From NCTE’s Standing Committee on Global Citizenship
This post was written by NCTE member HeeYoung Kim, who is also a member of the Standing Committee on Global Citizenship.
“Of all the set criteria for posthuman critical theory, the most important is the tactical method of defamiliarization, that is to say, disconnection of the subject from familiar and habitual patterns of identity. The task of defamiliarizing our habits of thought is akin to the critique of the power we inhabit and have become accustomed to. I would extend this to account for our relational ethical deficits, notably toward those who are marked as ‘different,’ that is to say as ‘otherwise’ human, as well as nonhuman others.” (Briadotti, 2017)
In recent decades, academic thought has increasingly embraced posthuman discourse. The rapid advancement of technology, growing ecological crises, and the escalating global issues of exclusion and oppression demand a fundamental shift in our ways of being and thinking.
Critical posthuman theory urges us to ponder a fundamental question about what it means to be human. It contests the traditional view that places humans at the center of the universe and argues for the inclusion of nonhuman existence in our understanding of humanity. It proposes to consider human subjectivity not as a fixed identity in a dichotomy with nonhumans but as a collective assemblage that encompasses both human and nonhuman actors, such as animals, plants, technology, and the planet as a whole. Braidotti (2017) discusses defamiliarization as a tactical method of this task, that is, the disconnection of the subject from familiar and habitual patterns of identity. Invested by other critical theories as a central method for critiquing dominant subject formations, the task of defamiliarizing is also suggested for the critique of the power structure we inhabit and have become accustomed to.
As a literature educator, I join in this exploration by surveying science fiction as an effective method of adapting critical posthumanism in reading children’s literature. Science fiction is a form of imaginative literature based on scientific facts and scientifically plausible or technically possible scenarios. As a subgenre of fantasy, it has been a popular genre that engages children as readers from a young age and fascinates them with its joyful imagination. Imagination has been a value pursued in the appreciation and teaching and an important criteria in evaluating science fiction. Further, Short (2018) describes that science fiction refuses to accept the world as it is, instead focusing on what could be or what might have been. These inspiring and thought-provoking stories invite us to become greater than we are and hope to be.
Critical posthuman reading can provide readers with an opportunity to experience a fundamental shift in their thinking and being. Characters in science fiction can be created in various forms, including nonhuman diverse creatures, AI technology, and robots. Readers will empathize with these nonhuman characters and experience forming relationships with them, eventually defamiliarizing human-centric perspectives.
In A Rover’s Story, written by Jasmin Warga, the protagonist is a robot. Traditionally, robots are considered merely machines, the opposite of humans in a dichotomy where humans are defined by their emotions, but machines are not. However, the AI-generated robot in this story learns emotions through vast data, blurring the line between human and nonhuman. This narrative helps students rethink what it means to be human, encouraging them to envision a new kind of humanity.
Another invaluable benefit of science fiction is that it can enhance global literacy as well. The advance of technology is a worldwide phenomenon crossing national borders and a fundamental structure creating many exclusions and oppressions in a global context. Through science fiction, readers can connect across borders and collectively delve into issues and ideas about who we are and who we should be as human beings beyond being different humans. In the Korean children’s book, The Star of Robot [로봇의 별], robots gain the ability to think, feel, and dream. They develop a sense of self and question their existence in relation to humans. The story questions whether humans have the right to use everything at their discretion.
The critical posthuman theory calls for a fundamental shift in our ways of thinking and being. Rather than maintaining the traditional dichotomy between humans and nonhumans, critical posthumanism proposes a new human subjectivity as a fluid assemblage that includes both human and nonhuman elements. This perspective emphasizes that identity is not about a static state of being but a continuous process of becoming. This transformative view encourages us to endlessly deconstruct and reconstruct our sense of self by defamiliarizing what we used and constantly exploring new possibilities of existence.
To help students navigate these complex tasks, revisiting the values of science fiction and reading it through the lens of critical posthumanism can be an effective approach. Readers can experience tactical defamiliarization from conventional thoughts, allowing them to imagine and explore new forms of human identity that have yet to exist.
HeeYoung Kim is an assistant professor at West Texas A&M University and teaches reading and children’s literature courses. She is a transnational educator from Seoul, Korea, where she taught at public elementary schools. Her research focuses on sociocultural representations in multicultural/global children’s literature.
The Standing Committee on Global Citizenship works to identify and address issues of broad concern to NCTE members interested in promoting global citizenship and connections across global contexts within the council and within members’ teaching contexts.
References:
Braidotti, Rosi. “Posthuman Critical Theory.” Journal of Posthuman Studies 1, no. 1 (2017): 9-25.
Short, Kathy G., Carol Lynch-Brown, and Carol M. Tomlinson. 2018. Essentials of Children’s Literature, 9th ed. Boston: Pearson.
Warga, Jasmin. 2022. A Rover’s Story. New York: HarperCollins.
이현. 로봇의 별 [The Star of Robots]. 2011. 푸른숲주니어.
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