Journal of Digital Humanities and Science Fiction Studies
DHSFS, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2026, pp. 137-150.
Print ISSN: 3105-1278; Online ISSN: 3105-1286
Journal homepage: https://www.dhsfs.com
DOI: Https://doi.org/10.64058/DHSFS.26.1.12
人本主义文明对科技异化的消解——以《紧急皮肤》为例
梁祖念（Liang Zunian），王希腾（Wang Xiteng）
摘要：N·K·杰米辛曾凭《紧急皮肤》斩获2020年雨果奖最佳中短篇小说奖，但其中异化的身体形态与身份的关联却鲜为学界关注。现从“具身虚拟化”维度对其再解读，可发现：小说中的外太空星球是一个技术极权的场域，太空人的身体被具身虚拟化后，拥有了异化的身体形态。同时他还深受伪科学话语的精神侵蚀，被迫接受“去主体化”的异化身份。但太空人最终却通过返地任务实现了肉身与精神的双重解放，映射了人本主义文明对科技异化的消解作用。因此，从“具身虚拟化”角度出发解读小说不仅可以揭示算法中心主义如何通过科技极权重塑肉身形态、固化主体身份，更为理解智能社会中身体、认知与权力之间的复杂关系提供了新的阐释路径。这为数智文明演进中的人机合理互动提供了具象化的文学参照。
关键词：紧急皮肤；主体性；具身虚拟化；身体；身份认同
作者简介：梁祖念，广州大学外国语学院硕士研究生，研究方向：英美科幻小说。电邮：1339193799@qq.com。王希腾（通讯作者），广州大学外国语学院讲师，研究方向：西方文论和当代英语小说。电邮：heatonwang@gzhu.edu.cn。
Title: Humanistic Civilization as a Remedy for Technological Alienation—Reading Emergency Skin
Abstract: N. K. Jemisin won the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novelette with Emergency Skin, yet the relationship between alienated bodily forms and identity in the work has received little scholarly attention. Reinterpreting the novella from the perspective of embodied virtualization, this study argues that the extraterrestrial planet depicted in the narrative constitutes a field of techno-totalitarian control. Once virtually embodied, the astronaut’s body assumes an alienated physical form, reshaped and mediated by technological systems. At the same time, he is subjected to the ideological infiltration of pseudo-scientific discourse and compelled to accept a de-subjectified and estranged identity. However, through the mission of returning to Earth, the protagonist ultimately achieves a dual liberation of body and mind, symbolically reflecting the humanistic dissolution of technological alienation. Therefore, approaching the novella through the lens of embodied virtualization not only reveals how algorithmic centrism, operating through technological authoritarianism, reconstructs corporeal forms and consolidates subject identity, but also offers a new interpretive framework for understanding the complex relations among body, cognition, and power in an intelligent society. In this way, the text provides a concrete literary reference for envisioning more balanced human-machine interactions in the evolution of digital civilization.
Keywords: Emergency Skin; subjectivity; embodied virtualization; body; identity
Author Biographies: Liang Zunian, Master’s candidate at the School of Foreign Languages, Guangzhou University. Research Area: British and American Science Fiction. E-mail: 1339193799@qq.com. Wang Xiteng (corresponding author), Lecturer at the School of Foreign Languages, Guangzhou University. Research Areas: Western Literary Theories and Contemporary Novels. E-mail: heatonwang@gzhu.edu.cn.
