“Slow Down the Machine”: The Ecophobic Basis of Agribusiness in Ruth Ozeki’s All Over Creation and My Year of Meats
2024 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
Through a combination of thematic and comparative readings along with close readings of specific passages, I analyse Ruth Ozeki’s novels My Year of Meats and All Over Creation from an ecofeminist perspective, examining the representation of the ecophobic basis of modern agribusiness. I demonstrate how the transference of rhetoric from oppressive systems unto subversive alternatives is highlighted and critiqued and suggest that efforts to challenge ecophobic practices are stymied by socioeconomic barriers and cultural habits. The link between violence towards women and animals will be demonstrated by exploring contradictions regarding the ethics of meat-eating. I furthermore argue that Ozeki exposes limitations of framing the ongoing debate on GMOs around the demarcation between natural and unnatural. Finally, my readings argue that Ozeki’s novels, through sometimes oppositional points of view, resist simple answers to complex questions regarding food, eating, and nature, and expose the ecophobia inherent in modern food production and consumption.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2024. , p. 43
Keywords [en]
ecofeminism, environmental ethics, genetic engineering, meat, rational economy, Simon C. Estok
National Category
General Literature Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-226081OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-226081DiVA, id: diva2:1869047
Subject / course
Engelska med litteraturvetenskaplig inriktning, examensarbete för masterexamen
Supervisors
Examiners
2025-02-142024-06-122025-02-14Bibliographically approved