Material-ecocritical relationality in Juli Zeh's Unterleuten
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Pathak, Sushant
issued: 2025-11-21T09:14:37Z
issued: 2025
related degree: Master of Arts - MA
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: This thesis explores how the perspectives of human characters in Juli Zehâs Unterleuten (2016) toward particular nonhuman entities can be understood as relationship-building agents rather than purely human-centered perceptions. While such perspectives are traditionally interpreted as human projections shaped by anthropomorphic cognition or cultural frameworks, this study argues that the role of nonhuman entities themselves in shaping and affording these perceptions warrants greater attention. Set in the fictional village of Unterleuten, the novel provides a rich ground for examining how human and nonhuman relationships are materially and affectively intertwined. Building up on the concepts of relationality, phenomenology, and sociomateriality, this thesis demonstrates that the charactersâ motivations are not merely products of personal histories or individual experiences, but are deeply influenced by their entanglements with the village environment, for instance the wind, forests, animals, and especially the village land. Furthermore, it investigates how these relationships are disrupted and transformed with the arrival of a renewable energy corporation, highlighting the dynamic interplay between human and nonhuman agencies within a shared ecological and social space.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/92972
note: MATERIAL-ECOCRITICAL RELATIONALITY IN JULI ZEHâS UNTERLEUTEN by SUSHANT PATHAK A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Germanic Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) November 2025 © Sushant Pathak, 2025 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the thesis entitled: Material-Ecocritical Relationality in Juli Zehâs Unterleuten submitted by Sushant Pathak in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Germanic Studies Examining Committee: Markus Hallensleben, Associate Professor, German Studies, UBC Supervisor Kyle Frackman, Associate Professor, German Studies, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Thomas Kemple, Professor, German Studies, UBC Supervisory Committee Member iii Abstract This thesis explores how the perspectives of human characters in Juli Zehâs Unterleuten (2016) toward particular nonhuman entities can be understood as relationship-building agents rather than purely human-centered perceptions. While such perspectives are traditionally interpreted as human projections shaped by anthropomorphic cognition or cultural frameworks, this study argues that the role of nonhuman entities themselves in shaping and affording these perceptions warrants greater attention. Set in the fictional village of Unterleuten, the novel provides a rich ground for examining how human and nonhuman relationships are materially and affectively intertwined. Building up on the concepts of relationality, phenomenology, and sociomateriality, this thesis demonstrates that the charactersâ motivations are not merely products of personal histories or individual experiences, but are deeply influenced by their entanglements with the village environment, for instance the wind, forests, animals, and especially the village land. Furthermore, it inve…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2026-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0450761
language: eng
degree discipline: Germanic Studies
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Hallensleben, Markus
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/92972