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Thesis
Performing Adaptation: The Aesthetics of (Non)Human Transformation in The Annihilations
University of West Florida Libraries
Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida
2025
Abstract
This paper examines the transposition of Annihilation from Jeff VanderMeer’s 2014 novel to Alex Garland’s 2018 film adaptation, Annihilation, analyzing how both texts manifest ecological and ontological destabilization through narrative and aesthetic shifts. By framing the process of adaptation within the lens of ancient aestheticism and identity ecopolitics, this study interrogates the relational identities constructed between human and nonhuman beings, particularly in their confrontation with the posthuman metamorphosis generated by the Shimmer/Area X. Drawing on material theories concerning ecological evolution and deep time, this analysis situates the film’s visual syntax as an expression of cognitive estrangement and alienation. The human apocalypse unfolds as a dynamic process of the eco-aesthetic adaptation and variation of anthropocentric beings, rather than as a mere external destruction. This paper analyzes how both the novel and film confront ideas of extinction, denial, and human exceptionalism, depicting the Anthropocene as a period that dismantles traditional dominant concepts of anthropomorphism. Ultimately, this paper makes the case that the Annihilations function as an adaptation of ecological trauma as well as a reflection of archaic anxiety-driven aesthetic traditions, highlighting the fragility of human temporality through the interaction and hybridity of adaptation and aesthetic theories of the past, present, and future.
Details
- Title
- Performing Adaptation
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Contributors
- Kevin M Scott (Committee Chair)David M Baulch (Committee Member)Robin Blyn (Committee Member)
- Publisher
- University of West Florida Libraries; Argo Scholar Commons
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 38
- Identifiers
- 99381357279506600
- Academic Unit
- English
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- University of West Florida; Master of Arts (MA)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida