Argues that literature has a special role to play in developing a wishful, visionary, and utopian sensibility for living in a more-than-human world
[headline]Argues that literature has a special role to play in developing a wishful, visionary and utopian sensibility for living in a more-than-human world Instead of making readers into better people, what if fiction could help us to become better animals? On Fiction and Being a Good Animal argues that we should value fiction for its ability to envision being better human animals - less exceptional and dominating, more creaturely and familial. This book isolates wishful images that pertain to nonhuman animal life and to human-animal relationships in a range of contemporary novels, while forging fresh connections between critical animal studies, critical social theory and literary ethics. David P. Rando demonstrates that 'anthropocosmic' visions in literature help to reposition the human with and among other animals instead of at the centre and offer opportunities for shared vulnerability and communion. [bio]David P. Rando is Professor of English at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. His previous books include Doing Animal Studies with Androids, Aliens, and Ghosts (2023); Hope, Form, and Future in the Work of James Joyce (2022); Hope and Wish Image in Music Technology (2017); and Modernist Fiction and News (2011).
