Posthumanism and ecocriticism in short speculative fiction

This thesis analyzes the critique of anthropocentrism in twentieth-century speculative fiction. While focusing on the representation of the shortcomings of anthropocentrism in the analysis of selected works, this M.A. thesis takes recently emerging critical theories such as posthumanism and ecocriticism as its theoretical framework. The analysis I provide argue that speculative fiction is not only a harbinger of social progress but also one of many catalysts. Therefore, this study analyzes nine short stories, distributed among three separate time periods; the Pulp, Golden Age and New Wave eras of speculative fiction. The analysis in this thesis provides the political context under which these texts were written, comparing and contrasting their circumstances. While earlier texts signal the end of humanism, later ones provide this downfall with an alternative; transcendence through a posthumanist philosophy. To this end, the Pulp era stories are focused on a fear of technological and cultural progress, while Golden Age stories focus on humanity's acceptance of its evolution into more than its antiquated definition. In this regard, selected New Wave stories provide a synthesis through the merging of human and non-human agents into a relationship that is no longer detrimental to all beings involved. I argue that this synthesis is essential to provide ourselves and all other things a habitable environment, because the alternative to embracing change is total annihilation.