Reading Veganism: The Monstrous Vegan, 1818 to Present

Reading Veganism focuses on the iteration of the trope 'the monstrous vegan' across two hundred years of Anglophone literature. Through veganism's relation to utopian longing and challenge to the conceptual category of the 'human,' the book explores ways in which ethical identities can be written, represented, and transmitted.

Format: Hardback
Length: 208 pages
Publication date: 02 September 2021
Publisher: Oxford University Press

Veganism: The Monstrous Vegan, 1818 to Present delves into the enduring trope of the monstrous vegan across two centuries of Anglophone literature. Through these creatures, the book explores the intricate relationship between veganism and utopian longing, as well as its challenge to the notion of the human. By examining the ways in which ethical identities are written, represented, and transmitted, Reading Veganism offers a novel perspective on the evolution of veganism as an identity and practice.

The book proposes that we can recognize and identify the monstrous vegan based on four key traits. Firstly, monstrous vegans abstain from consuming animals, a choice that creates an inexplicable anxiety in those who encounter them. Secondly, they are hybrid assemblages of human and nonhuman animal parts, destabilizing existing taxonomical classifications. Thirdly, monstrous vegans are conceived outside of heterosexual reproduction, resulting from male acts of creation. Lastly, monstrous vegans are intimately connected to acts of writing and literary creation.

The central argument of the book is that understandings of veganism, as both an identity and a practice, are incomplete without considering the multiplicity, provisionality, failure, and insufficiency within the vegan definition and lived experience. Veganism's association with positivity, driven by its pursuit of health and purity, is juxtaposed with a necessary and productive negativity generated by acknowledging the horrors of the modern world. Vegan monsters serve as a rehearsal of the key paradoxes involved in the writing of vegan identity.

In conclusion, Reading Veganism provides a thought-provoking exploration of the monstrous vegan trope, shedding light on the complex relationship between veganism, utopian longing, and the human category. By examining the ways in which ethical identities are constructed, represented, and transmitted, the book offers valuable insights into the evolution of veganism as an identity and practice. Through its analysis of the monstrous vegan, Reading Veganism encourages us to reevaluate our understanding of veganism and its place in the modern world.

Weight: 472g
Dimension: 165 x 240 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780192843494