Literary Theory & Criticism

Radical Literary Inquiry

Vibrant Matter, Vital Text: New Materialism and the Ontology of Literary Representation

Published in Radical Literary Inquiry , Author : Carter, Mason ORCID iD : 0009-0004-6420-4114 This essay interrogates the confluence of new materialist philosophy and literary representation, proposing that matter possesses an agentic capacity that literature both enacts and thematizes. To Cite This Essay Carter, Mason. “New Materialism and Literary Representation.” Radical Literary Inquiry , 2026, https://www.authormasoncarter.com/2026/09/new-materialism-and-literary.html. Abstract T his essay interrogates the confluence of new materialist philosophy and literary representation, proposing that matter, long relegated to the status of an inert backdrop within humanist criticism, possesses an agentic capacity that literature both enacts and thematizes in ways the linguistic turn could not accommodate. Drawing upon the theoretical apparatus furnished chiefly by Jane Bennett, Karen Barad, and Diana Coole and Samantha Frost, the discussion moves beyond the anthropocentric and constructivist paradigm…

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