Mind transfer (biological)
Mind transfer or identity transfer is a storytelling device seen in a variety of science fiction and supernatural fiction, in which one's consciousness is transferred into another body.[1] A "bidirectional" mind transfer is variously called body swap, mind swap, or identity exchange.[2]
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction distinguishes the following mechanisms of identity transfer:
- Transfer of the personality to another body akin to mind uploading into computer[1]
- Brain transplant[1]
- Aliens taking over human bodies[1]
- Shared identity, whereby the host body accepts another's mind[1]
Body hopping is a trope wherein an entity inhabits a sequence of different bodies.[3]
Early occurrences of mind transfer include The Year 4338: Petersburg Letters (Vladimir Odoyevsky, 1835), in which mind transfer is but a plot trick to travel into the future,[4] and "Exchanging Their Souls" (Edward Page Mitchell, 1877), where it is used as a "wonderful cure" for a "Russian Prince Michalskovich".[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 Identity Transfer, In: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
- ↑ Identity Exchange, In: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
- ↑ Martin, Adrian. "Body Hopping: A Thought Experiment." Journal of Asia-Pacific Pop Culture 5.1 (2020): 7-22.
- ↑ Cornwell, Neil, Vladimir Odoevsky and romantic poetics: collected essays, London, England: Berghahn Books, 1998.
- ↑ Collected Stories by Edward Page Mitchell