Researcher Sarkar Barnali

113600 €

Humans as Not So Humans: Human–Nonhuman Cross-Cultural Interrelations in the Contemporary Novel

Kolmivuotinen | Hankkeen teemat liittyvät Suomen muuttuvat naapuruudet -ohjelmaan

This study locates human–nonhuman interrelations at the intersection of social transformation and the dynamics of dualism between humans and nonhumans in cross-cultural contexts. The study aims to explore the way human-nonhuman interdependence or lack of it affects human identity in relation to six contemporary novels from India, Finland, and the Unites States, namely Arundhati Roy’s "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness" (2017), Indra Sinha’s "Animal’s People" (2007), Emmi Itäranta’s "Memory of Water" (2012), Risto Isomäki’s "The Sands of Sarasvati" (2005), J. L. Morin’s "Nature’s Confession" (2015), and Barbara Kingsolver’s "Flight Behavior" (2012). Therefore, the research reappraises such dualist paradigms that have not only branded nonhumans as Others but also contributed to the formation of human identity in separation from nature/nonhumans. In so doing, the research employs six cross-disciplinary theoretical frameworks such as human–animal studies, disability and animal rights studies, transactional bioregionalism, material ecocriticism, ecological citizenship, and posthuman ecocriticism. By offering an ecocritical analysis of human–nonhuman interdependence as represented in these novels, the research aims to engage in a dialectic involving a number of interrelated factors such as cultural diversity, social change and cultural identity.