Presumable Convergence of Posthumanism and Ecofeminism: Elimination of Dualisms in Catherine Raven's Fox and I

As pessimistic impression of modernization on human relations with nonhuman animals and nature has constructed human/animal and human/nature dualisms, and gender issues, anthropocentrism, and speciesism have also been influential in these dichotomies, ecofeminists like Val Plumwood and Noël Sturgeon reject these binary oppositions and recommend revision in human perspective, seeking ecofeminist posthuman with anti-anthropocentric vision toward animals, to support the best of both worlds of human and animal life. In Fox and I by Catherine Raven, the main character with posthuman features eradicates the dualisms between herself and animals, especially a fox. Having adopted a posthuman-ecofeminist interdisciplinary perspective, it was explored in this qualitative study if gender issues impress dualistic human/animal structure, on the one hand, and if posthumanism and ecofeminism have convergence through eliminating dualisms and hierarchies, on the other hand. Analyzing the novel, the following conclusions were drawn: (a) Hierarchical structures (e.g., androcentrism and anthropocentrism) and dualisms had better be annihilated and replaced with the acceptance of the animality of humans; (b) The impact of gender on dualisms was confirmed, and gendered behaviors especially speciesism were defied; (c) The political (economic and scientific) influences of human-animal relations were studied, and non-dualistic relation was advised; and (d) It was confirmed that these This article is extracted from the Master thesis written by Faezeh Shadman Mahani entitled Deconstructing Dualisms: Posthumanism and Ecofeminism in Catherine Raven's Fox and I and Eva Meijer's Bird Cottage in Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran. Master of English Language and Literature, Department of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Shahid Bahonar University, Kerman, Iran. [e-mail] Assistant Professor of English Language and Literature, Department of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Shahid Bahonar University, Kerman, [e-mail] * Assistant Professor of English Language and Literature, Department of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Vali-e Asr University, Rafsanjan, Iran. [e-mail] مجموعه مقالات پانزدهمین همایش ملی متن پژوهی ادبی V+Y notions are interrelated with deforming dualisms, and are interwoven between ecofeminism and posthumanism. The findings would assist researches in the aspect of ecofeminism and posthumanism, seeking equality and respect toward ecosystem.

کلیدواژه ها:

Ecofeminism ، Posthumanism ، Eliminating Dualisms ، Gender ، Fox and I by Catherine Raven