Forms of life

What are we, really? A bounded individual with our own body and mind—or a composite being, made up of trillions of micro-organisms that think alongside us, act alongside us, and perhaps even have a say in who we are? Contemporary biology is shaking our sense of self: strictly speaking, we are never alone, but always already a kind of community.This study asks whether literary fiction reflects that too. For stories have always revolved around recognisable individuals—characters with a will, a goal, an inner life. But what happens when writers challenge precisely that assumption, and introduce characters that swarm, merge, or share a consciousness with fungi or microbes?

Dissertation: https://hdl.handle.net/11370/abf2803e-58a5-4c18-8231-5a4edf23f51c