Anthropology beyond Human: Post-Humanistic Influences

Abstract

Introducing a special theme of the issue on “Animal Turn in Anthropology”, the article presents a spectrum of posthumanist trends in contemporary humanities such as eco-criticism, animal history, animal geography, animal studies, anthropology of non-human subjects, or multi-species ethnography. Their appearance is associated with the growing influence of the achievements of the biological sciences in the humanities, as well as with the growing environmental crisis. The inseparability of humans (and their activities) from the rest of the living and inanimate world is emphasized by the concept of the Anthropocene – the geological era in which the Earth is now. Human, who until recently was considered as belonging to a separate and the highest category, begins to be considered in the humanities as one of many species, and human culture as a product of evolution. At the same time, other living beings are increasingly studied like human communities, and researchers recognize their agency and subjectivity. The thematic section features contributions by Anastasiia Lokteva, Magdalena Kozhevnikova, Kirill Rossiianov, Oxana Timofeeva, and Gabriela Jarzebowska.