Astronautic Subjects: Postmodern Identity and the Embodiment of Space in American Science Fiction — Page 8:
38 The astronaut is a crucial figure for a discussion of postmodern subjectivity. Like the cyborg, he/she seems to resist stable inscriptions, being endowed with a sense of autonomy that detaches his/her body from patterns bound to a certain time or location. The astronaut is clearly marked as a creature of future times, an inhabitant of territories not yet discovered. Unlike the nomad who, in Braidotti's phrase, "blurs boundaries without burning bridges," the astronaut does burn bridges. The astronautic subject is not only a mythological explorer of new terrains; moreover, he/she is a composite creature, meandering between both genders and traveling between the realms of social practice and utopia. Most importantly, the concept evokes a figuration of overcoming the traditional dualisms of mind and space. As astronautic subjects, we are courageous enough to enter new spheres and independent enough to develop alternative forms of thinking - even at the risk of sometimes losing our sense of orientation.