In recent decades, there has been a proliferation of attempts to challenge and propose alternatives to humanist ways of thinking. Paradoxically, amidst these efforts, there has been a simultaneous rise in discourses discussing what it means to be human. Despite attempts to redefine the humanities as critical posthumanities, literary studies have often remained anchored in humanist perspectives. Traditional readings of literary texts continue to prioritize human protagonists, their journeys, interiority, and emotions.
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The aim of this project is to depart from the conventional human-centric approach in literary analysis and shift the focus to nonhuman entities present in texts. By doing so, I seek to propose a new theory of reading that acknowledges and explores the sentience and agency of nonhuman elements and their interactions with the human world. By examining how literature represents and engages with the nonhuman, I hope to uncover a more nuanced and multifaceted understanding of more-than-human worlds.
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The primary objectives of this project are as follows:
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To analyze how literature throughout history has made the invisible presences of the nonhuman visible, challenging anthropocentrism, and promoting multispecies kinships.
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To identify and explore synesthetic literary techniques that have been used by authors across centuries to create multispecies worlds in their works.
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To avoid ventriloquism and instead examine how texts can depict the nonhuman without reducing them to mere statements about human identity.
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