Associate Professor
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At the intersection of several contemporary critical streams, Stephanie Posthumus鈥檚 research focuses on the representations of the non-human, or more-than-human, in contemporary French literature as well as across European literatures and cultures.
Constructing an ecological perspective for examining 20th and 21st Century French literary texts has been the main goal of her work since she finished her doctoral thesis in 2003. As Prof. Posthumus argues in several articles, ecocriticism, while based on a concern for global environmental problems, is not transferable from one national literature to another. The traditions, philosophies, and representations of the non-human world that influence and are influenced by literature create important cultural differences that do not allow for a global ecocritical perspective. To build a French ecocriticism, she draws on ideas such as 濒鈥櫭ヽ辞蝉辞辫丑颈别 (F茅lix Guattari), la nature-culture (Bruno Latour), and le contrat naturel (Michel Serres). Her articles demonstrate the use of French eco-theory to analyze questions of nature, environment, and landscapes in contemporary French novels (see her articles on Jean-Christophe Rufin, Michel Houellebecq, Marie Darrieussecq and Michel Tournier). Her work in this field was acknowledged as being both original and important when she was awarded the prize for the best article published in 2009 by a member of the APFUCC (Association des professeurs de fran莽ais aux universit茅s et coll猫ges canadiens).
A second branch of her work looks at representations of animals in contemporary French literature. Whereas ecocriticism remains on the periphery of French literary studies, the animal question has garnered much critical attention in France. Researching different disciplinary work on animals, from philosophy (Jacques Derrida, 脡lisabeth de Fontenay, Dominique Lestel) to ethology (Boris Cyrulnik, Georges Chapouthier), from literary criticism (Lucile Desblache, Anne Simon) to animal ethics (Jean-Baptiste Jeang猫ne Vilmer), Prof. Posthumus aims to define the animal question with respect to the French contemporary context. At the same time, she is interested in comparing this context to that of other European countries as the European Union has become an important ruling body for establishing laws about animal well-being and rights in Europe. The relationships between local, regional, and cultural differences in a global landscape are at the heart of Prof. Posthumus鈥檚 work on ecocriticism and animal studies.
More recently, Prof. Posthumus has been leading a research project on the convergences of the digital and the environmental humanities. Awarded a SSHRC Connections grant in 2013, she brought together scholars interested in exploring the ways in which digital technologies can be used to disseminate cutting edge research in the environmental humanities.聽 An integral part of the project, the robust platform serves three main functions: 1) it acts as a hub for researchers in this emerging field; 2) it provides examples of analytic approaches such as topic modelling and mapping; and 3) it features pedagogical tools (DEH syllabi, guidebook blog entries) and digital exhibits of environmental humanities research in Canada. Working with digital texts and exploring new reading environments, Prof. Posthumus examines the philosophical assumptions upon which the human/machine binary has been built. In this way, she continues to develop a posthumanist approach that seeks to rethink the human in light of contemporary thinking about animals, machines, and nature's others.
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Publications
Posthumus, Stephanie.聽French 脡cocritique: Reading Contemporary French Theory and Fiction Ecologically.聽Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2017.
Posthumus, Stephanie and Daniel Finch-Race, eds.聽French Ecocriticism:聽From the Early Modern Period to the Twenty-First Century.聽Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2017.
Posthumus, Stephanie and Rachel Bouvet. 鈥淓co- and Geo- Approaches in French and Francophone Literary Studies,鈥� Handbook of Ecocriticism and Cultural Ecology, ed. Hubert Zapf. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, 2016. 385-412.
Posthumus, Stephanie. 鈥溍塩ocritique en fran莽ais au Canada / Ecocriticism in French in Canada,鈥� The Goose. Tenth Anniversary Edition, 14.2 (2016): 37-9.
Posthumus, Stephanie and Louisa Mackenzie, eds. French Thinking about Animals. East Lansing: Michigan State UP, 2015.
Posthumus, Stephanie. 鈥淟鈥檌maginaire paysan et l鈥檋abiter 茅cologique chez Marie-H茅l猫ne Lafon et Michel Serres,鈥� Fixxion, Revue critique de fixxion fran莽aise contemporaine, Special issue: 脡copo茅tiques. 11 (2015): 100-11.
Posthumus, Stephanie and St茅fan Sinclair. 鈥淩eading Environment(s): Digital Humanities and Ecocriticism,鈥� Green Letters: Studies in Ecocriticism, 18.3 (2014): 254-73.
Posthumus, Stephanie. "Pour une 茅cocritique interdisciplinaire et engag茅e. Analyse de la nature et de l鈥檈nvironnement dans les sciences humaines,鈥� Formes po茅tiques contemporaines, 11 (2014): 7-30.
Posthumus, Stephanie. "Les Enjeux des animaux (humains) chez Michel Houellebecq, du darwinisme au post-humanisme,鈥� French Studies, Vol. LXVIII.3 (2014): 359-76.
Posthumus, Stephanie. 鈥淧ortraits de l鈥檋omo litteratus dans le darwinisme litt茅raire et La Possibilit茅 d鈥檜ne 卯le de Michel Houellebecq,鈥� @nalyses, Revue de critique et de th茅orie litt茅raire, 9.2 (2014): 70-95.聽
Posthumus, Stephanie and Louisa Mackenzie. 鈥淩eading Latour Outside: A Response to the Estok-Robisch Controversy,鈥� Interdisciplinary Studies of Literature and the Environment, 20.4 (2013): 757-77.
Posthumus, Stephanie and 脡lise Sala眉n. 鈥溾�楳on pays, ce n鈥檈st pas un pays, c鈥檈st l鈥檋iver鈥�: Literary Representations of Nature and Ecocritical Thought in Qu茅bec,鈥� Greening the Maple: Canadian Ecocriticism in Context, eds. Nicholas Bradley and Ella Soper-Jones. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2013. 297-327.
Posthumus, Stephanie.聽 鈥淧enser l鈥檌magination environnementale fran莽aise sous le signe de la difference,鈥� Raison publique, 17 (2012): 15-31.
Posthumus, Stephanie. "Writing the Land/scape: Marie Darrieussecq鈥檚 Le Pays,鈥� French Literary Studies: The Environment in French and Francophone Literature and Film, 30 (2012): 103-117.
Posthumus, Stephanie. 鈥淧arcours m茅t茅orologique, conscience climatique chez Michel Serres et Michel Tournier,鈥澛�La Pluie et le beau temps. Discours scientifiques et transformations litt茅raires, du Moyen Age 脿 l鈥櫭﹑oque moderne, ed. Karin Becker. Paris: Herman, 2012. 379-98.
Posthumus, Stephanie. 鈥淰ers une 茅cocritique fran莽aise: le contrat naturel de Michel Serres,鈥� Mosaic, a journal for the interdisciplinary study of literature, 44.2 (2011): 85-100.
Posthumus, Stephanie and St茅fan Sinclair. 鈥淟鈥檌nscription de la nature et de la technologie dans La Possibilit茅 d鈥檜ne 卯le de Michel Houellebecq,鈥� Sites: Contemporary French & Francophone Studies, 15.3 (2011): 349-356.
Posthumus, Stephanie. 鈥溍塼at des lieux de la pens茅e 茅cocritique fran莽aise,鈥� Eco-zon@. European Journal of Literature, Culture, Environment, 1.1 (2010): 148-154.
Posthumus, Stephanie. La nature et l鈥櫭ヽologie chez Claude L茅vi-Strauss, Michel Serres, Michel Tournier. 脡tude de mod猫les structuralistes et 茅cologistes chez trois penseurs fran莽ais. Sarrebruck: 脡ditions universitaires europ茅ennes, 2010.
Posthumus, Stephanie. 鈥溾�楧eux truites fr茅missant flanc 脿 flanc鈥� : le structuralisme et l鈥櫭ヽologisme chez Michel Tournier,鈥� Dalhousie French Studies, 85 (2009): 167-82.
Posthumus, Stephanie. 鈥淟鈥檈xception 茅cologiste francaise : Globalia de Jean-Christophe Rufin,鈥� Sites: Contemporary French & Francophone Studies, 12.4 (2008): 445-453.
Posthumus, Stephanie. 鈥淔raming French Eco-Difference: A Brief Overview,鈥� Re-public: Re-Imagining Democracy. Special Issue: From climate change to environmental justice? (2008). Online.
Posthumus, Stephanie. 鈥淭ranslating Ecocriticism: Dialoguing with Michel Serres,鈥� Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture. Special Issue: Eco-Cultures: Culture Studies and the Environment. 7.2 (2007). Online.