Roger T. Whitson reviews Alien Phenomenology
I didn’t really get that until I found myself confronting all of the conflicting feelings that came out of reading Alien Phenomenology. Who cares about the phenomenology of a chicken wing, really? It seems like such a useless and meaningless thought. But, then again, I’m reminded of the fact that the category of the human is simply a category of privilege – something we use to ignore the fact that we’ll all be trash and refuse at some point in the future. We think we’re special, and philosophical discourse has closed itself off to thought by reinscribing that special status again and again – by submitting to the cultural theorists and saying “Yes, human beings are the most important part of narrative; yes, animals and plants don’t matter; yes, culture is here and nature is there.” The most powerful message to come out of the OOO movement is the idea that, no, actually, we aren’t special. The Wire is an essential drama for understanding the lives of people in Baltimore, but there are other dramas equally worth paying attention to – and it is a useful exercise to try and imagine just what it might mean to base an entire novel on the perceptions of a Bat, for example, or a philosophical system on whatever experiences (if we can call them that) happen to tree bark or air molecules.
Lovely review of Alien Phenomenology that I came across by accident when I Googled “Ian Bogost” and “The Wire”.