L’ospite desiderato: Parassitismo e spinta alla fusione non antropocentrica

Abstract

The parasite, whether a terrestrial or alien entity in search of a human “host” body, has
from its origins tickled the darkest and most morbid fantasies of science fiction narrative,
calling into question the inviolable property of the human body. Jack Finney’s “The Body
Snatchers” (1954), also thanks to its various film adaptations, has certainly contributed to
the dissemination of the sub-genre focused on the hostile intentions of the parasite as an

invasive otherness. But what if a greater contemporary awareness of the body as an experi-
mental machine led us to reconsider parasitism as an opportunity for transhuman enhance-
ment? And what if it could push us further, even to the point of desiring an empathic rela-
tionship with the parasite, as if it were a state-of-the-art Tamagotchi? Forced coexistence

could be seen from a perspective of mutual convenience in which the parasite becomes a
desired host, essential for survival in a changing environment, eventually becoming a friend
and confidant. And what if the next evolution were instead a totalizing fusion?