The Cyborg Caribbean: Techno–Dominance in Twenty–First–Century Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican Science Fiction

In The Cyborg Caribbean: Techno-Dominance in Twenty-First-Century Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican Science Fiction, Samuel Ginsburg studies an extensive corpus of recent Hispanic Caribbean science fiction to understand how technology functions within systems of oppression. Techno-dominance, as he calls it, refers to “the ways technologies and technology-based rhetoric or imagery interact with, maintain, and facilitate colonization and authoritarianism” (3). In the introduction to his book, Ginsburg asserts that the use and abuse of technology by colonizing political powers in the region results in the marginalization, dehumanization, and normativization of bodies and communities. Nonetheless, far from revealing an entirely dystopian or apocalyptic world, Ginsburg states that Hispanic Caribbean science fiction also presents “new connections and solidarities that can be created in the aftermath” (9) of disaster. Resistance and decolonization are thus a possibility and an end result. At the core of his analysis, then, is the question of the relationship between technology and humanity. This particular focus on the concept of technology rounds out the conversation on Hispanic Caribbean and Latinx science fiction along with other recent works, such as Posthumanism and Latin(x) American Science Fiction, edited by Emily Maguire and Antonio Córdoba (Springer, 2023); Emily Maguire’s Tropical Time Machines: Science Fiction in the Contemporary Hispanic Caribbean (University of Florida Press, 2024); and Doom Patterns: Latinx Speculations and the Aesthetics of Violence by Maia Gil’Aldí (Duke University Press, 2025).The Cyborg Caribbean is divided into four chapters, an introduction, and a conclusion. More specifically, each chapter focuses on four particular forms of technology represented in recent science fiction: electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), nuclear weapons, space explorations, and digital avatars. After delving into the history of ECT in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, Chapter 1 examines texts by Pedro Cabiya, Alexandra Pagán Vélez, and Vagabond Beaumont. These fictions, Ginsburg argues, “look back at the historical manipulation of medical and scientific language as they question the rhetorical legacies of these electrified instances of techno-dominance in the Caribbean” (18). Though subjected to torture and abuse, the posthuman or “excessive” bodies in these stories defy heteronormative notions of existence imposed by (neo-)colonial and imperialist regimes. This chapter very aptly brings up issues of gender identity and sexual orientation. However, although in his analysis Ginsburg does an excellent in-depth and meticulous close reading and interpretation of the texts, the connections with the historical use of ECT seem at times a bit arbitrary in the absence of nuances that problematize the specificities of the cases exposed.In Chapters 2 and 3, Ginsburg explores fiction about nuclear weapons and space exploration, respectively. Chapter 2 looks at narratives by Rey Emmanuel Andújar, Yasmín Silvia Portales, and Erick Mota. Ginsburg concludes that the “texts contest and reshape the archive of narratives that weaponize nuclear technologies . . . while also creating space for proper mourning and understanding of nuclear technology’s dangerous aftereffects beyond sublime explosions” (67). A particularly original contribution in this chapter is Ginsburg’s reading of these narratives as creators of “space for proper mourning and understanding of nuclear technology’s dangerous aftereffects beyond sublime explosions” (67), reinforcing his thesis of science fiction as a genre of possibility and resistance.In Chapter 3, Ginsburg explores texts by Haris Durrani, Yoss, and Luis Othoniel Rosa. He proposes that space exploration fiction exposes colonial domination as far more dangerous and destabilizing than potential extraterrestrial invasions. Finally, Chapter 4 considers the ever-growing and omnipresent world of internet technology and what he calls “disruptive avatars.” Both of these technologies recode bodies and spaces in the contemporary Caribbean. In this chapter, Ginsburg studies the work of Maielis González Fernández, Jorge Enrique Lage, and Rita Indiana Hernández and the ways in which they think about possible Caribbean futures. As Ginsburg argues in the book’s introduction, fictions of techno-dominance are a successful tool to present “potential visions of the future while also challenging the supposed inevitability of those dystopic possibilities” (5).Though including science fiction from all three Hispanic Caribbean nations—Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico—and its diaspora might seem too ambitious, Ginsburg is able to present all contexts effortlessly. Ginsburg’s work is an important contribution to think about the Caribbean’s geographical, political, and cultural complexity. This is in part achieved by looking at more than just recently published short stories and novels. The incorporation and discussion of sociocultural and historical references, such as the extremely popular Miss Universe pageant, the now collapsed Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, the Columbus Lighthouse in the Dominican Republic, or Cuba’s participation in the Soviet Union’s space exploration mission in 1980, highlights the importance of studying the Caribbean as a region with “a shared history and cultural traditions” (6).Furthermore, on the one hand, the authors included in this book, some of whom are part of the Caribbean diaspora living in the United States or even in other parts of the Caribbean, “highlight the fluidity and mobility within and beyond the islands” (7). On the other hand, as Ginsburg notably points out, the fact that the setting of the stories analyzed in The Cyborg Caribbean is not always in recognizable Caribbean or North American spaces pushes the limits of the Caribbean as a geographical and cultural region. In this sense, though not explicitly stated, Ginsburg’s work establishes a dialogue with archipelagic studies from the lens of genre studies.This recent contribution to Caribbean studies and science fiction studies opens up new and relevant discussions on the intersections of class, race, and gender as they relate to issues of technology and power. It is certainly a welcomed addition to the existing and fast-growing field of Caribbean science fiction. With The Cyborg Caribbean, Samuel Ginsburg demonstrates that the science fiction technology that makes cyborgs possible has somehow shaped the past history of the Caribbean, and it can certainly help us imagine the future on our own terms, a truly “decolonizing act” (128).