Genetic Agency, Nonhuman Agency, and Climate Change in Ian McEwan’s Solar
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To effectively address climate change, Ian McEwan's Solar highlights the necessity of expanding our limited understanding of agency. The novel delves into how material realities, such as marketed food, fossil fuels, and genetic materials, interact with one another and with humans and more-than-humans, and reveals their inherent inseparability. Through the protagonist Michael Beard’s compulsive eating and his obese body, the novel strongly suggests that our uncontrollable evolutionary urges and genetic materials exert profound influence on our actions. Additionally, it illustrates the presence of agencies within more-than-humans (nonhuman materials), agencies that also interact with humans and continually shape and reshape human realities. Thus, as we search for solutions to diverse environmental challenges, including climate change, we must examine the ways in which we are intertwined with genetic agencies and nonhuman agencies. It is particularly crucial to scrutinize the agency of fossil fuels and their inter- and intra-actions with both human and nonhuman agencies. Prioritizing these intra-actions can challenge anthropocentrism and drive meaningful changes that are significant for all—humans and nonhumans. This emphasis can transform our self-perception, alter how we view others, and ultimately guide us towards more ecologically friendly behaviors. Neglecting the fundamental entanglements of these various agencies will continue to result in dire consequences.
Abstract
To effectively address climate change, Ian McEwan's Solar highlights the necessity of expanding our limited understanding of agency. The novel delves into how material realities, such as marketed food, fossil fuels, and genetic materials, interact with one another and with humans and more-than-humans, and reveals their inherent inseparability. Through the protagonist Michael Beard’s compulsive eating and his obese body, the novel strongly suggests that our uncontrollable evolutionary urges and genetic materials exert profound influence on our actions. Additionally, it illustrates the presence of agencies within more-than-humans (nonhuman materials), agencies that also interact with humans and continually shape and reshape human realities. Thus, as we search for solutions to diverse environmental challenges, including climate change, we must examine the ways in which we are intertwined with genetic agencies and nonhuman agencies. It is particularly crucial to scrutinize the agency of fossil fuels and their inter- and intra-actions with both human and nonhuman agencies. Prioritizing these intra-actions can challenge anthropocentrism and drive meaningful changes that are significant for all—humans and nonhumans. This emphasis can transform our self-perception, alter how we view others, and ultimately guide us towards more ecologically friendly behaviors. Neglecting the fundamental entanglements of these various agencies will continue to result in dire consequences.
참고문헌 (27)
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