SUBVERSION AND SATIRE OF ANTHROPOCENTRISM IN ENGLISH LITERATURE

This article examines the subversion and satire of anthropocentrism in English literature from the Middle Ages to the contemporary period. By analyzing works from Chaucer, Shakespeare, Swift, Wordsworth, Shelley, Hardy, Eliot, Woolf, McEwan, Atwood, and Winterson, the study reveals a persistent literary tradition that challenges the notion of human centrality. Through satire, irony, and narrative reorientation toward nature and non-human perspectives, these texts expose the limitations of human pride and reimagine humanity’s relationship with the broader world. The paper argues that literary critiques of anthropocentrism offer essential insights for contemporary ecological and philosophical thought.