BREAKING AWAY FROM EGOCENTRISM. POSTHUMANISM AS A WAY OF CONTEMPLATING NON-HUMAN MATTERS ON STAGE
BREAKING AWAY FROM EGOCENTRISM. POSTHUMANISM AS A WAY OF CONTEMPLATING NON-HUMAN MATTERS ON STAGE

Summary/Abstract: Anthropocentrism is one of the key concepts associated with a broken relationship between humans, or human society, and the natural world. An excessive focus on the human is among the debated shortcomings that exacerbates environmental crises. In environmental humanities, it is especially addressed by environmental ethics. Anthropocentrism as a problem also steps into the expert debate on environmental or ecologically oriented theatre and performing arts. These media are historically understood as media focused on the human, human society, human relationships, events, and history. In the presented study, some of the starting points of posthumanist philosophy that could enrich contemporary theories of theatre and performance art are considered, to help broaden their scope of attention to a group of specific works. These are various works of art confronting anthropocentrism, or using approaches that mediate non-anthropocentric and post-anthropocentric knowledge. From a theatrological point of view, they are identified in the framework of works which Hans-Thies Lehmann calls postdramatic theatre, however, from the perspective of philosophy, they are in a certain relation with the essential ideas of posthumanism as defined by Francesca Ferrando and Rosi Braidotti, to give an example. The study’s ambition is to provide fertile ground for a continued and more thorough perspective of a group of works that fall under performing arts (drama, theatre play, performance art), which primarily deal with the relationship between the human and nonhuman nature and offer unconventional ways of representing non-human nature or reflections on the relationship between non-human nature and the human.

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