postmodern aesthetic and political discourse, we have increasingly presented ourselves in terms of our post-human, post-operative, cyborgian qualities. We no longer talk about our anima, ‘vital breath’, but rather define ourselves as ‘anomal’, from anomalus, ‘un-even’, ‘against, opposite to’ ‘regular’ ‘same’, ‘deviation from the common or “natural” order’ (OED). Because of this departure from the normative, natural order, we have become increasingly obsessed with the possibilities of difference offered by structure, form, shape, aesthetics, skin/surface, dress and even spectacle (reality TV, for instance). At the same time we have started to define ourselves in terms of our genetic imprint. Hence our obsession with codes, databases, autobiography, surveillance. Because of our ability not only to intervene in our ‘selves’, but also to substantially modify ourselves, our animality is progressively turning into anomality.
