Anthropofugal Fictions: Literature, Species Politics and Flight from Humanity

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McKay, Robert

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Animals in literature.

Humanity in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 p.)

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh University Press, 2026.

Summary:

This book traces a radical politics of species across the work of four significant Anglophone authors of the late twentieth century: Brigid Brophy, Alice Walker, J.M. Coetzee and David Foster Wallace. Presenting an exciting and original perspective, Robert McKay argues that these literary figures tell anthropofugal stories, in which a tendency towards animals coincides with a desire to flee from humanity. Their writing disavows allegiance to humanity's various guises and ideals, dismissing human distinctiveness and disturbing human privilege to reimagine life with so-called animals. While deeply grounded in the practice of literary close reading, Anthropofugal Fictions is also a work of philosophy and theory that shows how doubts about species identity lie at the heart of live debates about gender, sexuality, race and ethics. It is a challenging and provocative account of what it means not to be human, and of living amongst animals without species difference as a legitimation of one's actions.

ISBN:

9781399551861