Mikuriya, Theresa ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6383-406X (2021) Becoming Plant: a supplement to Roger Caillois' compendium of 'le fantastique naturel'. Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture (53). pp. 100-111. ISSN 1756-9575

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Abstract

The French sociologist and Surrealist renegade Roger Caillois is known for his writings on mimicry. Caillois defines mimicry as a "dangerous luxury of nature", thus setting himself apart from Darwinian evolutionary theory and siding with a Bataillian transgressive understanding of expenditure. In his invoking of insect life forms and their behaviours and transformations, Caillois sought to challenge and re-write biological received wisdom. This essay examines an example from the insect and plant domain, the dongchong xiaocao, which would have intrigued Caillois and it uses this surmise to re-assess Caillois' contribution to contemporary thought.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Article available in issue 53 (Spring 2021). Download the full issue here: https://www.antennae.org.uk/back-issues-1
Subjects:	Arts > Cultural history Literature Medicine and health Natural sciences
Date Deposited:	06 Apr 2021
Dates:	Date Publication status 17 October 2020 Accepted 1 March 2021 Published
School, department or research centre:	London School of Film, Media and Design
URI:	https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/7796

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