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Full text release has been delayed at the author's request until December 18, 2026

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Differently Abled Natures: Being Other than Human in Contemporary German Literature

Burnett, Kassi S.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1628698155365046

Abstract Details

2021, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Germanic Languages and Literatures.
Defining the word human may seem like a simple task. The cultural history of the word human is anything but simple, however. “Human” is not simply an alternate word for an individual of the species Homo sapiens. Rather, the word human, like the word animal, has been applied, culturally and historically, to different extents to individuals of the species Homo sapiens depending on factors like race, gender, ethnicity, disability, social class, and bodily conformity. In the West, human has been used to signify a masculine, able-bodied ideal that is set apart from all other animals (including many Homo sapiens) to the detriment of both human and nonhuman animals. Unpacking the cultural meanings of the word human is essential if we are to understand the ways it has been used to sort and oppress humans and animals alike. In this project, I examine what it means to be human in contemporary German literature and how the cultural meanings of “human” and “nonhuman” are tied up with gendered cultural notions of ability and disability. I analyze three novels: Die Mansarde by Austrian writer Marlen Haushofer published in 1969, Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän by Swiss author Max Frisch published in 1979, and Etüden im Schnee by Japanese-German author Yoko Tawada in 2014. In my analysis of Die Mansarde, I elucidate the ways that human status and belonging for a woman in the mid-twentieth Century in Austria are inevitably tied up with her ability to listen, empathize, and serve. My analysis of Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän highlights the harmful effects of a Western masculine able-bodied human norm for an elderly man with dementia and draws attention to the agency and abilities of other living and nonliving beings within the story. And finally, my analysis of Etüden im Schnee demonstrates the fluid and culturally determined nature of the category of human by focusing on EIS’s supplantation of the traditional human subject with three, active, differently abled polar bears in nonhuman bodies and their integration (or failed integration) into human society. Though these three works differ in terms of time, place, and authorship, each offers insight into the ways that disability, gender, and the cultural meanings of human and nonhuman are bound up inextricably in the Germanic and wider Western world.
Katra Byram (Advisor)
Matthew Birkhold (Committee Member)
May Mergenthaler (Committee Member)
184 p.
Animals; Comparative Literature; Cultural Anthropology; Earth; Environmental Studies; Ethics; European History; European Studies; Foreign Language; Gender; Gender Studies; Germanic Literature; History; Law; Legal Studies; Literature; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Modern Literature; Regional Studies; Womens Studies
Ecocriticism, Animal studies, Postcolonial Studies, Environmental Humanities, Disability Studies, German Studies, Germanic Languages and Literatures

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Burnett, K. S. (2021). Differently Abled Natures: Being Other than Human in Contemporary German Literature [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1628698155365046

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Burnett, Kassi. Differently Abled Natures: Being Other than Human in Contemporary German Literature. 2021. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1628698155365046.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Burnett, Kassi. "Differently Abled Natures: Being Other than Human in Contemporary German Literature." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1628698155365046

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.