Toward a minor weird: politics, deterritorialization, and group becomings in Lovecraft and Miéville

Weird is a genre of fiction that operates at the intersections of Horror, Fantasy and Science-Fiction. While Weird has been used to prompt new theories in metaphysics, its relationship to politics remains relatively unexamined. This thesis aims to rectify this, approaching the works of H.P. Lovecraft and China Miéville according to the program outlined in Deleuze and Guattari's Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature . This is an ex ploration of the relationship between language, expression and political power. These para-political imaginings are necessary in a culture wherein traditional politics are failing to produce or imagine futures. This thesis first examines Weird as a genre, drawing out its history and inconsistencies, noting that it is precisely due to this fractured and fracturing nature that Weird is such a ripe vector from which Minor readings may emerge. Following this brief exploration of genre, the thesis takes as its task the reading of Lovecraft's and Miéville's fiction according to the three main concerns of the minor: deterritorialization, the political, and the formation of new groups with new powers of expression. To some degree, this thesis is more of an extended thought experiment than traditional literary criticism, yet it is hoped that in pursuing this project, new means of thinking futures will emerge.