https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1si1.006
The Posthuman Protagonist: Viral Animals as Moral and Existential Icons for Humans
ARCHA GOPAN
Research Scholar, Mercy College, Palakkad
Assistant Professor
Yuvakshetra Institute of Management Studies, Palakkad
archagopan24@gmail.com
Abstract: The twenty-first-century digital culture has become a posthuman laboratory, involving an ontological shift from viewing man as the centre of the world to understanding humans as one among many species that co-evolve within a vast interconnected web of life. The human-animal boundary is being redefined through social media narratives, particularly those surrounding the viral monkey Punch and the lonely Antarctic penguin, both of which signify an unconscious adoption of posthuman ethics among human beings. This paper investigates the shift from the traditional humanist belief that animals are instinct-driven objects to a recognition of animals as beings possessing their own complex moral agency and existential defiance. Employing Donna Haraway’s concept of the “Companion Species” and Rosi Braidotti’s notion of the “Posthuman Subject,” the paper explores how the contemporary era values “significant others” and perceives all species as interconnected nodes within networks of social and biological relationships.
Human identification with the loneliness and rebellion of animals is not merely a form of anthropomorphism but a manifestation of trans-species solidarity. The recent celebration of animal agency on social media platforms indicates that digital spaces have become active sites for this posthuman turn, where animals are recognized as vital agents capable of challenging stereotypical and normative structures. Such representations decentre the notion of human beings as the sole possessors of meaningful life. The paper also contends that the truncated format of digital narratives functions as a new mode of literary expression. It opens up a multitude of interpretations, often granting animal subjects a significance that transcends the conventions of traditional human-centred fiction.
Keywords: Posthumanism, Animal Agency, Companion Species, Posthuman Subject, Shared Vulnerability
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