Emilie Walezak, “Zoetropisms. The Biological Turn in Contemporary Theory and Fiction”, Mardi 28 mai 2024 18h Salle 126 Site Saint-Charles 1, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3

Emilie Walezak (PR Littérature britannique contemporaine, Nantes Université)

The proposed conference starts with the coinage of a word for the world to come. Zoetropisms compounds Greek loan words to describe a shift in position, a turning – tropos – towards life – zoe – in response to the stimulus of climate change. The notion is meant as an ecotopian response to extinction. Furthermore, the term “tropism”, borrowed from the lexicon of biology, means to relocate both a sense of anchoring and orientation in the apprehension of bodies, human and other. In line with EMMA’s thematic on materialities, the conceptualization of zoetropisms addresses the biological and philosophical debate opposing reductionism and vitalism through the prism of literary theory. Calling on new material and posthuman feminism, the conference aims to trace the philosophical tenets of Rosi Braidotti’s “zoe-centered egalitarianism”, Jane Bennett’s “vibrant materialism”, or Karen Barad’s “agential realism”, among others, to assess their repercussions on reading the contemporary literary text.

Lien zoom pour suivre ce séminaire à distance : https://univ-montp3-fr.zoom.us/j/98141732547?pwd=bjFaYkZRRlpCNmNacFZLOHF4czlHQT09 

Lien vers l’annonce de la séance : https://emma.www.univ-montp3.fr/fr/actualit%C3%A9s/s%C3%A9minaire-emilie-walezak-zoetropisms-biological-turn-contemporary-theory