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Applying Material Ecocriticism and biosemiotics, the thesis analyzes consciousness-based dichotomies used to form identity in an evolving environment. It traces these dichotomies to evolutionary, autopoietic roots and argues they drive human extinction by severing people from the life-giving network of the world. The study further questions whether culpability lies with humanity, the universe, or both, shifting blame toward transformation.",{"@graph":69,"@context":117},[70,84,100],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/extinction-and-the-human-consciousness-in-adrian-tchaikovskys-cage-of-souls-thesis-abstract/148651/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"author":86,"headline":65,"publisher":89,"fileFormat":92,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":93,"datePublished":94,"encodingFormat":92,"isAccessibleForFree":95,"interactionStatistic":96},"DigitalDocument",{"name":87,"@type":88},"Gloria","Person",{"url":74,"name":90,"@type":91},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-04","2026-08-26",true,{"@type":97,"interactionType":98,"userInteractionCount":81},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":99},"ViewAction",{"@type":101,"mainEntity":102},"FAQPage",[103,109,113],{"name":104,"@type":105,"acceptedAnswer":106},"What is the central research focus of the thesis?","Question",{"text":107,"@type":108},"The thesis investigates how extinction is connected to human consciousness in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Cage of Souls, arguing that consciousness-based dichotomies drive humanity away from life-sustaining networks.","Answer",{"name":110,"@type":105,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Which theoretical lenses does the thesis use?",{"text":112,"@type":108},"It uses Material Ecocriticism and biosemiotics to analyze the human identity dichotomies and connect them to evolutionary and autopoietic roots.",{"name":114,"@type":105,"acceptedAnswer":115},"How does the thesis reinterpret the “dying earth” premise?",{"text":116,"@type":108},"Beyond presenting a dying-world scenario, it reframes the genre to critique the universe’s role in human extinction and examines the balance of culpability between humanity and the universe.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":119,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":90,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":121,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":123,"site_id":62},148651,1787782568,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":126},{"doc_id":123,"user_id":127,"nickname":87,"user_avatar":128,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":129,"file_id":130,"file_url":131,"file_type":132,"file_size":133,"view_count":81,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":134,"language":135,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":136,"faqs":137,"seo_title":138,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":124,"read_time":139},2336474459895,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/22000baeef7a5ed0655?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1786071322749376916","A Thesis  \nPresented to  \nthe Faculty of the Graduate School  \nof Millersville University of Pennsylvania  \nIn Partial Fulfillment  \nof the Requirements for the Degree  \nof Master of Art in English  \nBy John Leininger  \n4th August 2025  \nThis Thesis for the Master of Arts Degree by John S. Leininger has been approved on behalf of the Graduate School by  \nThesis Committee:  \n\n| Research Advisor: Dr. Katarzyna Jakubiak |\n| --- |\n| Committee Member: Dr. Justin Mando |\n\nCommittee Member: Dr. Timothy Mayers  \nDate  \nABSTRACT OF THE THESIS  \nEXTINCTION AND THE HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS IN ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY’S  \nCAGE OF SOULS  \nBy  \nJohn Leininger  \nMillersville University, 2025  \nMillersville, Pennsylvania  \nDirected by Dr. Katarzyna Jakubiak  \nAn ecocritical reading of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s, Cage of Souls, a science fiction novel about a dying world, reveals a humanity trapped in its own consciousness. Using the Material Ecocritical (Iovino and Oppermann) and biosemiotics (Wheeler) lenses, this paper explores the dichotomies the human consciousness used to establish a solid identity in an evolving world, and it traces the autopoietic (Bergthaller), and thus evolutionary roots of these dichotomies. In Cage of Souls, these dichotomies are shown to be the causes of human extinction, as they cause humanity to remove itself from the life-giving network of the world. In a twist on the typical “dying earth”genre (“Adrian Tchaikovsky…” 0:58), however, they also reveal a critique of the universes’role in human extinction, questioning the balance of culpability between humanity and the universe that birthed it. Viewed from the end of both humanity’s and the Earth’s lifespan, Cage of Souls uses the science fiction genre to question the suitability of humanity for life on Earth, and the culpability for demise of both, presenting a shift in perspective of the human separation from the planet from a blame-based discourse of lost utopia to one of future potential accessible only through transformation of humanity itself.  \nSignature of Investigator   Date    \nTable of Contents  \n1. Introduction:................................................................................................................................ 5  \n2. Science Fiction: A Definition ...................................................................................................... 6  \n3. Current Scholarship on Tchaikovsky’s Science Fiction............................................................ 14  \n4. Ecocriticism –A Definition ...................................................................................................... 18  \n4.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................................................... 18  \n4.2 William Rueckert – The Origin ......................................................................................................................... 19  \n4.3 Greg Garrard – Political Implications .............................................................................................................24  \n4.4 Wendy Wheeler and Biosemiotics ..................................................................................................................... 25  \n4.5 Iovino and Oppermann and Material Ecocriticism .......................................................................................... 27  \n4.6 Hannes Bergthaller and Autopoiesis ................................................................................................................. 32  \n4.7 “Becoming Animal” – Deleuze, Guattari, Lussier, and Baker ..........................................................................34  \n5. The Potential for Post Colonial/Ecocritical Intersection........................................................... 36  \n6. A Note on Extinction:................................................................................................................ 42  \n7.","cbCaicpqCJHW95Pu","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaicpqCJHW95Pu","pdf",656293,101,"English","# Introduction\n## Science Fiction: A Definition\n## Current Scholarship on Tchaikovsky’s Science Fiction\n## Ecocriticism –A Definition\n## The Potential for Post Colonial/Ecocritical Intersection\n## A Note on Extinction\n## The Framework\n## Extinction and Human Consciousness in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Cage of Souls\n## Conclusion","[{\"question\":\"What is the central research focus of the thesis?\",\"answer\":\"The thesis investigates how extinction is connected to human consciousness in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Cage of Souls, arguing that consciousness-based dichotomies drive humanity away from life-sustaining networks.\"},{\"question\":\"Which theoretical lenses does the thesis use?\",\"answer\":\"It uses Material Ecocriticism and biosemiotics to analyze the human identity dichotomies and connect them to evolutionary and autopoietic roots.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the thesis reinterpret the “dying earth” premise?\",\"answer\":\"Beyond presenting a dying-world scenario, it reframes the genre to critique the universe’s role in human extinction and examines the balance of culpability between humanity and the universe.\"}]","Extinction and the Human Consciousness in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Cage of Souls - Thesis Abstract | PDF",255]