Description (en)
Dissertation, 2022, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International
Supervised by: Gilbert Bretterbauer
Abstract
Comprising of theoretical and practical parts, this thesis sought to investigate the manifestation of hybridity in human thoughts and works in the past and present. To this end, works of art and literature obtained from the Mesopotamian, Greek, and Iranian cultures were examined to discover humankind’s viewpoint regarding hybridity in the centuries BC. Then, humanism, poststructuralism, and posthumanism were reviewed to explore contemporary human’s perspectives on the concept of hybridity. This thesis also seeks to dispute the separation of human isolation from the environment and introduce hybridity as a solution to overcome the humanism-induced hierarchy, trying to expand the contemporary human’s perspective towards the human-nature, human-technology, and male-female hybridity.
In terms of human-nature hybridity, the thesis elaborates, by mentioning Darwin's theory of evolution on the close relationship of humans and animals from the very beginning of life on earth, thus disputing the theory of the separation of nature from culture. As for the relationship between technology and humankind, the thesis discusses the developments made in recent years to make clear how technology is trespassing the human body’s borders and getting into him/her inner world so that it could co-evolve with them. Moreover, on the topic of gender hybridity, the thesis refers to the efforts made by the LGBT community to be recognized, examining the novel concept of gender in the contemporary world.
Using textiles as a metaphor, this study attempts to create a deeper understanding of the issue of human’s relationship with their surrounding environment. The practical part of the dissertation, i.e., a kilim, includes the signs and symbols of such a deep close interaction. The human-animal-plant-tool chain linkage, the hybridity of the sexes, and the blurred boundaries between the animate and inanimate beings are among the concepts portrayed on the kilim, which is the artistic representation of the current study.