Posthumanist Hardy?: Rethinking “the Whole Conscious World Collectively”

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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Foilsithe in:URI:https://journals.openedition.org/fathom,
Príomhchruthaitheoir: West, Anna
Formáid: Article ou chapitre numérique
Teanga:Anglais
Foilsithe / Cruthaithe: FATHOM 2017
Ábhair:
genre
humanité
animal
souffrance
posthumanisme
finitude
gender
humanity
suffering
posthumanism
Rochtain ar líne:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
id openedition-oai:revues.org:fathom_651
record_format openedition
spelling openedition-oai:revues.org:fathom_651 https://doi.org/10.4000/fathom.651 urn:doi:10.4000/fathom.651 en https://journals.openedition.org/fathom/651 2017-03-10T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/gaii All rights reserved Posthumanist Hardy?: Rethinking “the Whole Conscious World Collectively” FATHOM Association française sur les études sur Thomas Hardy info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2270-6798 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/fathom West, Anna genre humanité animal souffrance posthumanisme finitude gender humanity animal suffering posthumanism finitude 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. Dans une lettre de 1910 à la Ligue humanitaire, Hardy évoque “un réajustement de la morale altruiste […] au-delà de la simple sphère humaine jusqu’au royaume animal tout entier”. Il conclut sa lettre ainsi : “Et, bien que je ne voie pas à présent comment ce principe de justice et d’égalité peut être porté dans son intégralité, je reconnais que la ligue se saisit de la question” (Hardy 1984, 377). Cet article explore deux points afin de mieux saisir la façon dont Hardy lui-même se “saisit de la question”. Premièrement, comment la représentation hardyenne des animaux subvertit-elle subtilement les attitudes de l’époque non seulement à l’égard des animaux, mais aussi à l’égard des femmes et de l’idée de ce qui est humain ? Deuxièmement, cela permet-il de qualifier l’approche hardyenne de “posthumaniste”, dans un certain sens du terme ? La première partie du débat se concentre sur les portraits de femme comme animaux (Tess Durbeyfield) et d’hommes comme humains (Michael Henchard), à partir de lectures précises de Tess of the d’Urberville (1891) et de The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886) qui tentent de dénouer les effets que les couples notionnels homme/animal et homme/femme ont sur chaque texte. L’article évalue ensuite la façon dont l’œuvre de Hardy correspond ou non au cadre théorique actuel du posthumanisme, en examinant les notions de vulnérabilité et d’incarnation.
collection OpenEdition Journal
language Anglais
format Article ou chapitre numérique
building 0/Bibliothèque numérique/
1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/
topic genre
humanité
animal
souffrance
posthumanisme
finitude
gender
humanity
animal
suffering
posthumanism
finitude
spellingShingle genre
humanité
animal
souffrance
posthumanisme
finitude
gender
humanity
animal
suffering
posthumanism
finitude
West, Anna
Posthumanist Hardy?: Rethinking “the Whole Conscious World Collectively”
description 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.
author West, Anna
author_facet West, Anna
author_sort West, Anna
title Posthumanist Hardy?: Rethinking “the Whole Conscious World Collectively”
title_short Posthumanist Hardy?: Rethinking “the Whole Conscious World Collectively”
title_full Posthumanist Hardy?: Rethinking “the Whole Conscious World Collectively”
title_fullStr Posthumanist Hardy?: Rethinking “the Whole Conscious World Collectively”
title_full_unstemmed Posthumanist Hardy?: Rethinking “the Whole Conscious World Collectively”
title_sort posthumanist hardy?: rethinking “the whole conscious world collectively”
publisher FATHOM
publishDate 2017
container_title URI:https://journals.openedition.org/fathom
url https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/fathom.651
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/fathom/651
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