With the advent of posthumanism, many scholars in the humanities have started to explore a transforming conception of the "human," recognizing the limits of "anthropocentricism" both within and between disciplines. Posthumanism may be defined in various ways but the emphasis in this volume is on the idea of constitutive alterity, not simply in the relationship between human beings and other human beings, but in that between human beings and other species and life forms, and between human beings, nature and technology. As a result, Encounters with the Posthuman and the Environment is located at a crossover between posthumanism and environmental humanities. Between them they move not only between disciplines but also between levels of abstraction, from the most general reflection to the most everyday empirical detail. At the same time, all the chapters are case studies, whether they address particular aspects of philosophical or scientific posthumanism, analyze particular pieces of film, theatre, art, literature, or recall for us instructive episodes from social history. The aim at any rate is to give a feel for the range and depth of the posthumanist problematic within the wider context of environmental humanities.
Inci Bilgin Tekin is associate professor of English Language and Literature at Istanbul Bilgi University. Zeynep Talay Turner is professor of philosophy at Istanbul Bilgi University.
Preface: The Fate of Vitruvian Man Introduction Chapter 1: Humanism, Posthumanism, Animals, Earth Chapter 2: Encounters with Ancestors: Being/s Before the Human Chapter 3: Spinoza and Renaturalization Chapter 4: Posthuman, Literary Canon and A Difficult Dialogue: Literature about Environment or Environmental Literature? Chapter 5: Exiting Human Environment: Metamorphosis in Bilge Karasu's The Garden of Departed Cats Chapter 6: Voice(s): Ontological Pluralism in Contemporary Environmental Poetics Chapter 7: Canine Ecology, Spatial Politics, and the Annihilation of Istanbul's Dogs in the Last Decades of the Ottoman Empire Chapter 8: Flanerie Beyond the City: Urban Mobility and Nature Encounters in Late Ottoman Istanbul via Servet-i Fuenun Narratives Chapter 9: Singing the Human Away: Manifestations of the Posthuman in Music Chapter 10: An Essay for the Living in a Time of Extinction Chapter 11: Mothering the Mother: Africanfuturist Time-Images in Wanuri Kahiu's Pumzi Chapter 12: (Non/Post) Human: Body, Technology, Environment/Phases of Matter, De Humani Corporis Fabrica About the Contributors
This collection demonstrates convincingly how posthumanist concerns can be brought to bear on environmental humanities. The coverage of disciplines and topics is comprehensive - music, film, theatre, art, literature, philosophy and social history are all addressed - and the range of approaches - from conceptual analysis to case studies - means that there is something here for everyone. -- OEzden Soezalan, Istanbul Bilgi University
