In this dissertation I analyze how the postwar German writers Wolfdietrich Schnurre, Günter Eich, and Ilse Aichinger negotiate anthropocentric and speciesist discourses via animal figures by drawing on such posthumanist thinkers as Derrida, Agamben, and Deleuze & Guattari. The literary texts question a world view and discourse organized around the establishment of power that utilizes animal metaphors to turn living beings into objects (and could thus be called “carno-phallogocentric”). They thus react to the strict hierarchy of (gendered) man over animal and respond - in the aftermath of the Second World War – by highlighting instead the similarities between man and animal, such as creaturely existence and shared trauma. The analysis is guided by questions such as: How do the literary texts reflect and subvert the power discourses which surround man and animal? What is the role of language in this context? How does the animal, which is usually assumed to be mute, relate to the categories that are established in language? Does its place outside of language grant it capabilities the human cannot realize? Can the literary encounter between man and animal establish a space of the “Open” in which language can be re-evaluated and, after World War II, be saved? Is there a unique “animal poetology” which correlates to post-anthropocentric conceptions of the human? Because these writers disorient the reader’s perception of reality via figures of the animal, i.e., animals as both metaphors and as subjects, I develop what I would like to call an “animal poetology” that is unique to them. This animal poetology, which redefines Agamben’s concept of the open by giving it a postwar, language-critical dimension, includes a thorough critique of human language with regard to power structures and a speciesist language which, during the early 20th century, was a vehicle for ideology and discrimination. The encounter with the animal leads the human being to reflect on the limits of language and thus enables the establishment of a mode of being in which the encounter with the other – beyond a space of judgement and hierarchies –is once again possible.

In this dissertation I analyze how the postwar German writers Wolfdietrich Schnurre, Günter Eich, and Ilse Aichinger negotiate anthropocentric and speciesist discourses via animal figures by drawing on such posthumanist thinkers as Derrida, Agamben, and Deleuze & Guattari. The literary texts question a world view and discourse organized around the establishment of power that utilizes animal metaphors to turn living beings into objects (and could thus be called “carno-phallogocentric”). They thus react to the strict hierarchy of (gendered) man over animal and respond - in the aftermath of the Second World War – by highlighting instead the similarities between man and animal, such as creaturely existence and shared trauma. The analysis is guided by questions such as: How do the literary texts reflect and subvert the power discourses which surround man and animal? What is the role of language in this context? How does the animal, which is usually assumed to be mute, relate to the categories that are established in language? Does its place outside of language grant it capabilities the human cannot realize? Can the literary encounter between man and animal establish a space of the “Open” in which language can be re-evaluated and, after World War II, be saved? Is there a unique “animal poetology” which correlates to post-anthropocentric conceptions of the human? Because these writers disorient the reader’s perception of reality via figures of the animal, i.e., animals as both metaphors and as subjects, I develop what I would like to call an “animal poetology” that is unique to them. This animal poetology, which redefines Agamben’s concept of the open by giving it a postwar, language-critical dimension, includes a thorough critique of human language with regard to power structures and a speciesist language which, during the early 20th century, was a vehicle for ideology and discrimination. The encounter with the animal leads the human being to reflect on the limits of language and thus enables the establishment of a mode of being in which the encounter with the other – beyond a space of judgement and hierarchies –is once again possible.

No description available.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Steampunk first appeared in the 1980s as a subgenre of science fiction, featuring anachronistic technologies with a veneer of Victorian sensibilities. In recent years steampunk has re-emerged in young adult science fiction as a fresh and dynamic subgenre, which includes titles such as The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross, The Hunchback Assignment by Arthur Slade, and Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve. Like their predecessors, these modern steampunk novels for teens use retrofuturistic historiography and innovative mechanical aesthetics to dramatize the volatile relationship between man and technology, only in these novels the narrative is intentionally set in the context of their teen protagonist's social and emotional development. However, didactic conventions such as technophobia and the formulaic linearity of the bildungsroman narrative complicate and frustrate steampunk's representation of adolescent formation. Using case studies of Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld and The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia, retrofuturism and technological hybridity are presented as defining features of steampunk that subvert young adult science fiction's technophobic and liberal humanist traditions. The dirigible and the automaton are examined as the quintessential tropes of steampunk fiction that reproduce the necessary amphibious quality, invoking new expressions and understanding of adolescent growth and identity formation that have a distinctly utopian, nostalgic, and ecocentric undertone.

En djupdykning i att forska inom filosofin som är posthumanismen har utförts för att se hur den kan appliceras på den fotografiska processen. Flera aspekter av posthumanismen har identifierats som sedan har gjort ett försök till att skapa en alternativ metod för att få ett fotografi att uppstå. Några av de största svagheterna för bildskapandet är att fotografen har givits diktatoriska egenskaper om vad och hur något gestaltas, att motivet är endast en liten del av omvärlden som får plats inom bildens restriktiva ram, och kamerans oförmåga att representera en ständigt skiftande natur. Genom olika metoder så som en posthumanistisk vandring, texturering, bildanalys, och en performativ gestaltning skulle den konventionella fotografiska processen utmanas. Senare i designprocessen kom reflekterande objekt fram som en aktör som mycket väl utmanande problemen som ett fotografi annars lider av i sin skapelse. Spegelfragment placerades slumpmässigt framför kameran för att försöka fånga en oavsiktlig del av omgivningen som annars inte hade gestaltats inom bildens restriktiva ram. Designprocessen använde sig även av andra metoder som var mindre lyckade i sitt mål, men som ändå spelade en kritisk del i att leda fram till den slutgiltiga metoden för undersökningens gestaltning. Slutsatsen för arbetet blev att en alternativ process har uppnåtts, men att den gärna hade kunnat utvecklats mer för att bättre använda sig av posthumanismens verktyg. Det mänskliga skulle inte uteslutas ur fotografins skapande, men decentraliseras för att tillåta andra aktörer att ta plats inom fotografins arkiverande värld. / A plunge has been made into the world of posthumanism to investigate its merits to be applied to the process that creates a photography. Several aspects of the posthuman have been identified that would allow for the creation of an alternative photographic process. Some of the major weaknesses of image creation are that the photographer has been granted dictatorial powers over what can be captured by the camera, how the picture only captures a limited view of the world, and the cameras inability to represent an everchanging nature. Through different methods such as a posthuman hike, texturing, image analysis, and a performative design the conventional photographic process were to be challenged. Later in the design stage reflective objects would prove to be a useful actor in challenging the problems that a Kandidatarbete i Medieteknik Oscar Idberg (osid15) Sida 2 av 46 photography faces. Mirror fragments were randomly placed in front of a camera to capture an unintentional part of the surroundings that otherwise would have not fit within the images restrictive frame. The design stage used several other methods that were less successful in their goals, they did however still play a critical role in leading up to the final method for the investigations product. The conclusion acknowledged that an alternative process for the creation of an image had been achieved, it did however not take the investigation far enough and could have better used the posthuman tools available. The human should not be excluded from the photographic process; however, it needs to be decentralized to allow other actors to take their place within the archiving world of photography.

No description available.

Denna studie syftar till att synliggöra relationen mellan pedagoger, barn och den digitala pekplattan i förskolans verksamhet. Detta för att en kunskapslucka har visat sig i forskning och tidigare erfarenheter, där förskolans verksamhet präglas av ett humanistiskt synsätt och betoningen ligger på att använda sig av tekniken istället för tillsammans med tekniken. Där pedagoger står framför en utmanande uppgift att utforma aktiviteter med pekplattan i verksamheten. Studien förhåller sig till ett posthumanistiskt perspektiv med inriktning på aktör-nätverksteorin, intra-aktion och agens, dessa använts som ett analysverktyg för att analysera fram ett resultat av den valda empirin. Ett posthumanistiskt perspektiv bidrar till att hierarkin mellan vad som är människa och icke-människa har jämnats ut och ses som likvärdiga. Genom att tillämpa detta perspektivet i studien vill jag bidra med att synliggöra den mänskliga och icke-mänskliga aktörens delaktighet och påverkan, så att pedagoger får en djupare förståelse för hur de kan angripa arbetet i tillsammans med pekplattan. Studiens insamlade empiriska material skedde via videoobservationer på två förskolor i två olika kommuner. Studiens resultat visar att nätverket aktörerna ingick i aktiviteterna kan enbart upprätthållas om alla aktörer, således pedagogen, barnet och pekplattan förstår varandra. Att pedagogens, barnets och pekplattans deltagande har lika grundläggande faktorer för att påverka, förändra eller utveckla ett samutvecklat nätverket.

abstract: Since the Enlightenment, humanist philosophy has understood materiality as an inert and determinate world categorically separate from the sphere of consciousness and language. However, after evolving significantly during the 20th century, the natural sciences now recognize the complexity, indeterminacy and agency of matter. A parallel transformation can be observed in contemporary Spanish and Latin American literature and is exemplified in the works of Cristina Peri Rossi and Cecilia Vicuña. Drawing on knowledge which emerges from the natural sciences, the humanities and personal experience, these poets explore multiple dimensions of materiality from the microscopic world of subatomic particles and DNA molecules to the macroscopic world of the body and the structure of the universe. The theoretical orientation of this study emerges from posthumanism, which critiques the epistemological foundations of humanist thought and reconfigures reductionist concepts of matter, discourse, the subject, and agency which are grounded in dualistic ontology. Material feminist theorists explore materiality through interdisciplinary approaches which establish a dialogue between posthumanism, feminist theory and the natural sciences. The material feminist Karen Barad proposes an agential realist ontology which constitutes the principal theoretical framework of this thesis. According to Barad, phenomena are not exclusively social or material but rather material-discursive practices, and the concept of agency is reconfigured as the product of the dynamics of intra-action rather than an as an attribute restricted to the human sphere. Furthermore, this thesis utilizes diverse materials from the areas of literary criticism and scientific research in order to achieve an authentically interdisciplinary interpretation of materiality in the poetry. Peri Rossi and Vicuña express a profound questioning of the fundamental assumptions of humanism and offer perspectives which take into account matter's agency and dynamism. Their poetry presents materiality as a constant process of creation and as an active participant in the unfolding of reality, thereby opening up new horizons of investigation. By interpreting the works of Peri Rossi and Vicuña through the lens of posthumanist theory, this study contributes to a growing body of interdisciplinary approaches to contemporary Spanish and Latin American literature. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Spanish 2013

The aim of this paper is to examine the possibility to be impossible, to examine how the socially intelligible can come to exist. This is done through the concept of sex/gender, as sex/gender has such a determining place in the production of what can be understood as human, it also has the properties to shed light on the possibility to be and exist beyond the socially intelligible. In this paper I will interview and analyze how four genderqueer people understand themselves and their identity in relation to the phenomenon sex/gender. Through Karen Barad’s concept of posthumanist performativity and her conceptualization of phenomena and intra-action I understand sex/gender, not as entities, but as phenomena of ever changing and ever intra-acting agents. The study suggests that the limitations of the concept of sex/gender can be addressed through an understanding of the body as itself a web of intra-actions, that is, the body as a phenomenon.