Animal writing : magical realism and the posthuman other.

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dc.contributor.authorSchwalm, Tanja
dc.date.accessioned2010-09-03T01:26:02Z
dc.date.available2012-03-25T23:48:55Z
dc.date.issued2009en
dc.description.abstractMagical realist fiction is marked by a striking abundance of animals. Analysing magical realist novels from Australia and Canada, as well as exploring the influence of two seminal Latin American magical realist narratives, this thesis focuses on representations of animals and animality. Examining human-animal relationships in the postcolonial context reveals that magical realism embodies and represents an idea of feral animality that critically engages with an inherently imperialist and Cartesian humanism, and that, moreover, accounts for magical realism's elusiveness within systems of genre categorisation and labelling. It is this embodiment and presence of animal agency that animates magical realism and injects it with life and vibrancy. The magical realist writers discussed in this dissertation make use of animal practices inextricably intertwined with imperialism, such as pastoral farming, natural historical collections, the circus, the rodeo, the Wild West show, and the zoo, as well as alternative animal practices inherently incompatible with European ideologies, such as the Aboriginal Dreaming, Native North American animist beliefs, and subsistence hunting, as different ways of positioning themselves in relation to the Cartesian human subject. The circus is a particular influence on the form and style of many magical realist texts, whereby oxymoronically structured circensian spaces form the basis of the narratives‟ realities, and hierarchical imperial structures and hegemonic discourses that are portrayed as natural through Cartesian science and Linnaean taxonomies are revealed as deceptive illusions that perpetuate the self-interests of the powerful.en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10092/4470
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.26021/4534
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherUniversity of Canterbury. Englishen
dc.relation.isreferencedbyNZCUen
dc.rightsCopyright Tanja Schwalmen
dc.rights.urihttps://canterbury.libguides.com/rights/thesesen
dc.subjectmagic realismen
dc.subjectmagical realismen
dc.subjectanimalen
dc.subjecthuman-animal studiesen
dc.subjectpostcolonialen
dc.subjectposthumanen
dc.subjectferalen
dc.subjectAustraliaen
dc.subjectCanadaen
dc.subjectcircusen
dc.subjectcircensianen
dc.subjectzooen
dc.subjectnatural historyen
dc.subjectmaban realityen
dc.subjecttricksteren
dc.subjectGabriel Garcia Marquezen
dc.subjectIsabel Allendeen
dc.subjectPeter Careyen
dc.subjectRichard Flanaganen
dc.subjectMudroorooen
dc.subjectSam Watsonen
dc.subjectThomas Kingen
dc.subjectTomson Highwayen
dc.subjectRobert Kroetschen
dc.subjectJack Hodginsen
dc.subjectYann Martelen
dc.titleAnimal writing : magical realism and the posthuman other.en
dc.typeTheses / Dissertations
thesis.degree.disciplineEnglishen
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Canterburyen
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen
uc.bibnumber1331203
uc.collegeFaculty of Artsen
uc.embargo24en
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