Arup Sarma
Volume-XIV, Issue-II, January 2026
Volume-XIV, Issue-II, January 2026 | ||
Received: 29.12.2025 | Accepted: 03.01.2026 | |||
Published Online: 31.01.2026 | Page No: | |||
DOI: 10.64031/pratidhwanitheecho.vol.14.issue.02W. | ||||
Posthumanism
in Literature: Re-constructing Selfhood
in Elif Shafak's The Island of Missing Trees
Dr. Arup Sarma, Associate Professor, Dept. of English, Chilarai
College, Golakganj, Assam, India | |
The article brings to light the incongruities of Humanism that allow us interrogating its basic concepts which have already been complicated and undermined by over population, climate crisis, global warming, technological advancements etc. A close reading of " The Island of Missing Trees", a 21st century novel by Elif Shafak (Turkish-British) is considered here a textual site for exploring a new direction (posthumanism) towards the study of humanities. The text, if read and analyzed by application of the tenets under post humanism ( still an emerging area) facilitates reframing our understanding of being/existence in contemporary culture. The process of constructing selfhood or self identity beyond the scope of Humanism is an ongoing process in the novel that leads to reconfiguration of our selfhood by continuous interaction with other than humans. Having flourished recently, post humanism in interpretation of literature is grounded on certain key tenets put forth by some of the most influential theorists like Rosi Braidotti, Robert Pepperell, N. Katherine Hayles etc. Understanding the theme, narrative technique, style, form and structure of the selected novel comprehensively, the study shows the projection of the posthuman conditions where the construction of self in relation to technology, temporality and reality draws our attention. By doing so, the study will establish how Shafak's text challenges previous understanding of the readers and destabilize the dichotomy between self and the other. | |
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