Abstract
In these early days of the twenty-first century, academics are still debating the significance of what it means to be posthuman. Various posthumanist theories have emerged, the most recognised being techno-posthumanism and multi-species posthumanism, as well as transhumanism, a separate movement often mistaken for techno-posthumanism. However, a comprehensive posthumanist theory that encompasses an ecologically minded posthumanism is yet to be developed. Through an exploration of two science fiction texts—Michel Houellebecq’s Les Particules élémentaires (1998) and Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy (2003–2013)—this chapter advances an ecological posthumanism informed by ecophilosophy and ecocritical theory. Fetherston argues that Atwood’s MaddAddam series embraces an ecologically considerate view, whilst Les Particules élémentaires presents an anthropocentric understanding that is unethical in the context of the modern environmental crisis.
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Notes
- 1.
Walther et al., “Ecological Responses,” 394.
- 2.
Sax and Gaines, “Species Diversity,” 561; Barnosky et al., “Has the Earth’s,” 51.
- 3.
For more on this ecocritical approach, see: Rigby, “Ecocriticism,” 154.
- 4.
Westling, “Literature,” 29.
- 5.
Hayles, How We Became Posthuman, 5.
- 6.
Graham, Representations, 9.
- 7.
Westling, “Literature,” 29.
- 8.
Graham, Representations, 9.
- 9.
Hayles, How We Became Posthuman, 4.
- 10.
Hayles, How We Became Posthuman.
- 11.
Haraway, “Cyborg Manifesto,” 149.
- 12.
Haraway, Companion Species Manifesto, 4; Gandy, “Persistence of Complexity,” 43.
- 13.
Graham, Representations, 9.
- 14.
Westling, “Literature,” 30.
- 15.
Derrida, L’Animal, 75; Derrida, The Animal, 51.
- 16.
Naas, “Derrida’s Flair,” 220.
- 17.
Wolfe, What is Posthumanism?, xvii.
- 18.
Merleau-Ponty, Le Visible et L’Invisible, 190; Merleau-Ponty, The Visible and the Invisible, 145.
- 19.
Westling, “Literature,” 38.
- 20.
Merchant, Radical Ecology, 85.
- 21.
Plumwood, “Ecosocial Feminism,” 211.
- 22.
Cudworth, Developing Ecofeminist Theory.
- 23.
Cudworth, Developing Ecofeminist Theory, 126.
- 24.
Rigby, “Book Review,” 129.
- 25.
Morrey, Michel Houellebecq, 1.
- 26.
Karwowski, “Michel Houellebecq,” 41.
- 27.
Holzer, “Science,” 2.
- 28.
Karwowski, “Michel Houellebecq,” 41.
- 29.
Morrey, Michel Houellebecq, 50.
- 30.
Sweeney, Michel Houellebecq, 127.
- 31.
Houellebecq, Les particules élémentaires, 276. Henceforth, cited in text as LPE; Houellebecq, Atomised, 330. Henceforth, cited in text as A.
- 32.
Westling, “Literature,” 32.
- 33.
Plumwood, “Intentional Recognition,” 398.
- 34.
Sweeney, Michel Houellebecq, 125.
- 35.
Sweeney, Michel Houellebecq, 101.
- 36.
Crowley, “Houellebecq,” 20.
- 37.
Notably, Morrey argues that Houellebecq’s attacks on the ideals of the 1968 sexual revolution are in fact quite similar to those made by feminists themselves. He further posits that Houellebecq’s critique of the sexual revolution in Les Particules élémentaires and his other writings is often confused with an aggressive opposition to feminism. However, Morrey also suggests that Houellebecq’s understanding of feminism, as demonstrated in interview, is limited, which suggests that critics cannot completely exclude the issues of misogyny and anti-feminist thought from their criticism of Houellebecq’s work. Morrey, Michel Houellebecq, 17, 20–21.
- 38.
Emphasis in original text.
- 39.
Westling, “Literature,” 29.
- 40.
Plumwood, “Intentional Recognition,” 398.
- 41.
See: Rosendahl Thomsen, New Human, 203.
- 42.
“Margaret Atwood Chronology,” xiii–xvi.
- 43.
Atwood, Writing with Intent, 92.
- 44.
Atwood, The Year of the Flood, 72. Henceforth, cited in text as YofF.
- 45.
Hengen, “Margaret Atwood and Environmentalism,” 74.
- 46.
Atwood, Oryx and Crake, 345, 381. Henceforth, cited in text as O&C.
- 47.
Glover, “Human/Nature,” 54.
- 48.
Canavan, “Hope,” 146.
- 49.
Hatch, “Margaret Atwood,” 181.
- 50.
Canavan, “Hope,” 152.
- 51.
Glover, “Human/Nature,” 55.
- 52.
Brydon, “Atwood’s Global Ethic,” 449.
- 53.
Atwood, MaddAddam, 292. Henceforth, cited in text as MA.
- 54.
Jacob, “Sustainable Development,” 478.
- 55.
Rozelle, “Liminal Ecologies,” 61.
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Fetherston, R. (2020). Evolving a New, Ecological Posthumanism: An Ecocritical Comparison of Michel Houellebecq’s Les Particules élémentaires and Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam Trilogy. In: Kendal, Z., Smith, A., Champion, G., Milner, A. (eds) Ethical Futures and Global Science Fiction. Studies in Global Science Fiction. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27893-9_5
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