Fiction Without Humanity: Person, Animal, Thing in Early Enlightenment Literature and Culture

In the literary, philosophical, scientific, and political writings of the Enlightenment, humanity is an elusive category. Lynn Festa's book Fiction Without Humanity explores how writers and artists of the late 17th and early 18th centuries defined the human as an indefinite class that needed to be called into being through literature and the arts. It focuses on experiments with the perspectives of nonhuman creatures and inanimate things, grounding humanity in the enactment of capacities that distinguish humans from other creatures. This alternative account of the rise of the novel shows how these early experiments with nonhuman perspectives helped generate novelistic techniques for the representation of consciousness.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 364 pages
Publication date: 03 September 2021
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

The Enlightenment, a period of profound intellectual and cultural transformation, is often linked to the emergence of human rights and a heightened sense of humanitarian empathy. However, the concept of humanity itself remains elusive in the literary, philosophical, scientific, and political writings of this era. In her groundbreaking book, "Fiction Without Humanity," Lynn Festa delves into the literary history of late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century efforts to define the human. Through a meticulous exploration of the shifting terms used to differentiate humans from animals, objects, and machines, Festa argues that writers and artists treated humanity as an indefinite class, requiring cultivation through literature and the arts.

Drawing on a diverse range of literary, scientific, artistic, and philosophical devices, including riddles, fables, microscopes, novels, trompe l'oeil, and still-life painting, Festa's work centers on experiments with the perspectives of nonhuman creatures and inanimate objects. Rather than relying on sympathetic identification or resemblance to a fixed template, early Enlightenment writers and artists grounded humanity in the exercise of capacities such as reason, speech, and educability, which set humans apart from other creatures. This performative model of humanity, capable of accommodating broader claims to human rights, emerged as a powerful tool for shaping the understanding of human nature.

In addition to its exploration of the concept of humanity, "Fiction Without Humanity" offers an alternative account of the rise of the novel. By placing the novel within a genealogy that encompasses paintings, riddles, scientific plates, and fables, Festa demonstrates that realism is not solely derived from mimetic exactitude but rather from the tailoring of the represented world to a distinctively human experience. By embracing a wide range of genres and forms of expression, Festa's work challenges traditional literary hierarchies and opens up new avenues for understanding the evolution of the novel and its role in shaping our understanding of the world.

In conclusion, "Fiction Without Humanity" is a groundbreaking work that offers a fresh perspective on the literary, philosophical, scientific, and political writings of the Enlightenment. Through its exploration of the concept of humanity and its relationship to literature and the arts, Festa provides a valuable contribution to our understanding of this important period in history. Her work challenges us to think critically about the ways in which we define and represent humanity, and encourages us to embrace a broader and more inclusive understanding of our shared humanity.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780812225051