The Decomposing Corpse
Keywords:
eco-criticism, necro-art, posthumanism, death, zoe, abject, Sally MannAbstract
The article examines Sally Mann’s photograph of a decomposing corpse through the lens of abjection, disgust, and the blurred boundary between body and soil. Drawing on thinkers like Julia Kristeva, Rosi Braidotti, and Jane Bennett, it explores how the dead body resists clear categorization. Rather than signifying an end, decomposition is framed as a transformation into new forms of zoe-life driven by microbial processes. The visceral reaction of nausea becomes a key to understanding this ontological instability. Ultimately, the analysis reframes death as part of an ecological continuum, where human and nonhuman matter are deeply entangled, challenging anthropocentric views of life and emphasizing a shared material existence.
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