Entanglements:
Journal of Posthumanities
E-ISSN: 3107-488X

(Article) ‐ Volume 2, Issue 1 (Open Issue)
The Rise of the Xeno-Subject: Decentering the Human and the Problem of Alterity in Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad
Authored By — 1. Salomia Mary P & 2. Tamilmani K T

Abstract

The concept of the Xeno-subject, a decentered, hybrid form of identity that differs from conventional posthuman subjects by foregrounding ethical tension, instability, and relational accountability across human, nonhuman, and technological networks. Unlike standard posthuman frameworks that often emphasize distributed agency or multiplicity in abstract terms, the Xeno-subject highlights vulnerability, moral responsibility, and the negotiation of selfhood in mediated, networked contexts. Through a posthumanist and post-structuralist lens, this research investigates Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad (2010) using qualitative textual analysis, focusing on the novel's fragmented narrative structure, temporal discontinuities, and metafictional strategies. Emphasizing liminal, relational identities, the study demonstrates how Egan's characters shaped by memory, technology, social networks, and historical contexts embody hybrid selves whose agency emerges relationally rather than in isolation. By foregrounding the Xeno-subject, the study shows how the novel challenges anthropocentric frameworks, destabilizes conventional selfhood, and reorients ethical engagement toward interdependence, alterity, and the posthuman possibilities of contemporary identity. Unlike conventional posthuman subjects, the Xeno-subject emphasizes ethical tension, instability, and relational accountability, with selfhood continually negotiated across social, technological, and material systems.

Keywords

Posthumanism, Xeno-subject, Hybrid Identity, Decentered Subjectivity, Ethical Relationality, Temporality, Metafiction, Narrative Fragmentation.

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