Dialogic Wilderness in Ted Hughes’ Zoopoetics as a Conjugation between Humans and Animals

Abstract

: This paper contends that Ted Hughes’ zoopoetics stages Bakhtinian dialogism, creating a polyphonic space through the interaction of human and animal worlds. The aim of the research is to explore the complex interplay of animal and human voices, challenging anthropocentrism and expressing the vitality of nature. The objective therein is to highlight the fluid boundaries between both the realms, establishing dynamism and dialogism in Hughes’ zoo poetry. Addressing ecocentric viewpoints, Hughes’ zoo poems establish poetry as a dialogic territory, questioning Bakhtinian logic that poetry canonizes language. The research employs a qualitative methodology, combining close reading and in-depth analysis of Hughes’ animal poems based on Mikhail Bakhtin’s dialogic paradigm. The study reveals that Hughes’ zoo poetry affirms the interdependence of man and wildlife within a shared ecological consciousness. The insights into dialogic and ecocritical frameworks in Hughes’ zoo poetry open future research avenues around reshaping human perceptions of the non-human world.