The War against Animals in Guadalupe Nettel's Natural Histories : Speciesism, Sexism, and Classism

KRÁSNÁ, Denisa. The War against Animals in Guadalupe Nettel's Natural Histories : Speciesism, Sexism, and Classism. In 2023 Modern Language Association Annual Convention, San Francisco, 5-8 January, 2023. 2023.

Basic information

• Original name: The War against Animals in Guadalupe Nettel's Natural Histories : Speciesism, Sexism, and Classism
• Authors: KRÁSNÁ, Denisa.
• Edition: 2023 Modern Language Association Annual Convention, San Francisco, 5-8 January, 2023, 2023.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Presentations at conferences
• Field of Study: 60206 Specific literatures
• Country of publisher: United States of America
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• Organization unit: Faculty of Arts
• Keywords in English: Mexican Literature; Animal Studies; Guadalupe Nettel; Natural Histories; Anthropocentrism; Speciesism; Sexism; Classism
• Tags: Animal Studies, anthropocentrism, Classism, Guadalupe Nettel, Mexican Literature, Natural Histories, Sexism, Speciesism
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

In her short story collection Natural Histories (2013), the Mexican author Guadalupe Nettel disrupts traditional anthropocentric narratives by portraying nonhuman animals as subjects with agency and subjectivity, capable of creating kinships and distinct cultures, resisting injustice, and expressing deep pain and grief. The paper analyses two of Nettel's stories – “The Marriage of the Red Fish” and “War in the Trash Cans” that question the traditional Western portrayal and treatment of fish and cockroaches respectively while simultaneously opposing the status quo. While the first story intertwines sexism with speciesism as both the human and nonhuman females are “consumed” by their male counterpart, the second story reveals the intersections of speciesism and classism as both the working class protagonist and the cockroaches are treated as “invasive species”. Nettel challenges the violent human sovereignty over other animals as well as the colonial constructs of patriarchy and classism.

Links

• MUNI/A/1054/2022, interní kód MU: Name: Paradigms, strategies and developments - Anglophone literary and cultural studies III

Investor: Masaryk University, Paradigms, strategies and developments - Anglophone literary and cultural studies III