Life after life or the republic of beings: Jacek Dukaj’s „Starość aksolotla” [Senility of Axolotl] in ecocritical perspective

Abstract

In the presented article, the author explores the possibilities of an ecocritical reading of the Starość aksolotla by Jacek Dukaj. Particular emphasis is placed on the post-humanist motifs and im-plications of the story. At the same time, the author extensively discusses the latest trends in ecocriti-cism and tries to supplement the interpretation of the literary text with theoretical reflections on the situation, challenges and future of ecocriticism. The author also presents the possibilities of using such trends as new materialism, flat ontology or Actor-Network Theory in ecocritical practice. The most important theoretical contexts are Bernard Stiegler’s reflections on the nature of technology, Latour’s Actor-Network Theory reinterpreted by Graham Harman, Jane Bennett’s new materialism and “ecology without nature” of Timothy Morton.