Xenotransplantation, xenozoonosis and contemporary imaginings of monstrosity

Authors

  • Mary Murray

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11157/sites-vol8iss1id179

Keywords:

xenotransplantation, zoonosis, monstrosity, animal, other

Abstract

This paper considers contemporary imaginings about monstrosity surrounding xenotransplantation and zoonosis. The impact of human-to-human organ transplantation on identity is considered, and provides context for consideration of possible effects of animal-to-human transplantation and zoonotic disease on human identity. The paper looks at ways in which fearful imaginings about monstrosity, xenotransplantation and zoonosis have been conjoined with ideas about the animal, feminine and racial other, and have pointed to the possibility of significant social disruption as well as destabilisation of body and self. The conclusion to the paper includes consideration of some of the implications of such monstrous imaginings for tissue transfer.

Author Biography

  • Mary Murray
    Mary Murray is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Massey University, New Zealand. Her research interests include death and dying, human animal studies, and social theory. Recent publications include, 'Laying Lazarus to Rest: The Place and Space of the Dead in Explanations of Near Death Experiences', in A. Maddrell and J.D. Sidaway (eds) 2010, Deathscapes: Spaces for Death, Dying, Mourning and Remembrance, Ashgate, and 'The Underdog in History: Serfdom, Slavery and Species in the Creation and Development of Capitalism', in N. Taylor and T. Signal (eds) 2011, Theorizing Animals: Re-thinking Humanimal Relations, Brill. Mary is co-principal researcher of the first large scale study of Near Death Experiences in New Zealand and is completing a book about bereavement and grief.

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Published

18-07-2011

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2011)

Section

Articles

License

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How to Cite

Xenotransplantation, xenozoonosis and contemporary imaginings of monstrosity. (2011). Sites: A Journal of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies, 8(1), 108-128. https://doi.org/10.11157/sites-vol8iss1id179