Metropolitan metamorphosis: posthuman transformations in the urbanised world of 'Good Hunting'.

The present paper takes a critical posthumanist lens to study the consequences of rapid urbanisation of the Chinese landscape as presented in the short story 'Good Hunting', by Ken Liu. One of the main characters in the story is Yan, a huli jing (fox-spirit), whose ability to switch between her fox...

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Publicado en:Journal for Cultural Research Vol. 29; no. 3; pp. 489 - 502
Autores principales: Krishna, Mahesh, Kumar, Nagendra
Formato: Literary Criticism
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Sep2025
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Sep2025
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        187408292
        10.1080/14797585.2024.2405573
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        atl: Metropolitan metamorphosis: posthuman transformations in the urbanised world of 'Good Hunting'.
      aug:
        au:
          Krishna, Mahesh
          Kumar, Nagendra
        affil: Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India
      su:
        Posthumanism
        Urbanization
        Landscape changes
        Landscapes
        Psychological adaptation
        Metamorphosis
        Liminality
        China
      sug:
        subj:
          China
          Posthumanism
          Urbanization
          Landscape changes
          Landscapes
          Psychological adaptation
          Metamorphosis
          Liminality
      keyword:
        postcolonialism
        posthumanism
        science fiction
      ab: The present paper takes a critical posthumanist lens to study the consequences of rapid urbanisation of the Chinese landscape as presented in the short story 'Good Hunting', by Ken Liu. One of the main characters in the story is Yan, a huli jing (fox-spirit), whose ability to switch between her fox and human forms is severely impaired by the loss of remnant nature in China, and the subsequent erosion of the qi from the soil. It is not just the natural landscape that undergoes a transformation during urbanisation – the remnants of nature do not remain untouched by this process. Beings like Yan, who continue to inhabit the place that used to be their home, do not remain the same that they were pre-urbanisation. The city changes them, moulds them in ways hitherto inconceivable, and they undergo this transmogrification of their bodies and their self in order to survive. The article draws out the historical relationship between urban spaces and (post)human bodies, with a specific focus on the Chinese body, drawing parallels between the ideals associated with the city and juxtaposing them with what it means to be posthuman. The paper also interrogates Yan's status as a liminal entity before and after Hong Kong's transformation, and her use of liminality as a survival strategy.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Literary Criticism
      src: R
    language: English
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      custom: Copyright of Journal for Cultural Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
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