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The Posthuman Wound

Welcome to the website of the research projects «The Posthuman Wound: Subject and Agency in the North American Literature of the 21st Century» (PID2022-137627NB-I00. 2023-2026), «Contemporary North American Fiction and the 4th Industrial Revolution: From Posthumanity to Privation and Social Change» (PID2019-106855GB-I00. 2020-2023) and «Trauma, Culture and Posthumanity: The Definition of Being in Contemporary American fiction» (FFI2015-63506-P. 2016-2020).

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Asides

Posted on June 1, 2018January 28, 2025

ExRey Conference 2018

Some of the members of our research team attended the conference ExRe(y): Exhaustion and Regeneration in Post-Millennial North-American Literature and Visual Culure.

Posted on January 15, 2017January 28, 2025

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posthuman_uz

Research group on US literature at @fyl_unizar (Universidad de Zaragoza). Posthumanism, science fiction, trauma studies.

We are delighted to share that our research collea We are delighted to share that our research colleague María Ferrández San Miguel has published the children’s book The Great Thread That Connects Everything: A Posthuman Tale 💫📚

Inspired by her research in critical posthumanism and her love for literature and childhood, this beautiful children’s story reflects key values within our group: interconnectedness between humans, non-humans, and environments; care, empathy, and imagination as ways of building more respectful and sustainable futures.

At @posthuman_uz we warmly congratulate María on this very special project, and also thank @eimoncayo for the wonderful illustrations and @babidibulibros for bringing this dream to life.

Congratulations on transforming research into a story that can inspire future generations! 🌱✨

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Estamos muy felices de compartir que nuestra compañera de investigación María Ferrández San Miguel ha publicado el libro infantil El Gran hilo que todo lo une, un cuento posthumano 💫📚

Inspirado en su investigación en posthumanismo crítico y en el amor por la literatura y la infancia, este precioso cuento infantil refleja valores fundamentales para nuestro grupo: la interrelación entre seres humanos, no humanos y entornos, el cuidado, la empatía y la imaginación como herramientas para construir futuros más respetuosos y sostenibles.

Desde @posthuman_uz queremos felicitar a María por este proyecto tan especial, así como agradecer a @eimoncayo por sus maravillosas ilustraciones y a @babidibulibros por hacerlo posible.

¡Enhorabuena por transformar la investigación en una historia capaz de inspirar nuevas generaciones! 🌱✨

#Posthumanism #CriticalPosthumanism #ChildrensBooks #ResearchImpact #UniversityOfZaragoza #PosthumanUZ
📚✨ What a fantastic day at SEING VI (Seminar in En 📚✨ What a fantastic day at SEING VI (Seminar in English Studies) at the Universidad de Zaragoza! 🇪🇸

This year’s theme, “Research as Resistance in a World at Odds,” truly brought together PhD researchers who explored how literary and cultural studies engage with today’s challenges 🌍

Our team presented on a range of critical topics today, including:
•	🧠 surveillance capitalism and biopolitics
•	🖤 gothic representations and race
•	🌌 speculative fiction and virtuality
•	🧬 posthuman identities and shapeshifting
•	🐒 nonhuman life and narrative limits
🎤 The day featured insightful contributions from:
María Abizanda-Cardona, Aurora Rodríguez Bermejo Fraile, Laura García Soria, Alessandra Martín González & Marta Hernández González

We are grateful for the opportunity to have shared ideas, learned from fellow researchers, and engaged in these important conversations today! 💬

#SEING2026 #AcademicConference #Posthumanism #LiteraryStudies #PhDResearch Zaragoza
✨ Today’s session of the Literary Criticism Worksh ✨ Today’s session of the Literary Criticism Workshop was a huge success! ✨
A big thank you to everyone who joined us for an engaging discussion of William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” through the lenses of Community Theory, Secrecy Studies and Critical Transparency Studies. 📚
We are especially grateful to Dr. Paula Martín Salván for leading such a thought-provoking and dynamic session, and to all the students whose participation, ideas and enthusiasm made the discussion so enriching.
Seeing the room full and the conversation flowing reminds us why creating spaces for critical thinking, collaborative learning and literary discussion matters so much 💬✨
We can’t wait to see you at the next session of the Literary Criticism Workshop! 👀
#LiteraryCriticismWorkshop #LiteraryStudies
📢 ¡El GIDU IDEN estará presente en la X Jornada de 📢 ¡El GIDU IDEN estará presente en la X Jornada del Observatorio Permanente de Innovación Docente!

Nos alegra anunciar la participación de los miembros de nuestro grupo de innovación docente IDEN (Innovación y Docencia en Estudios de Literatura Norteamericana) en la X Jornada del Observatorio Permanente de Innovación Docente de Filosofía y Letras, que se celebrará el próximo miércoles 13 de mayo en la Sala de Juntas de la Facultad.

Bajo el título “Innovación y Competencias”, esta jornada reunirá a profesorado, estudiantado y grupos de innovación docente para compartir experiencias, estrategias y proyectos orientados a la mejora de la enseñanza universitaria.

Nuestro grupo intervendrá en la Sesión 2 (12:45–13:35), junto con el GIDU INNOLINGUA

Además, la jornada contará con las ponencias invitadas de Sandra Vázquez Toledo y Rubén Rebollar Rubio, así como con la participación de los GIDU REFRAME y BRIET.

📝 La inscripción está abierta para todas las personas interesadas en aprender y compartir buenas prácticas docentes. Se emitirán certificados de asistencia.

¡Os esperamos para seguir construyendo juntos espacios de innovación educativa!

#InnovaciónDocente #UniversidadDeZaragoza #GIDU #IDEN #EducaciónSuperior #BuenasPrácticas #DocenciaUniversitaria
📚✨ Literary Criticism Workshop – 2ª sesión ✨📚 ¿Te 📚✨ Literary Criticism Workshop – 2ª sesión ✨📚

¿Te interesa la crítica literaria y quieres ponerla en práctica en un ambiente dinámico y cercano? 👀

Te invitamos a la segunda sesión del Literary Criticism Workshop:

🗓 Jueves 7 de mayo
🕔 17:00 h
📍 Aula B2.6 – Facultad de Filosofía y Letras (Unizar)

👩‍🏫 Contaremos con la Dra. Paula Martín Salván, quien nos guiará en el análisis de “A Rose for Emily” de William Faulkner desde perspectivas como:
🔹 Secrecy Studies
🔹 Critical Transparency Studies
🔹 Teoría comunitaria

💬 Una sesión teórico-práctica donde aprenderás teoría… ¡y la aplicarás como en un club de lectura!

🌍 Actividad en inglés | 👐 Abierta a cualquier persona interesada

📲 Inscríbete a través del QR del cartel y recibe el texto para preparar la sesión.

¡Te esperamos! ✨
#LiteraryCriticism #Workshop #Unizar #Filología #ReadingGroup #CriticalTheory
🎓 ¡Gracias a todas las personas que asististeis a 🎓 ¡Gracias a todas las personas que asististeis a Doctorado 101: ¿Qué es un Doctorado?!

La sesión fue todo un éxito y nos alegra haber compartido este espacio para hablar sobre investigación, líneas de trabajo en literatura, lingüística y cine, y la experiencia doctoral desde una perspectiva cercana y práctica.

💬 Gracias especialmente a las doctorandas participantes y al alumnado por el interés, las preguntas y la participación.

✨ Seguimos construyendo espacios para acercar la investigación y la vida académica al estudiantado.

#Doctorado #Investigación #Universidad #Filología #VidaAcadémica #PhDJourney #Unizar
🎓 ¿Te imaginas haciendo un doctorado, pero no sabe 🎓 ¿Te imaginas haciendo un doctorado, pero no sabes por dónde empezar?

Te invitamos a “Doctorado 101: ¿Qué es un Doctorado?”, una sesión pensada para acercarte, de forma clara y práctica, al mundo de la investigación.

🗓️ 30 de abril de 2026
🕒 14:30–15:15
📍 Aula A2.2, Edificio A (Filosofía y Letras)

En esta sesión:
✨ Doctorandas del Departamento compartirán sus experiencias
📚 Descubrirás las líneas de investigación (literatura, lingüística y cine)
🔍 Verás cómo se construye un proyecto doctoral en la práctica
🌍 Entenderás su proyección académica y profesional

💬 Un espacio ideal para resolver dudas si estás en grado o máster y te planteas seguir en la academia

👉 Inscríbete en la encuesta y ven a descubrir si el doctorado es para ti

#Doctorado #Investigación #Universidad #Filología #VidaAcadémica #PhDJourney
We’re proud to share that our team member Rubén Pe We’re proud to share that our team member Rubén Peinado-Abarrio (Universidad de Zaragoza) presented at the PLGS International Conference 2026: “Female CorpoRealities”, held at the Universidad de Alcalá.

📍 Colegio de Málaga, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras (Alcalá de Henares, Madrid)
📅 April 15–17, 2026

This international conference explores how the female body is inscribed in literature and culture, examining the ways gender, sexuality, race, class, ability, and technology shape embodied realities. It brings together scholars working at the intersections of representation, lived experience, and theory to rethink the relationship between the corporeal and the real.

🔎 “The Posthuman Body in Ban en Banlieue”

In his paper, Rubén engages with Bhanu Kapil’s work to explore posthuman embodiment, focusing on fragmentation, affect, and feminist reimaginings of the body.

👏 Congratulations on this fantastic contribution!

#Conference #AcademicLife #Posthumanism #FeministTheory #LiteraryStudies #BhanuKapil
New publication alert! 📢 We’re delighted to share New publication alert! 📢

We’re delighted to share that our team member Rubén Peinado-Abarrio has published a new book chapter with Brill! 🎉📚

🔎 “An Animal State”: the Human-Dog Entity in Drifts (2020)

📖 In Women Who Write Animals
📄 pp. 285–302
🔗 DOI: 10.1163/9789004754584-017

This chapter offers a posthumanist reading of Drifts, focusing on the symbiotic relationship between the narrator and her dog, Genet. It explores how their bond gestures toward a human–dog entity that destabilises the boundary between human and more-than-human life, particularly through experiences of pregnancy, embodiment, and shared affect.

It also examines key issues such as:
• Multispecies relationality and companion species
• Posthuman subjectivity and “decreation”
• Feminist reconfigurations of the self
• The household as a hybrid more-than-human community

👏 Congratulations on this insightful contribution to posthumanist animal studies and contemporary feminist criticism!

#Posthumanism #AnimalStudies #FeministTheory #LiteraryCriticism #KateZambreno #Multispecies
📚✨ New Publication! We’re delighted to share that 📚✨ New Publication!

We’re delighted to share that María Ferrández-Sanmiguel has published a new article in Anglia: Journal of English Philology!

🔎 “Doing Science Otherwise: Material Performativity and Posthuman Spacetimematterings in Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Series”

📖 Anglia, vol. 144, no. 1, 2026, pp. 163–185
🔗 DOI: 10.1515/ang-2026-0009

This article explores how Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy reimagines scientific practice through a posthumanist lens. Drawing on new materialist theory, it examines how knowledge production emerges from entanglements between human and nonhuman agencies, challenging conventional notions of objectivity and observation.

It also analyses how the novels engage with key issues such as:
• Material performativity and agency
• Nonhuman ecologies and environments
• Alternative epistemologies of science
• Posthuman spacetimematterings

👏 Congratulations on this insightful contribution to posthumanist literary studies and contemporary ecocriticism!

#Posthumanism #NewMaterialism #Ecocriticism #LiteraryCriticism #ContemporaryFiction #JeffVanderMeer
📚✨ New Open Access Publication! We’re delighted t 📚✨ New Open Access Publication!

We’re delighted to share that our co-PI @sonia.baelo.allue_unizar has published a new chapter in Democracy, Secrecy and Dissidence in Contemporary Fiction in English, edited by Juan L. Pérez-de-Luque and Paula Martín-Salván

🔎 Chapter: Posthumanism, Secrecy, and Transparency: From Jennifer Egan's ‘Black Box’ (2012) to ‘Lulu the Spy, 2032’ in The Candy House

📖 Open Access
🔗 DOI: 10.3726/b22736
https://www.peterlang.com/document/1499138#

This chapter explores the intersections of posthumanism, surveillance, and narrative form through the evolution of Jennifer Egan’s “Black Box” and its reworking in The Candy House. It examines how secrecy and transparency operate within technologically mediated subjectivities, foregrounding the ethical tensions between control, visibility, and agency.

It also analyses how contemporary fiction engages with key issues such as:
• Data surveillance and state power
• Embodiment and technological mediation
• Narrative experimentation and digital forms
• The ethics of transparency in posthuman contexts

👏 Congratulations on this fantastic contribution to contemporary literary and cultural studies!

#Posthumanism #Surveillance #LiteraryCriticism #OpenAccess #ContemporaryFiction #DigitalHumanities
🌟 Literary Criticism Workshop 🌟 Great turnout tod 🌟 Literary Criticism Workshop 🌟

Great turnout today in the latest edition of the #LiteraryCriticismWorkshop held today at @fyl_unizar. 

Our team member Dr. Rubén Peinado Abarrio introduced the fascinating perspective of autotheory, and afterwards the students discussed Kate Zambreno's short story "Insekt or Large Verminous Thing". 

We've had such an interesting and lively discussion! We're already looking forward to the next Literary Criticism Workshop, which (spoiler alert) will be held on May 7th. 

Keep an eye on this page to stay posted!

#LiteraryCriticism #Autotheory #KateZambreno #LiteraryStudies #AcademicWorkshop #Unizar
Posthuman Fridays 📚✨ Book rec This week we’re rea Posthuman Fridays 📚✨ Book rec

This week we’re reading Pew by @catherinelacey_ - a haunting meditation on identity, silence, and the limits of community. An unnamed, unknowable figure unsettles a small town simply by refusing to be defined. Who gets to belong, and at what cost?

#PosthumanFridays #BookRecommendation #Posthumanism #LiteraryFiction #CriticalTheory #ReadingCommunity
🔬📚 #PosthumanFridays Research Highlight This week 🔬📚 #PosthumanFridays Research Highlight

This week we spotlight the work of our team member Miriam Fernández-Santiago, whose research explores the intersections between posthumanism, digital culture, and contemporary North American literature. Her work examines how technological transformations and the Fourth Industrial Revolution reshape human subjectivity, vulnerability, and cultural representation.

In this video, Miriam reflects on posthuman thought and its implications for understanding literature, technology, and the evolving relationship between humans and the digital world.

Her research is part of broader projects on posthuman agency and subjectivity in 21st-century North American narrative, including the collaborative project The Posthuman Wound.

🎥 Watch the video through the link in our bio and discover how posthuman theory helps us rethink culture, technology, and the future of the humanities.

#Posthumanism #DigitalHumanities #AmericanLiterature #CriticalTheory #ResearchHighlight #PosthumanWound
📚✨ New session of the Literary Criticism Workshop 📚✨ New session of the Literary Criticism Workshop

Join us on Friday, 20 March at 12:00 in Room B3.2, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Zaragoza for a new session of the Literary Criticism Workshop.

This session, titled “Autotheory and Kate Zambreno’s short story: Insekt or Large Verminous Thing”, will be led by our team member Rubén Peinado Abarrio.

The workshop offers a space to explore literary theory and discuss texts in a dynamic and relaxed environment. This time, we will engage with the intersections between autotheory, experimental writing, and contemporary literary criticism through the work of Kate Zambreno.

📖 Open to everyone interested in literature and literary criticism.

📍 Room B3.2 – Facultad de Filosofía y Letras
🗓 20 March
⏰ 12:00

#LiteraryCriticism #Autotheory #KateZambreno #LiteraryStudies #AcademicWorkshop #Unizar
📚✨ Members of our research team and @limlit_ parti 📚✨ Members of our research team and @limlit_ participated in the IX Jornadas del Observatorio Permanente de Innovación Docente @fyl_unizar at the Universidad de Zaragoza, an event dedicated to sharing innovative teaching practices and strengthening the links between research, pedagogy, and professional competencies.

Our team members M. Ferrández (@maria_fsm_unizar), S. Martínez (@silviamfalquina_unizar), S. Baelo (@sonia.baelo.allue_unizar), M. Abizanda, and F. Collado presented the poster:

“Posthumanismo, relacionalidad e Inteligencia Artificial en la docencia de literatura norteamericana: una reflexión pedagógica desde la innovación docente universitaria.”

The project reflects on how posthumanist theory, relational thinking, and AI can reshape the teaching of American literature, encouraging critical engagement, collaborative learning, and new forms of interpretation in the literature classroom.

A great opportunity to exchange ideas with colleagues and continue exploring how humanities teaching can evolve in a rapidly changing technological landscape. 🚀📖🤖

#InnovaciónDocente #Posthumanism #DigitalHumanities #AIinEducation #AmericanLiterature #UniversityTeaching #Unizar
📢 CALL FOR PAPERS “Unbound, Unfinished, Ongoing: 📢 CALL FOR PAPERS

“Unbound, Unfinished, Ongoing: A Kate Zambreno Symposium”

We invite scholars and researchers to submit proposals for a one-day online symposium dedicated to the work of Kate Zambreno—novelist, critic, and one of the most compelling voices in contemporary experimental writing.

The symposium will take place 23 October 2026 (online) and is hosted by Complutense University of Madrid and University of Zaragoza. 

The event is organized by our research team member Rubén Peinado.

🗓 Abstract deadline: 1 July 2026

We welcome contributions engaging with Zambreno’s work and its intersections with:
📚 autofiction and life-writing
🖋 feminist and experimental criticism
🧠 archives, memory, and literary fragments
🌍 contemporary literary cultures

🔗 Full CFP and submission details:
https://sites.google.com/view/kate-zambreno-symposium/inicio

Share with colleagues and join the conversation!

#CFP #KateZambreno #LiteraryStudies #Autofiction #FeministCriticism #CallForPapers
🌿📚 Posthuman Fridays - Book recommendation This w 🌿📚 Posthuman Fridays - Book recommendation

This week’s recommendation: Sobre Dios. Pensar con Simone Weil by Byung-Chul Han.

In this brief yet luminous essay, Han enters into dialogue with Simone Weil to reflect on one of the most urgent questions of our time: how do we recover meaning in an age of hyperproductivity, digital saturation, and spiritual exhaustion?

Through concepts such as attention, decreation, silence, beauty, and affliction, Han reinterprets Weil as an ethical and spiritual compass for the 21st century. Against the logic of efficiency and constant performance, this book invites us to embrace emptiness, stillness, and vulnerability as transformative forces.

Not a conventional theological text, but a profound meditation on transcendence, fragility, and resistance in late capitalism.

A quiet, powerful read for those thinking about posthuman vulnerability, attention, and the politics of interiority. ✨

#PosthumanFridays #ByungChulHan #SimoneWeil #CriticalPosthumanism #Philosophy #SlowThinking
Posthuman Friday ✨ - Research highlight This week Posthuman Friday ✨ - Research highlight

This week we spotlight the research article “Surveillance Capitalism and the Normalization of Digital Surveillance: An Analysis of Dave Eggers’s The Every (2021)” by our team member Carmen Laguarta-Bueno. 

The article explores how Eggers satirizes a world where surveillance is normalized and largely accepted, making use of concepts like “surveillance capitalism” and “favorably disposed normalization.” 

Watch the full video to see how recent contemporary fiction mirrors our own increasingly monitored world.

#PosthumanFridays #Posthumanism #Surveillance #SurveillanceCapitalism #Dave Eggers #TheCircle #TheEvery #ContemporaryFiction
🚨 New on ResearchGate! 🚨 Check out The Posthuman 🚨 New on ResearchGate! 🚨

Check out The Posthuman Wound Research Team 👩‍🔬📚

Explore our projects, publications, and researchers working on posthumanism & American fiction 🖋️🔬✨

Follow our journey 👉 https://www.researchgate.net/lab/The-Posthuman-Wound-Research-Team-Sonia-Baelo-Allue 🌐

#PosthumanStudies #ResearchTeam #CrimeFiction #AcademicLife
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