Zoomorphism and Human Biology in Barbara Kingsolver’s "Prodigal Summer"

Auteurs-es

  • Ashleigh McIntyre University of Newcastle

DOI :

https://doi.org/10.37536/ECOZONA.2023.14.2.4827

Mots-clés :

Barbara Kingsolver, Prodigal Summer, zoomorphism, climate fiction, ecofeminism

Résumé

This article explores the conceptual difficulties that arise when fiction explores humankind’s primordial ties to nature, specifically regarding gender representation. I examine how an emphasis on biology demonstrates humankind’s innate connection to nature, while simultaneously perpetuating a problematic, essentialist view of gender. Using Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer (2000) as a case study, I present two perspectives from which to interpret her ecofeminist approach. Firstly, I argue that Kingsolver employs zoomorphism as an effective strategy to override essentialist representations of sexuality. Secondly, I use Hans Gumbrecht’s theory of presence to contextualise the representation of biology and claim that Prodigal Summer attempts to dilute a much broader conceptual binary between humankind and nature.

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Biographie de l'auteur-e

Ashleigh McIntyre, University of Newcastle

Dr Ash McIntyre is an academic living and working on Awabakal land, and is affiliated with the University of Newcastle, Australia, where she is also a Student Advocate in the Academic Division. Her research focuses on environmental literature and theory,  research spanning  sincerity in environmental fiction, gender, ecoacoustics, and posthumanism. 

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Publié-e

2023-10-29

Numéro

Vol. 14 No. 2 (2023): Contemporary Collapse: New Narratives of the End

Rubrique

Articles: General Section

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