- Title
- 'Between the City and the Forest': towards a posthuman reading of the ancient werewolf
- Creator
- Koosmen, Tanika Michelle
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2023
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy )PhD)
- Description
- This thesis intends to approach the conceptual structure of the figure of the werewolf, from antiquity to its modern conceptions, through several theoretical lenses that build the canonical basis for critical posthumanism to propose the werewolf as the site at which the human/animal binary can be deconstructed. The werewolf is one of the most recognisable monsters of the 21st century and has proven its historical staying power since its first iterations in the ancient Greco-Roman material. I argue that, owing to the traditional binary structure of the figure that combines human and animal elements – the ‘man and wolf’ dichotomy – which has been expressed as hybrid and shapeshifter, the werewolf provides a framework through which the works of philosophers and theorists such as Jacques Derrida, Gilles Deleuze, Donna Haraway, and Rosi Braidotti can be read, which consequently impacts upon contemporary adaptations of werewolves in literature, film, and television shows. For this thesis, I employ four distinct thematic narratives that describe parallel aspects of developing humanist traditions: race/species, morality, identity, magic/technology. These four traditions form the basis of each chapter, which highlight examples from the ancient material to establish the relation to the specific tradition before the theoretical framework is introduced, and the ancient material is viewed through a critical lens that contributes to a posthuman reading. I then turn to modern iterations of the werewolf to establish a continuation of the traditions within the context of the werewolf figure and propose a posthuman reading in relation to the contemporary philosophy and theory. I posit that, through these analyses and the connection to the underlying humanist traditions, the werewolf is credited as the ultimate antithesis to the historical conceptions of the masculinised, Eurocentric man as ‘human’. As a figure with a binary past, it offers a clear manner of deconstructing the human/animal separation in our posthumanist future.
- Subject
- Greek mythology; Latin mythology; werewolf; posthumanism
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1470236
- Identifier
- uon:48403
- Rights
- Copyright 2023 Tanika Michelle Koosmen
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 124 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |