Entanglements
Journal of Posthumanities

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Editor-in-Chief: Sukhendu Das, Bankura University
Executive Editor: Baloram Balo, Doctoral Scholar, University of Kalyani

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(Article)
Human and Posthuman in Tales of Extinction
Authored By — Paul Sharrad

Abstract

Via Braidotti, Ranciére and others, the article notes Australia's massive loss of species and examines fiction that points to this problem, seeking ways by which to engage feelings and change attitudes. In a predominantly humanist tradition, novels and stories move from cute animals dressed as humans to more anguished engagements with bird extinctions. All varyingly push people from complacency to envisaging their own extinction, from melancholia to activism, pointing to a posthuman unlearning in which we are no longer exceptional agents, but one more set of actants in and of nature. Following posthuman theorists like Barad and Braidotti, the article surveys Australia's record of species extinctions and assesses novels by Ethel Pedley, Dal Stivens, Josephine Wilson and Richard Flanagan for their handling of ecological crisis.

Keywords

Australia, fiction, species, extinction, actants, agents, posthuman
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