"The Nonchalant Flick of the Carp's Tail": A Material Ecocritical Analysis of US Literature of Carp Introduction and Invasion

This dissertation separates American writing about carp into three extended chapters that organize the texts about carp (Cyprinus carpio) according to tropological themes that have represented carp in different historical-cultural moments: as a pond fish, a trash fish, and an invasive species, or invasive alien species (IAS). In addition, each chapter reads these works through a particular facet of material ecocriticism, most notably, that of assemblage formation and distributed agencies. Chapter One, "Pond Fish: The Assemblage of Carp Introduction," retells the story of carp introduction as an assemblage of inter- and intra-working agents and quasi-agents. Chapter Two, "Trash Fish: Disflavor as Deviant Agency," reads texts through the concept of "deviant agents" to re-center the story told about the change in public attitudes that turned carp from useful, domesticated fish into trash fish. Chapter Three, "Invasive Fish in Eco-Tragic Narratives," combines approaches from the first two chapters about assemblages and small agencies to examine what I call the eco-tragic narrative of carp invasion. Eco-tragedies frame the carp story using elements of tragedy that run counter to material ecocritical reading, but are useful in that distinction. Eco-tragedies continue to frame IAS stories to the present day. The epilogue concludes the study by discussing how the carp's relationship with humans continues to change and also discusses the implications of Jane Bennett's notion of horizontal ethics as it applies to carp in the US