“Es war etwas Neues, und gleich waren’s drei davon”: Building communities and subjectivities after the human in contemporary German science fiction

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

In this article, I will work with the theoretical framework of posthumanism to read and analyse contemporary German Science/Speculative Fiction. More specifically, I will deal with the subbranch of Critical Posthumanism as championed most prominently by Neil Badmington, Rosi Braidotti (The Posthuman, 2013) and Stephan Herbrechter, and its inherent connection with Critical Theory, especially in the tradition of the Dialektik der Aufklärung by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer. Their theory of civilization, and the relevance of art and artistic practices as a means of presenting (non)alternatives in this context, will open up new ways of interpretation and analysis. Texts discussed in this article are by Dietmar Dath (Die Abschaffung der Arten, 2008), Reinhard Jirgl (Nichts von euch auf Erden, 2013) and Leif Randt (Planet Magnon, 2015). Further discussion points of this article include community building and the constitution of subjectivity before and after the Anthropocene in contemporary German Science Fiction.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1
Pages (from-to)191-208
Number of pages17
JournalOxford German Studies
Volume49
Issue number2
Early online date9 Jul 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • critical theory
  • critical posthumanism
  • contemporary German literature
  • German science fiction
  • dialectics of Enlightenment
  • anthropocene
  • posthuman communities

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