McKay, R.R. orcid.org/0000-0003-4536-5428 (2018) A vegan form of life. In: Quinn, E. and Westwood, B., (eds.) Thinking Veganism in Literature and Culture: Towards a Vegan Theory. Palgrave Studies in Animals and Literature . Palgrave Macmillan , London , pp. 249-271. ISBN 9783319733791
Abstract
Reflecting on a moment when a vegan meal was presented to him as “lesbian food,” McKay’s essay critiques the concept of “species,” drawing on Judith Butler’s deconstruction of the sex/gender opposition. Social life, he argues, is shaped by “compulsory humanity,” a disposition in which species functions as a regulatory ideal rather than a biological essence. McKay works this critical stance into a positive description of being vegan by turning to Wittgenstein’s concept of the “form of life,” and the way his thought has been developed in relation to animal ethics. McKay’s claim is that thinking of veganism as a form of life allows for making sense of the profound form of identification with others that it expresses, evading and challenging the very notion of being human.
Metadata
Item Type: | Book Section |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Editors: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 The Editors and The Author. This is an author produced version of a chapter subsequently published in Quinn and Westwood (eds), 2018, Thinking Veganism in Literature and Culture: Towards a Vegan Theory. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Literary Criticism |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > School of English (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 09 Aug 2018 11:09 |
Last Modified: | 29 Jun 2021 00:38 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73380-7_11 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Palgrave Macmillan |
Series Name: | Palgrave Studies in Animals and Literature |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/978-3-319-73380-7_11 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:131183 |