Homo Amens: Epistemological Thanatopolitics and the Postcolonial Zombie

Abstract

This study identifies a recurring yet overlooked figure in global ethnic and diasporic literature that I term homo amens. Drawing from Agamben’s concept of homo sacer and the postcolonial zombie, I argue that homo amens (“the man without a mind”) is a powerful symbol of biopolitical violence that bypasses transgressions against the material body in lieu of immaterial bodies of knowledge, including indigenous cultural, familial, and scientific structures. Through close readings of Erna Brodber’s Myal, John Okada’s No-No Boy, and Jonny Steinberg’s Sizwe’s Test, I show that the “epistemological zombie” is a vital figure within postcolonial and power discourse, not only for foregrounding traditional knowledge within political rights, but also for making the case for ethnic literature as an instrument for epistemological equality.