The Inexhaustible

Rosanne van der Voet

doi:10.33182/joph.v3i1.1710

Authors

Rosanne van der Voet University of Sheffield https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9671-095X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33182/joph.v3i1.1710

Keywords:

Posthuman subjectivity, Creative writing, Rosi Braidotti

Abstract

Adopting a hybrid, creative-critical approach, this article explores how Rosi Braidotti’s notion of posthuman subjectivity based on a negotiation between humans, zoe (nonhumans), geo (earth) and techno (technologies) can be put into practice creatively. Against the background of the low-lying South Holland coast, where sandscapes based on human-nonhuman collaborations prevent coastal erosion, I trace the various voices in the landscape complementing and interrupting each other. Shifting from a human perspective into the perspectives of zoe, geo and techno, the narration of this piece finally coalesces to form a new ‘we’ which represents this posthuman subjectivity. Imagining alternate futures based on this inclusive ‘we,’ this piece explores what a collaboration based on a collective posthuman subjectivity can mean in practice.

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Author Biography

Rosanne van der Voet, University of Sheffield

I am a PhD candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Sheffield. I have a background in Literature, Landscape and Environment (MA Bath Spa University) and European Culture and Literature (BA University of Amsterdam). My research explores what kinds of writing styles can make tangible the environmental crisis of the oceans, with a particular focus on the coast of South-Holland. Against the theoretical background of material ecocriticism, I am developing a site-specific writing technique which aims to bring this field as situated phenomenology into practice. Adopting a multimodal approach and crossing traditional boundaries between creative and academic writing styles and genres, I attempt to decentre human subjectivity in my writing, developing a non-anthropocentric writing style.