Stalking the Subject

Modernism and the Animal

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Nature, Animals, Animals Rights, Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Theory, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
Cover of the book Stalking the Subject by Carrie Rohman, Columbia University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Carrie Rohman ISBN: 9780231518567
Publisher: Columbia University Press Publication: November 5, 2008
Imprint: Columbia University Press Language: English
Author: Carrie Rohman
ISBN: 9780231518567
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication: November 5, 2008
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Language: English

Human and animal subjectivity converge in a historically unprecedented way within modernism, as evolutionary theory, imperialism, antirationalism, and psychoanalysis all grapple with the place of the human in relation to the animal. Drawing on the thought of Jacques Derrida and Georges Bataille, Carrie Rohman outlines the complex philosophical and ethical stakes involved in theorizing the animal in humanism, including the difficulty in determining an ontological place for the animal, the question of animal consciousness and language, and the paradoxical status of the human as both a primate body and a "human" mind abstracting itself from the physical and material world. Rohman then turns to the work of Joseph Conrad, D. H. Lawrence, H. G. Wells, and Djuna Barnes, authors who were deeply invested in the relationship between animality and identity. The Island of Dr. Moreau embodies a Darwinian nightmare of the evolutionary continuum; The Croquet Player thematizes the dialectic between evolutionary theory and psychoanalysis; and Women in Love, St. Mawr, and Nightwood all refuse to project animality onto others, inverting the traditional humanist position by valuing animal consciousness. A novel treatment of the animal in literature, Stalking the Subject provides vital perspective on modernism's most compelling intellectual and philosophical issues.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Human and animal subjectivity converge in a historically unprecedented way within modernism, as evolutionary theory, imperialism, antirationalism, and psychoanalysis all grapple with the place of the human in relation to the animal. Drawing on the thought of Jacques Derrida and Georges Bataille, Carrie Rohman outlines the complex philosophical and ethical stakes involved in theorizing the animal in humanism, including the difficulty in determining an ontological place for the animal, the question of animal consciousness and language, and the paradoxical status of the human as both a primate body and a "human" mind abstracting itself from the physical and material world. Rohman then turns to the work of Joseph Conrad, D. H. Lawrence, H. G. Wells, and Djuna Barnes, authors who were deeply invested in the relationship between animality and identity. The Island of Dr. Moreau embodies a Darwinian nightmare of the evolutionary continuum; The Croquet Player thematizes the dialectic between evolutionary theory and psychoanalysis; and Women in Love, St. Mawr, and Nightwood all refuse to project animality onto others, inverting the traditional humanist position by valuing animal consciousness. A novel treatment of the animal in literature, Stalking the Subject provides vital perspective on modernism's most compelling intellectual and philosophical issues.

More books from Columbia University Press

Cover of the book Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York City by Carrie Rohman
Cover of the book Hidden and Visible Realms by Carrie Rohman
Cover of the book Religion and International Relations Theory by Carrie Rohman
Cover of the book The Black Power Movement and American Social Work by Carrie Rohman
Cover of the book Representing Atrocity in Taiwan by Carrie Rohman
Cover of the book The Company and the Shogun by Carrie Rohman
Cover of the book Spatial Optimization in Ecological Applications by Carrie Rohman
Cover of the book Asian and Feminist Philosophies in Dialogue by Carrie Rohman
Cover of the book Modern Humans by Carrie Rohman
Cover of the book Picture Imperfect by Carrie Rohman
Cover of the book The Fall of Language in the Age of English by Carrie Rohman
Cover of the book Live All You Can by Carrie Rohman
Cover of the book Abominable Science! by Carrie Rohman
Cover of the book Readings of the Lotus Sutra by Carrie Rohman
Cover of the book The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski by Carrie Rohman
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy