The Role of Non-Human Agency in Contemporary Literature: A Posthumanist Analysis

Abstract

This research paper examines the role of non-human agency in contemporary literature through the lens of posthumanist theory. In an era defined by ecological crises, technological advancement, and the growing presence of artificial intelligence, literature increasingly reimagines agency as a distributed phenomenon that transcends human subjectivity. Drawing on the works of theorists such as Rosi Braidotti, Karen Barad, Donna Haraway, and Bruno Latour, the study explores how animals, machines, plants, environments, and even objects emerge as agential forces within narrative structures. Through close readings of selected texts—ranging from eco-literature like The Overstory and Flight Behavior to speculative fiction such as Klara and the Sun and The Lifecycle of Software Objects—the paper investigates how literature challenges anthropocentric paradigms and redefines ethical and narrative boundaries. These texts do not simply depict non-human entities as metaphors or background scenery but as co-constitutive actors with affective, cognitive, and political capacities. By foregrounding these non-human agents, literature participates in a broader cultural and philosophical shift toward a posthuman understanding of subjectivity, entanglement, and narrative authority. Ultimately, the paper argues that contemporary literature becomes a vital site for reimagining human-nonhuman relations in the face of planetary transformation.