XVII Congress of the Brazilian Studies Association

Dissolving Stories: Beyond-Human Actants in the Brazilian Literary Anthropocene

• In Event: Feminist and Ecocritical Readings of Contemporary Brazilian Literature

Abstract

In June of 2023, scientists selected a sinkhole lake in Canada to mark the beginning of the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene, a term coined by chemist Paul Crutzen and biologist Eugene Sturmer in 2000 to describe a new geological epoch marked by human activity, calls for a reflection of the imbrication between humans and other actants in multiple spheres, including that of cultural production. This presentation examines two literary works, Carola Saavedra’s 2023 novel O manto da noite and Prisca Agustoni’s book-length poem O gosto amargo dos metais (2022) from the perspective of material ecocriticism to show how contemporary Brazilian literature decenters the human, focusing instead on beyond-human actants as an indictment of the Anthropocene. Beyond-human protagonism critiques the centralization of the human as a mode of thinking and acting that enables/justifies ecocidal and ethnocidal violence. Narrative attention to beyond-human actants defies the extinction processes inherent to the Anthropocene. At the same time, Saavedra’s and Agustoni’s texts also invite us to undertake what Stacey Alaimo has called “dwell in the dissolve,” a mode of engagement that breaks down interspecies boundaries as a form of ethical and political activism.

Author

• Leila Lehnen, Brown U