Frankenstein’s Monster as Mythical Mattering: Rethinking the Creator-Creation Technology Relationship

Abstract : The mythical tale of Frankenstein portrays a certain pursuit of knowledge as being the monster. By drawing parallels between Frankenstein’s tale and aspects of both Martin Heidegger’s and Marshall McLuhan’s work, this paper foregrounds what ontologically needs to “matter” for us to “love” our technological creations. Creator-creation modes of being are problematized in relation to the pursuit of knowledge, suggesting an organic view of being is needed. What this view highlights is an important knowledge-identity dichotomy; one which plays an irrevocable role in our understanding of the people-technology relationship.