How are humans connected to the technology, nature and materials around us? In a new doctoral thesis, Jonas M. Hoeck shows how author Amalie Smith’s literature opens up new ways of understanding subjectivity, responsibility, and our relationship to the world around us.
“My thesis examines the work of the Danish author Amalie Smith, with a particular focus on how her writing explores the relationship between human beings, the body, technology and the environment,” says Jonas M. Hoeck, PhD of Literary Studies. “I analyse how literary forms such as montage, hybrid genres and documentary elements are used to investigate what it means to be a subject in a time marked by technological and ecological change.”
Why Amalie Smith?
“I became interested in Amalie Smith because her work is situated at the intersection of literature, visual art, science and technology. She challenges traditional boundaries between fact and fiction, as well as between humans and the material world, which makes her writing highly relevant in a time when questions of climate, technology and embodiment are central.”
What have you discovered?
“One of the key findings is that Smith’s literature demonstrates how humans are never separate from their surroundings. Our experiences are shaped in interplay with places, technologies and material processes. The thesis shows how literature can make these often invisible relations visible, thereby opening up new ways of understanding both subjectivity and responsibility in our contemporary moment,” says Jonas M. Hoeck.
“In the book De næste 5000 dage, Smith employs photography, archival material and personal reflections to explore coastal landscapes and climate change. Here, the camera becomes not merely a tool but part of the very experience of place, in which humans, technology and landscape appear as intertwined. Human experience of the world is shaped through encounters with both material environments and technological media.”
What do you hope your thesis will contribute?
“I hope it will enhance understanding of how contemporary literature can help us reflect on humanity’s place in a more-than-human world. It also demonstrates how new materialist perspectives can be applied in concrete literary analysis, and not only used as abstract theory.”
Jonas M. Hoeck defended his doctoral thesis in Literary Studies at Karlstad University on 6 March. He plans to continue working with research and writing at the intersection of literature, society and intellectual history, with a focus on contemporary literature and questions relating to democracy, culture and societal change.
