Materiality, Monstrosity, and Queer Ecology: An Archaeology of Failure

• Published in: Journal of Contemporary Archaeology
• Main Author: Godin, Geneviève
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: UiT Norges arktiske universitet 2023
• Subjects: VDP::Humanities: 000::Archeology: 090; VDP::Humaniora: 000::Arkeologi: 090; VDP::Humanities: 000::Archeology: 090::Other archeology: 099; VDP::Humaniora: 000::Arkeologi: 090::Annen arkeologi: 099; DOKTOR-001; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10037/31523

This project delves into the phenomenon of unruly material legacies in the Anthropocene and develops what we may call a contemporary archaeology of failure. It is first and foremost grounded in the idea that things which have been discarded, abandoned, or lost, yet refused to disappear can be said to have failed. Building on this premise, I then reflect on the unintended and unwanted masses of things that accumulate near bodies of water, drawing from several interdisciplinary conceptual frameworks including queer theory, monster theory, phenomenology, and ecocriticism. Based on case studies from coastal zones in Iceland and the United Kingdom, I further discuss object-oriented theory in the Anthropocene, make connections to ecology, and explore ways of working with an unruly archaeological record that appears almost impossible to fully grasp. The themes of ambiguity, othering, and monstrosity are also central to this endeavour. Their potential is harnessed in order to investigate persistent material legacies, as well as problematise dichotomies that are increasingly untenable in the Anthropocene. These include the distinction between nature and culture, life and non-life, the familiar and the unknown, the visible and the obscured, and the human and nonhuman. Via detours into the realm of monsters, ghosts, and zombies, I conclude by articulating a queer archaeological framework within which material failure presents itself not as an end or a problem to be solved, but as an ambiguous space of possibilities. Dette prosjektet utforsker fenomenet uregjerlig materiell arv i Antropocen, en samtidsarkeologi som fokuserer på ting som har blitt forkastet, forlatt, eller tapt, men som likevel nekter å forsvinne. Med utgangspunkt i dette premisset, reflekterer jeg over de utilsiktede og uønskede massene av ting som samler seg nær vannmasser. Jeg tilnærmer meg disse ansamlingen fra flere interdisiplinære konseptuelle rammeverk, inkludert skeiv teori, monsterteori, fenomenologi, og økokritikk. Basert på casestudier fra ...