The Cyborg Identity and Fragmented Bodies in Ahmed Saadawi’s Frankenstein in Baghdad

Abstract

     This study explores cyborg identity and the representation of the fragmented body in Ahmed Saadawi’s Frankenstein in Baghdad (2013), reading them as central metaphors through which the lived reality of the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 is articulated. Drawing on Donna Haraway’s cyborg theory, the study examines the figure of the “Whatsitsname” as a composite being assembled from the remains of violence victims, whose existence embodies a hybrid identity that unsettles conventional binaries such as human/machine, victim/perpetrator, and self/other. The fragmented body of the monster is thus not treated merely as evidence of physical destruction; rather, it is approached as a political and ethical text that exposes the erosion of moral and human values amid sectarian conflict and social disintegration. Moreover, the study argues that the dismembered body of Whatsitsname reflects the fragmentation of both individual and collective identities, functioning as a symbolic mirror of Baghdad itself—a divided urban space unable to sustain a coherent sense of justice, belonging, or meaning in the aftermath of prolonged violence.