Poulomi Choudhury
- School: English, Drama and Film
- Supervisor: Dr Sharae Deckard
Fleshy Food Resources of the Future
My doctoral project, provisionally entitled 'Fleshy Food Resources of the Future,' explores the role of animal agriculture and meat in the current and ongoing climate crisis. I analyse a corpus of twenty-first-century literary works that belong to the sub-genre of abatthorror, which I define as horror fiction that centres around the abattoir and representations of cannibalism. I investigate the ways in which these works produce fleshy equivalences between the meat of animals and humans and argue that horror provides the necessary tools through which the ideology of violence that is baked into the very structures of meat production can be questioned and critiqued. It makes visible the ‘absent referents’ (Carol Adams) of splatter and bloodshed inherent in the slaughter, value production and consumption of nonhuman animals. I argue that the provocations raised by cannibalism in abatthorror fiction can expose the systemic issues of carnism and meat culture in the context of contemporary hyper-consumption and that these issues intersect with other forms of oppression and exploitation, such as colonialism, racism, sexism, ableism, and heterosexism. The analysis adopts a comparative and interdisciplinary approach, drawing on theories and concepts from critical animal studies, ecofeminism, critical disability studies, postcolonial studies, and horror studies. I examine works from different geographical locations and cultural contexts, such as North America [Don LePan’s Animals (2018)], Britain [Joseph D’Lacey’s Meat (2018)], Latin America [Augustina Bazzterica’s Tender is the Flesh (2020)], and India [Vandana Singh’s “Are you Sannata3159?” (2018)] to explore how the spectre of animal-as-food varies in sites of core consumption and the periphery. This interdisciplinary project aims to contribute to the areas of critical animal studies, food studies, horror, and environmental humanities to offer new insights into the ethical and environmental implications of animal agriculture.
I hold a BA in English Literature (2006-09) and was awarded the Government of Ireland Scholarship to complete my MPhil in Popular Literature at Trinity College Dublin (2013-14). I also hold another master’s degree in Cultural Studies (2019-20). Outside of academia, I have over 12 years of experience in the industry in the fields of social media policy, digital marketing and technical writing.
Funding:
- Irish Research Council Postgraduate Scholarship (2022-2025)
- UCD College of Arts and Humanities Doctoral Fee Scholarship (2021-2022)
Contact details:
Email: poulomi.choudhury@ucdconnect.ie
Mastodon: (opens in a new window)mastodon.social/@choudhup
Bluesky: choudhup.bsky.social
The other one: (opens in a new window)twitter.com/choudhup
ORCID: (opens in a new window)orcid.org/0000-0001-5417-0492