| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 外國語文學研究所 === 107 === This thesis examines the role of literature and its agency in the Anthropocene by looking closely at the question of bonds in Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being through a new materialist lens. Drawing on critical juxtaposition of material causes in the Anthropocene and the unique materiality of literary fiction, this thesis discusses readings on the intertwining of humans and material agencies in Anthropocene literature; how fictional narratives have been relocated to the scalar dimensions of reality and have contributed to a destabilization of knowledge system; how an Anthropocene fiction can better describe inextricable bonds and overlapping spheres between the humans and the nonhumans; and how to theorise imagination by reading Bruno Latour’s New Materialist Theory together with Ozeki’s novel.
My reading of Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being starts with a discussion on connections in the Anthropocene, particularly delving into the historical roots of the word Anthropocene to see connections between the humans and the nonhuman entities. Chapter One delineates the changing meanings of the concept of bonds, focusing on the word kizuna (literally meaning, the bonds). The chapter addresses how the word become a political concept read together with global climate disasters; and how A Tale for the Time Being has proposed alternative meanings for existing concept of bonds. Chapter Two continues to focus on the interspecies entanglements, turning to new materialism and STS studies with an aim to theorise imagination. In this chapter, I draw on examples of literary intervention in the field of STS, demonstrating how fictions, as a unique means of representation, can better explain the complexities of our interconnectedness. Chapter Three looks closely at how Ozeki’s narratives can sufficiently replenish and clarify Latour’s theory. In this chapter, I highlight both the animist languages as well as the hypermarine elements in A Tale for the Time Being, through which new modes of existence is brought to light and that various conceptualisation of earthly beings is enabled. I sum up my thesis in the concluding remarks by arguing that literature in the Anthropocene allows for the emancipation of earthly agents and liberates human beings from human-centrism.
This thesis aims to see through the skein of life through an experimental reading of A Tale for the Time Being. With a focus on the material bondings, the discussions contribute to an exploration of alternative life forms that are other than human but no less than human. In particular, I wish to give important meanings to a new reading practice which draws inspiration from new materialism and offers spaces for speculative flows, as it addresses issues of flexibility and proximity. Not only can we recognize but build a relationship with the many nonhuman entities. Literary agencies as such bring to light the important social purpose of fiction.
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