Encountering Agency with Decolonial Thought, New Materialism, and The Vegetarian

dc.contributor.authorEggleston, Julia Daleen
dc.contributor.committeechairZanotti, Lauraen
dc.contributor.committeememberCaraccioli, Mauro J.en
dc.contributor.committeememberNi, Zhangeen
dc.contributor.departmentPolitical Scienceen
dc.date.accessioned2019-04-17T08:00:28Zen
dc.date.available2019-04-17T08:00:28Zen
dc.date.issued2019-04-16en
dc.description.abstractIn this thesis, I bring into conversation two political theoretical frameworks -- decolonial thought and new materialism – with the South Korean novella The Vegetarian. I suggest that the novella, especially through its protagonist, performs a form of agency which calls for a reading that hinges not on the pursuit of definitive analysis but on the recognition of a personal, affective interaction with violent status quo sensibilities. I demonstrate that there exist understandings of agency within decolonial thought and new materialism which could be attuned to this call. I suggest a method that relies upon two thinkers in these frameworks for reading the novella, and after reading the novella through this method and transparently reflecting on my own role in these texts' encounter, I demonstrate that this way of simultaneously reading the novella and the theoretical texts has the capacity to affirm the open and uncertain mutual changes that happen at their encounter.en
dc.description.abstractgeneralIn this thesis, I bring into conversation two political theoretical schools of thought -- decolonial thought and new materialism – with the South Korean novella The Vegetarian. I suggest that the novella demonstrates a unique agency which calls for a reading that is centered not on the pursuit of definitive analysis but on the recognition of a personal, affective interaction with status quo violence. I demonstrate that there exist understandings of agency within decolonial thought and new materialism which could be attuned to this call. I suggest a method that relies upon two thinkers in these frameworks for reading the novella, and after reading the novella through this method and transparently reflecting on my own role in these texts’ encounter, I demonstrate that this way of simultaneously reading the novella and the theoretical texts has the capacity to affirm the open and uncertain mutual changes that happen at their encounter.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Artsen
dc.format.mediumETDen
dc.identifier.othervt_gsexam:19253en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/89012en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectagencyen
dc.subjectdecolonialityen
dc.subjectnew materialismen
dc.subjectaestheticsen
dc.titleEncountering Agency with Decolonial Thought, New Materialism, and The Vegetarianen
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplinePolitical Scienceen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Artsen

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