Non- Hierarchical Interconnectedness between Human and Animal in Lauren Beukes' Zoo City

Abstract

This study examines a ground-breaking South African speculative novel Zoo City by Lauren Beukes which revolves around issues of human animal relationship, identity crisis and the otherization by the patriarchal society. Originally, the novel explores how the narrative not only addresses identity formation in a deeply divided and rapidly changing society, but also the ways in which human beings place themselves in relation to women and nature. This dissertation aims to investigate the intertwined issue of human -woman-animal relationship by showing how ecofeminism co-relates the subjugation of woman with subjugation of nature in the novel Zoo City. This dissertation offers discussions on ecocritical theories and the notion of an ecological self, and explores the ways in which these concepts relate to the novel and its treatment of questions of the self’s entanglement with and accountability for both human and animal others.