Posthumanist Hardy?: Rethinking “the Whole Conscious World Collectively”
In his 1910 letter to the Humanitarian League, Hardy wrote of “a re-adjustment of altruistic morals […] beyond the area of mere mankind to that of the whole animal kingdom”. He concluded the letter by saying, “And though I myself do not at present see how the principle of equal justice all round is...
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| Pubblicato in: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/fathom, |
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| Autore principale: | |
| Natura: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Lingua: | Anglais |
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FATHOM
2017
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| Accesso online: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Riassunto: | In his 1910 letter to the Humanitarian League, Hardy wrote of “a re-adjustment of altruistic morals […] beyond the area of mere mankind to that of the whole animal kingdom”. He concluded the letter by saying, “And though I myself do not at present see how the principle of equal justice all round is to be carried out in its entirety, I recognize that the League is grappling with the question” (Hardy 1984, 377). This article explores two questions in order to better understand Hardy’s own “grappling with the question”. First, how does Hardy’s figuring of animals subtly undercut the prevalent attitudes not only toward animals in the humanist era in which he lived, but also toward women and the idea of what is human? Second, could Hardy’s approach be described as – in some sense of the word – posthumanist? The first half of the discussion focuses around portrayals of woman-as-animal (in the person of Tess Durbeyfield) and man-as-human (in the character of Michael Henchard), with close readings from Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891) and The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886) that seek to untangle the effect binaries of human/animal and man/woman have upon each text. The article then considers whether and how Hardy’s work fits into the current theoretical framework of posthumanism, exploring ideas of vulnerability and embodiment. |
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