TECHNOLOGY, BODY, AND SEXUALITY IN J. G. BALLARD’S CRASH
TECHNOLOGY, BODY, AND SEXUALITY IN J. G. BALLARD’S CRASH

Summary/Abstract: The article analyzes James Graham Ballard’s novel Crash, one of the most controversial books written in post-War Britain. It focuses on the way technology and the human body merge in Ballard’s world and also how technology in this novel becomes aestheticized and sexualized. Although there have certainly been other writers before Ballard who celebrated technology and speed, Ballard goes even further by presenting a life totally dominated by technology – on the physical, sexual, and psychological level. One of the most interesting and contended aspects of Crash is the portrayal of a new sexuality that is closely linked with technology and, more importantly, with the destructive and violent side of technology – the car crash. The interaction between the human body and the machine opens up new possibilities for the protagonists of the novel. We discuss the central role that the car crash has for Ballard’s characters as well as the merger of the sexual impulses and the death drive in Ballard’s world. The presence of ethical considerations in the novel or the lack thereof will also be dealt with in the article.

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