• Volume 2, Issue 1 (Open Issue) Clones as Scapegoats: Slow Violence in Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (2005)
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  Mimesis and violence are the integral constituents of human nature. From these human tendencies of imitation and violence emerges mimetic desire, the desire to imitate others and to usurp others' possessions through violent practices. The contagious and envious nature of mimetic desire creates disastrous consequences, which we, as humans, have witnessed throughout history; this research accounts for these drastic consequences. This paper suggests that scapegoating is an instance of slow violence, imperceptible in nature but embedded in the fabric of society, and traces its attritional effects in the clones of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (2005). Drawing on insights provided by Mimetic Theory, this study sheds light on how the contagious nature of mimetic desire compels humans to sacrifice clones as part of a scapegoating mechanism. Through close textual analysis of the characters and the narrative structure, this research reveals the intricacies of clones' lives as scapegoats, which are not demeaning, trivial, or different from those they donate to. The key finding of this study is that mimetic desire drives humans to commit violent acts of sacrificing these post-human subjects as scapegoats. To justify this inhumane action, they deny the clones' humanity, reducing them to mere vessels and sacrificial resources containing organs. This research contributes to a broader understanding of structural and slow violence, human clones, and scapegoating as a pseudo-coping mechanism for the survival of society.

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  Authored By - Tabir Amjad & Qurratulaen Liaqat
• Volume 2, Issue 1 (Open Issue) Beyond the Anthropocene: A Study of Posthumanism and Ecocriticism in Children's and Speculative Fiction
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  The Anthropocene, characterized by unchecked human dominance over nature through technological advancements and industrial expansion, has led to profound ecological disruptions-manifesting in climate change, biodiversity loss, and widespread environmental degradation. Literature has long been a site for interrogating these crises, offering speculative futures and ethical critiques that challenge anthropocentric worldviews. As ecological devastation escalates, posthumanism and ecocriticism emerge as vital theoretical frameworks, dismantling hierarchical constructs that privilege human supremacy and reimagining the interdependent relationships between human and non-human entities. Ecocriticism, as theorized by scholars such as Cheryll Glotfelty, Lawrence Buell, and Greg Garrard, and Posthumanism, as theorized by Cary Wolfe and Rosi Braidotti, and Donna Haraway's cyborg ontology, will provide a framework for analyzing literature's role in imagining post-Anthropocene futures where coexistence and reciprocity replace dominance as the foundation for ecological narratives. This study explores how select speculative fiction and children's picture books subvert anthropocentric perspectives, advocating for ecological consciousness, responsible environmental stewardship, and ethical coexistence. Through texts such as Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behavior and Nnedi Okorafor's Lagoon and classic children's books including Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree,"Dr. Seuss's "The Lorax," Julia Donaldson's "The Snail and the Whale," and Emily Haworth-Booth's "The Last Tree," this paper interrogates shifting representations of ecological responsibility, human-animal entanglements, and the transformative potential of technology. This study argues that the continued exploitation of nature will inevitably erode human supremacy, forcing a paradigm shift toward a shared existence in which technology functions not as an instrument of control, but as a mediator for ecological restoration and interspecies cooperation. Through the lens of ecocriticism and posthumanism, literature becomes a powerful tool for reimagining ecological futures, advocating for environmental justice, and fostering a deeper understanding of humanity's place within the broader web of life.

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  Authored By - Dr. Gurpreet Kaur
• Volume 2, Issue 1 (Open Issue) Vernacular Futures: Reconfiguring the Posthuman in Contemporary Assamese Speculative Fiction through Homo Minuscula
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  The paper investigates posthuman themes in Santanoo Tamuly's Homo Minuscula (2023), a 20th-century Assamese science fiction anthology. It contextualizes Assamese science fiction in postcolonial Indian speculative literature along with its multilingual and multicultural origins. It uses posthumanist theory to examine complex connections among humans, non- humans (including clones), and other species as co-evolving beings negotiating technological advancement. Stories like "Homo Minuscula" by Amulya Hazarika and "Livability" by Harekrishna Deka explore dystopia, human augmentation, and repositioning within this posthuman framework. "Rasayan" and "The Returnee" explore the ethical and existential issues posed by medical augmentation of humans via technology. Furthermore, stories such as "The Cave" and "The Inseparable Hearts" also challenge traditional notions of speciesism and the hierarchical categorization of beings. This research investigates several stories like this that advocate Assamese Science Fiction's (ASF) contributions to posthumanist discourse and stimulate readers to engage with its thought-provoking narratives and observations on humanity's advancement.

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  Authored By - Parmar Yashika Bipinkumar & Dr. Milind Solanki
• 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
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  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.

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  Authored By - 1. Salomia Mary P & 2. Tamilmani K T
• Volume 2, Issue 1 (Open Issue) Connecting the Human and Arboreal: A Reading of Janice Pariat's Everything the Light Touches as a Posthuman Ecobildungsroman
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  The degradation of the ecological values and environment need to take up as much space within our discourses as they are in our lives. The necessity of opening up literary spaces to the externality of the environment provides a novel opportunity to reimagine literature and literary techniques. One such instance is the nascent innovation of the ecobildungsroman, which is the story of the protagonist's development and evolution as a character in tandem with the rising ecological awareness. In this respect, Janice Pariat's Everything the Light Touches, is a unique narrative which presents the developmental arcs in the four central characters. All four of the characters are on journeys towards self realisation which becomes possible, only when they also take their more-than-human world into consideration. The paper, therefore, aims at analysing the connection between the human and the arboreal worlds in Pariat's novel in the light of Posthumanist approaches and also draws upon the Goethean Methodology to imagine an alternate conceptualisation of interconnectedness of life, particularly human and arboreal. It also attempts to present a reading of the novel as an ecobildungsroman through the ecological entanglement between varied living species.

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  Authored By - Numana Ibrahim Bhat

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