Vibrant Death

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This work connects philosophy and poetry through a corporeal approach to knowledge, presenting a novel materialist theory of death that transcends traditional Christian and secular views. It develops a unique understanding of vibrant death through a dialogue between Deleuzean philosophy, neo-vitalist materialism, and the spiritual insights of decolonial, queerfeminist scholar Gloria Anzaldua. The book challenges the exceptionalism of human death, accompanied by poetry and autobiographical narratives analyzed via a posthuman, queerfeminist lens. Nina Lykke adopts the perspective of a mourning, queerfeminine narrator reflecting on her bond with her deceased lesbian partner. She examines her experiences of co-becoming with the material remnants of the deceased, such as the transformation of ashes through cremation and their scattering across a seabed of ancient algae. The text posits that the narrator's intimate empathizing with her queermasculine partner fosters processes of vitalist-material and spiritual-material co-becoming, prompting a re-evaluation of death that moves beyond the confines of the sovereign philosophical subject.