ABSTRACT

Decolonial Animal Ethics in Linda Hogan’s Poetry and Prose is a plea for an urgent redefinition of human-animal relations on the basis of a nonanthropocentric animal ethic embraced by premodern Indigenous communities but depreciated by coloniality. Without decolonial revisions of animal subjectivity and personhood, the animal genocide can never truly stop. It is also a close reading of Linda Hogan’s poetry and prose in search of the coordinates of a decolonized animal ethic which would foster interspecies becoming. Having defined the recurring tropes, motifs, and attitudes that underpin Hogan’s treatment of nonhuman animals, the book moves on to trace the way she depicts the human-animal bond, especially in the face of the destructive anthropogenic impact. The major questions guiding the analysis of Hogan’s oevre are as follows: who are the animals we share our earthly lives with; what can they teach us about ourselves; how can animals guide us toward more sustainable futures; and what are the conditions of possibility of an interspecies, human-animal thriving. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of Indigenous Studies, Decolonial Studies, Animal Studies, Ecocriticism, Anthropocene Studies, as well as readers of Linda Hogan’s literary works.

chapter |34 pages

Introduction

part 1|90 pages

The Radiant Lives with Animals

chapter 1|11 pages

1970s

Calling Myself Home

chapter 2|18 pages

1980s

Birth of an Ecofeminist

chapter 3|19 pages

1990s

Wildness

chapter 4|17 pages

2000s

Rounding The Human Corners

chapter 5|23 pages

2010s

“I Want Mercy In This World”

part 2|62 pages

Reclaiming Animality, Revisioning Humanity

chapter 6|16 pages

Mean Spirit

Decolonizing Nonhuman Animals

chapter 7|13 pages

Solar Storms

Reclaiming Wild, Becoming Human

chapter 8|15 pages

Of Power and Sacrifice

Rethinking Carnivora, Expanding Sociality

chapter 9|12 pages

People of the Whale

Transformational Beings and the Future of Humanity

chapter |4 pages

Conclusions

Implications for Interspecies Thriving in the Literary Works of Linda Hogan