This thesis project analyzes the novel Annihilation (2014) by Jeff VanderMeer and situates the biologist’s transformation and transition in the book in a trans ecological framework. By expanding on foundational texts such as Jackson Jesse Nash’s “‘I Am Not Returning Home’: A Transgender Reading of Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation”, this paper argues that representations of fungus in Annihilation present a possibility for trans futurity rooted in transformation, ecological entanglement, and a rejection of binary thought. Additional articles from Transgender Studies Quarterly and A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies orient this fungal transformation in the larger framework of rejecting normative embodiment, understanding and embracing transhumanism, and moving towards mycelial convergence. I turn to new materialism, particularly theory built by Mel Y. Chen and Eva Hayward, in order to theorize a trans ecology that is agential and capacious, rather than merely existing in passive relation to the human. In the “Trans Ecologies” section of the paper, I refer to Chen’s Animacies to demonstrate how linguistic and cognitive shifts precede and create the conditions for physical transition, and how Area X is an active participant in this transformative process. By weaving together trans studies, new materialism, the fungal, and Annihilation, I reimagine Area X as a space for radical trans possibility, one where normative boundaries and obstacles are reconfigured and decomposed.
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis project analyzes the novel <em>Annihilation </em>(2014) by Jeff VanderMeer and situates the biologist’s transformation and transition in the book in a trans ecological framework. By expanding on foundational texts such as Jackson Jesse Nash’s “‘I Am Not Returning Home’: A Transgender Reading of Jeff VanderMeer’s <em>Annihilation</em>”, this paper argues that representations of fungus in <em>Annihilation</em> present a possibility for trans futurity rooted in transformation, ecological entanglement, and a rejection of binary thought.<em> </em>Additional articles from <em>Transgender Studies Quarterly</em> and <em>A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies</em> orient this fungal transformation in the larger framework of rejecting normative embodiment, understanding and embracing transhumanism, and moving towards mycelial convergence. I turn to new materialism, particularly theory built by Mel Y. Chen and Eva Hayward, in order to theorize a trans ecology that is agential and capacious, rather than merely existing in passive relation to the human. In the “Trans Ecologies” section of the paper, I refer to Chen’s <em>Animacies</em> to demonstrate how linguistic and cognitive shifts precede and create the conditions for physical transition, and how Area X is an active participant in this transformative process. By weaving together trans studies, new materialism, the fungal, and <em>Annihilation</em>, I reimagine Area X as a space for radical trans possibility, one where normative boundaries and obstacles are reconfigured and decomposed.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Enriquez-Morales, Miles Nives Qapevewni"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Renee Hudson","Ian Barnard","Joanna Levin"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2026,"date_issued":"2026-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2026-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:47Z","subjects":["Trans ecology","Trans studies","Annihilation","Jeff VanderMeer","Literature","New materialism","Arts and Humanities","Modern Literature"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/english_theses/90","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Renee Hudson","Ian Barnard","Joanna Levin"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Enriquez-Morales, Miles Nives Qapevewni"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Trans ecology","Trans studies","Annihilation","Jeff VanderMeer","Literature","New materialism","Arts and Humanities","Modern Literature"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/english_theses/90"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis project analyzes the novel Annihilation (2014) by Jeff VanderMeer and situates the biologist’s transformation and transition in the book in a trans ecological framework. By expanding on foundational texts such as Jackson Jesse Nash’s “‘I Am Not Returning Home’: A Transgender Reading of Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation”, this paper argues that representations of fungus in Annihilation present a possibility for trans futurity rooted in transformation, ecological entanglement, and a rejection of binary thought. Additional articles from Transgender Studies Quarterly and A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies orient this fungal transformation in the larger framework of rejecting normative embodiment, understanding and embracing transhumanism, and moving towards mycelial convergence. I turn to new materialism, particularly theory built by Mel Y. Chen and Eva Hayward, in order to theorize a trans ecology that is agential and capacious, rather than merely existing in passive relation to the human. In the “Trans Ecologies” section of the paper, I refer to Chen’s Animacies to demonstrate how linguistic and cognitive shifts precede and create the conditions for physical transition, and how Area X is an active participant in this transformative process. By weaving together trans studies, new materialism, the fungal, and Annihilation, I reimagine Area X as a space for radical trans possibility, one where normative boundaries and obstacles are reconfigured and decomposed.
"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Enriquez-Morales, Miles Nives Qapevewni. (De)composing Transhumanisms: Fungal and Trans Ecologies in Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation. 2026. Chapman University, MA Thesis. Chapman University Digital Commons,https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000740"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["(De)composing Transhumanisms: Fungal and Trans Ecologies in Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Renee Hudson","Ian Barnard","Joanna Levin"],"dc:creator":["Enriquez-Morales, Miles Nives Qapevewni"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis project analyzes the novel Annihilation (2014) by Jeff VanderMeer and situates the biologist’s transformation and transition in the book in a trans ecological framework. By expanding on foundational texts such as Jackson Jesse Nash’s “‘I Am Not Returning Home’: A Transgender Reading of Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation”, this paper argues that representations of fungus in Annihilation present a possibility for trans futurity rooted in transformation, ecological entanglement, and a rejection of binary thought. Additional articles from Transgender Studies Quarterly and A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies orient this fungal transformation in the larger framework of rejecting normative embodiment, understanding and embracing transhumanism, and moving towards mycelial convergence. I turn to new materialism, particularly theory built by Mel Y. Chen and Eva Hayward, in order to theorize a trans ecology that is agential and capacious, rather than merely existing in passive relation to the human. In the “Trans Ecologies” section of the paper, I refer to Chen’s Animacies to demonstrate how linguistic and cognitive shifts precede and create the conditions for physical transition, and how Area X is an active participant in this transformative process. By weaving together trans studies, new materialism, the fungal, and Annihilation, I reimagine Area X as a space for radical trans possibility, one where normative boundaries and obstacles are reconfigured and decomposed.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/english_theses/90"],"dc:source":["Enriquez-Morales, Miles Nives Qapevewni. (De)composing Transhumanisms: Fungal and Trans Ecologies in Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation. 2026. Chapman University, MA Thesis. Chapman University Digital Commons,https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000740"],"dc:subject":["Trans ecology","Trans studies","Annihilation","Jeff VanderMeer","Literature","New materialism","Arts and Humanities","Modern Literature"],"dc:title":["(De)composing Transhumanisms: Fungal and Trans Ecologies in Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:47Z"}