Literary representations of the posthuman: an ecocritical analysis of the novels Mountains Seas and Giants by Alfred Döblin and The Abolition of Species by Dietmar Dath

[B. B. Ognjanović]

257 str.

Predmet istraživanja doktorske disertacije je odnos čoveka, prirodnog sveta i tehnonauke u romanima na nemačkom jeziku Planine mora i divovi Alfreda Deblina i Ukidanje vrsta Ditmara Data. Cilj je da se analizom prouče prikazi ekološke perspektive romana, kao i izmenjenog shvatanja binarne opozicije priroda-kultura, čovekove pozicije u okvirima prirodnog sveta i novih poimanja ljudskog i postljudskog identiteta. Teorijski i metodološki okvir rada predstavlja ekokritika, interdisciplinarni pristup analizi teksta koji traga za reprezentacijama veze između književnosti i prirode, odnosno ekologije. Analiza tekstova počiva pri tom na teorijama posthumane ekokritike koja proučava konceptualizaciju praksi spajanja tehnološkog i biološkog u svetlu ekoloških problema. Ukazuje se prvo na prikaze prirodnog sveta u romanima: nežive i žive prirode, ekološke krize i odgovora prirode na antropogeni uticaj, kako bi se istražilo na koji način je izražen postantropocentrizam. Utvrđeno je da je materijalnost prirodnog sveta predočena kao vitalna, te da se ističe mogućnost postojanja prirode bez/nakon čoveka. Zatim se analiza fokusira na shvatanja čoveka kao prirode – rađanja, razmnožavanja, telesnosti i smrtnosti kao bioloških odlika koje bi da prevaziđe, kao i na biologizaciju i tehnologizaciju zarad opstanka i unapređenja ljudske vrste: od opisa evolucije do tehnonadgradnje, kloniranja i virtuelnog skladištenja svesti. Naposletku se ispituje problematika posthumanog identiteta: prevazilaženje granica na relacijama humano- ahumano organsko ili tehnološko Drugo. Zaključuje se da se posthumano konstituiše kao hibridno, nestabilno, fleksibilno i u konstantnom stanju promene i postajanja.

The doctoral thesis examines the relationship between humans, nature and technoscience in two German-language novels: Mountains Seas and Giants by Alfred Döblin and The Abolition of Species by Dietmar Dath. The aim is to analyze the representations of the ecological perspective of the novels, as well as the understanding of the binary opposition nature-culture, of the human position within the natural world, and the human and posthuman identity. The theoretical and methodological framework of the thesis is based on ecocriticism, an interdisciplinary approach that focuses on the relationship between literature and nature/ecology. The analysis specifically draws upon the posthuman ecocriticism, which studies the conceptualizations of the combination of technology and biology in light of ecological issues. Firstly, the depiction of nature in the novels is examined: the organic and nonorganic nature, the environmental crisis and the reaction of nature to the anthropogenic influence. One of the themes thereby is the possibility of existence of nature without/after humans, that is, postanthropocentrism. Secondly, the analysis focuses on the understanding of humans as part of nature, exploring birth, reproduction, embodiment and mortality as biological characteristics that humans wish to overcome, as well as biologization and technologization: from portrayals of evolution to technological enhancement, cloning and virtual uploading of the mind. Lastly, the thesis inquires into the problematic of the posthuman identity: the boundaries breakdown between human and organic or technological nonhuman Other. The conclusion is that the posthuman is constructed as hybrid, unstable, flexible and in the permanent state of change and becoming.

Alfred Deblin, Ditmar Dat, ekokritika, ekološka kriza, međuratna nemačka književnost, naučna fantastika, posthumanizam, savremena nemačka književnost.

Alfred Döblin, Contemporary German Literature, Dietmar Dath, Ecocriticism, Environmental Crisis, Interwar German Literature, Posthumanism, Science Fiction.

821.112.2-31.09 Döblin A.(043.3) 821.112.2-31.09 Dath D.(043.3)

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