Welcome to Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art,

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art ›› 2018, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (3): 36-47.

• Issue in Focus: Posthumanism and the Future of Literary Theory Studies • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Human, Animal, and Life in the Posthuman Turn: From Agamben to Young Marx

Wang Xingkun   

  1. the College of Foreign Languages at Tianjin Polytechnic University
  • Online:2018-05-25 Published:2018-10-19
  • About author:Wang Xingkun, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the College of Foreign Languages at Tianjin Polytechnic University, with research focuses on Critical Theory and Cultural Studies.
  • Supported by:
    Research Plan Project of Tianjin Municipal Education Committee (No. 2017SK044)

Abstract: The Posthuman thought since the 1980s has challenged anthropocentrism and humanism to a great extent, and has promoted our reflections on what human is, on the relationship between humans and animals, and on human life itself. Three paths of Posthuman research will be traced, in which the concept of "biopolitics" and "anthropological machine" of Agamben proceeds from the animalization of human in the political field, and reveals the the dilemma of exclusive inclusion facing contemporary human life. But Agamben comes up with a passive politics based on a-historical analysis. This paper is intended to go back to the analysis of the animalization of labor power in young Marx's "Paris Manuscripts", to reveal the social and economic roots behind this animalization, and with the reinterpretation of the concept of "species being", to propose an idea that can truly liberate the human life while at the same time, totally reject the idea of anthropocentrism and humanism.

Key words: Posthuman, animalization, biopolitics, anthropological machine, laboring animal, species being