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Bestial Oblivion

War, Humanism, and Ecology in Early Modern England

Benjamin Bertram author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:1st Jun '18

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Bestial Oblivion cover

Although war is a heterogeneous assemblage of the human and nonhuman, it nevertheless builds the illusion of human autonomy and singularity. Focusing on war and ecology, a neglected topic in early modern ecocriticism, Bestial Oblivion: War, Humanism, and Ecology in Early Modern England shows how warfare unsettles ideas of the human, yet ultimately contributes to, and is then perpetuated by, anthropocentrism. Bertram’s study of early modern warfare’s impact on human-animal and human-technology relationships draws upon posthumanist theory, animal studies, and the new materialisms, focusing on responses to the Anglo-Spanish War, the Italian Wars, the Wars of Religion, the colonization of Ireland, and Jacobean “peace.” The monograph examines a wide range of texts—essays, drama, military treatises, paintings, poetry, engravings, war reports, travel narratives—and authors—Erasmus, Machiavelli, Digges, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Coryate, Bacon—to show how an intricate web of perpetual war altered the perception of the physical environment as well as the ideologies and practices establishing what it meant to be human.

"Bestial Oblivion captures the messy collisions between humans, animals, and objects in early modern warfare. In venturing onto the battlefield, Bertram’s book marks a refreshing departure from the pastoral environments that have often detained ecocritics. Equipped with the latest insights of the New Materialism and Actor-Network theory, it illumines the new assemblages forged by war and travel in the era that preceded England’s rise as a global super-power."
Todd A. Borlik, University of Huddersfield, UK

"[...] this ambitious book makes a timely and significant contribution to early modern studies in its enmeshing the discourse of war with contemporary ecocritical and posthumanist theory."
Rebecca Bushnell, University of Pennsylvania, USA


Bestial Oblivion captures the messy collisions between humans, animals, and objects in early modern warfare. In venturing onto the battlefield, Bertram’s book marks a refreshing departure from the pastoral environments that have often detained ecocritics. Equipped with the latest insights of the New Materialism and Actor-Network theory, it illumines the new assemblages forged by war and travel in the era that preceded England’s rise as a global super-power.

-Todd A. Borlik, University of Huddersfield

ISBN: 9781138708853

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 635g

282 pages