‘'What is man but a mass of thawing clay?': Thoreau, Embodiment, and the Nineteenth-Century Posthuman

This paper argues for a new understanding of Thoreau's appraisal of the relationship between humans and the natural world by locating him in current posthuman discourse. Examining the developing nineteenth-century inclination to emphasize basic hybridities between humans and nature reveals how...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dillard, Daniel C. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Equinox Publ. [2013]
In: Journal for the academic study of religion
Year: 2013, Volume: 26, Issue: 3, Pages: 254-269
Further subjects:B Thoreau
B Religion
B Science
B Posthumanism
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Volltext (doi)

MARC

LEADER 00000caa a22000002 4500
001 1693502844
003 DE-627
005 20230525120352.0
007 cr uuu---uuuuu
008 200330s2013 xx |||||o 00| ||eng c
024 7 |a 10.1558/jasr.v26i3.254  |2 doi 
035 |a (DE-627)1693502844 
035 |a (DE-599)KXP1693502844 
040 |a DE-627  |b ger  |c DE-627  |e rda 
041 |a eng 
084 |a 0  |2 ssgn 
100 1 |a Dillard, Daniel C.  |e VerfasserIn  |4 aut 
245 1 0 |a ‘'What is man but a mass of thawing clay?'  |b Thoreau, Embodiment, and the Nineteenth-Century Posthuman 
264 1 |c [2013] 
336 |a Text  |b txt  |2 rdacontent 
337 |a Computermedien  |b c  |2 rdamedia 
338 |a Online-Ressource  |b cr  |2 rdacarrier 
520 |a This paper argues for a new understanding of Thoreau's appraisal of the relationship between humans and the natural world by locating him in current posthuman discourse. Examining the developing nineteenth-century inclination to emphasize basic hybridities between humans and nature reveals how Thoreau's later work pointed toward an ecological yet non-reductive materialism, neither reducing nature to mere matter nor elevating it to ineffa¬ble spirit. As Thoreau erased distinctions between natural and supernatural realms, an interplay between religion and science in his writing unfolded with respect to competing views of natural history in the nineteenth-century transatlantic world. In this reading, Thoreau destabilized traditional interpretations of the af?liation between humans and nature and, in their place, offered a model with interpenetrating identities between matter and spirit. This paper therefore situates Thoreau as a transitional ?gure occupying an intermediate space between liberal humanism and posthumanism. In the end, Thoreau's struggle—namely, to resolve his wavering between identi?cation with and alienation from the material world—produced new and radical answers to the questions: What is humanity, what is nature, and what is the true relation between the two? In this way he was a forerunner of the posthuman, a radical rethinking or rewriting of what it means to be human. 
650 4 |a Thoreau 
650 4 |a Posthumanism 
650 4 |a Religion 
650 4 |a Science 
773 0 8 |i Enthalten in  |t Journal for the academic study of religion  |d Sheffield : Equinox Publ., 2013  |g 26(2013), 3, Seite 254-269  |h Online-Ressource  |w (DE-627)769225217  |w (DE-600)2735270-5  |w (DE-576)39403581X  |x 2047-7058  |7 nnns 
773 1 8 |g volume:26  |g year:2013  |g number:3  |g pages:254-269 
856 4 0 |u http://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/JASR/article/view/18594  |x Resolving-System 
856 |u https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.v26i3.254  |x doi  |3 Volltext 
936 u w |d 26  |j 2013  |e 3  |h 254-269 
951 |a AR 
ELC |a 1 
ITA |a 1  |t 1 
LOK |0 000 xxxxxcx a22 zn 4500 
LOK |0 001 3615725123 
LOK |0 003 DE-627 
LOK |0 004 1693502844 
LOK |0 005 20200330142623 
LOK |0 008 200330||||||||||||||||ger||||||| 
LOK |0 040   |a DE-Tue135  |c DE-627  |d DE-Tue135 
LOK |0 092   |o n 
LOK |0 852   |a DE-Tue135 
LOK |0 852 1  |9 00 
LOK |0 935   |a ixzs  |a ixzo  |a rwrk 
ORI |a SA-MARC-ixtheoa001.raw 
REL |a 1 
STA 0 0 |a Religion,Religions,Religion,Religion in literature 
STB 0 0 |a Religion,Religions,Religion 
STC 0 0 |a Religión,Religión,Religión 
STD 0 0 |a Religione,Religione,Religione 
STE 0 0 |a 宗教,宗教 
STF 0 0 |a 宗教,宗教 
STG 0 0 |a Religião,Religião 
STH 0 0 |a Религия (мотив),Религия 
STI 0 0 |a Θρησκεία (μοτίβο),Θρησκεία 
SUB |a REL 
SYE 0 0 |a Religion,Mystik,Mythologie