Beyond Humanity. Posthuman Reflections in "Lives of the Monster Dogs" by Kirsten Bakis

,

• Publisher: GRIN Verlag
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9783389162330
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: North American Literary Collections
• Index: Literature

Seminar paper from the year 2023 in the subject American Studies - Comparative Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Bamberg, language: English, abstract: "Lives of the Monster Dogs (Monster Dogs)" by Kirsten Bakis tells the tale of a unique breed of dogs created by a reclusive and deranged scientist, Augustus Rank, under the employ of power-hungry German royalty. Through surgical alterations, the dogs are endowed with superhuman intelligence, provided with prosthetic limbs, and equipped with mechanical vocal apparatuses. Although conceived in the late nineteenth century, their realization is delayed until the late 1960s. Originally designed to serve as a merciless and devoted military force for their human masters, the dogs instead rebel against their creators, leading to the slaughter of their handlers. Subsequently, they find refuge in modern-day New York City, where they become objects of fascination for the general public and lead lives akin to those of celebrities. Despite their newfound fame, their extraordinary existence is marred by a devastating ailment that gradually reverts them to the status of ordinary dogs, a transformation they find intolerable. As the narrative unfolds, the majority of the dogs meet their demise, leaving behind an enigmatic legacy. Only one dog survives to the conclusion of the novel, and much of their remarkable story remains veiled in uncertainty. The eponymous characters in the novel appear to blur the boundaries between the human and the non-human, thus reflecting and questioning posthumanist ideas. In my study, I propose that the monstrous characters in the novel embody the liminal spaces of the posthuman condition, challenging conventional definitions of humanity, embodiment, and identity. These characters, through their hybrid nature and the way they navigate and negotiate their existence in relation to technology and society, highlight the evolving dynamics of posthumanism in the digital age. This study will employ concepts central to methods grounded in cultural studies to demonstrate how these posthumanist monsters invite readers to reconsider the boundaries of humanity and explore the implications of posthumanism in our contemporary media landscape. By focusing on a postmodern novel that blurs genre boundaries and creates eerily familiar but nonetheless distinctly different characters, this research seeks to shed light on the potential transformations and challenges that posthumanism presents to our understanding of monstrosity and humanity in the digital era.