Stella Sandford (Kingston University London)

Vegetal Reproduction as Reproduction in General: Buffon and the Vegetalisation of Sex

One of the longest-standing problems in the history of botany is the tendency to use animal models for plant life. This zoocentric tendency, still evident in much modern botanical terminology, was in many ways successful but also obstructed an appreciation of the specificity of plant life. In this talk I will argue that a notable exception to the presumptive use of animal models is found in Buffon’s general theory of reproduction (1749). Buffon seeks to develop his discussion of the power of reproduction, common to both plants and animals, without prejudicing the investigation by attaching it ‘to the generation of man, or to that of any particular kind of animals’ – a prejudice to which he believes his predecessors had succumbed. I will argue that in countering the zoocentric prejudice of his predecessors Buffon’s general theory of reproduction instead proposes a vegetal model, including a vegetal model for animal reproduction. Highlighting the nature of the vegetal model illuminates other aspects of Buffon’s general theory of reproduction. It adds another dimension to the explanation of the shift in terminology from ‘generation’ to ‘reproduction’ and explains his hesitation concerning the relatively new theory concerning the sexes of plants. However, it also leads to a curious vegetalisation of sex which, as I will show, finds unexpected echoes in contemporary feminist theory and in the language of contemporary reproductive science.

The MvBZ Lecture in Feminist Theory is part of a series organised and chaired by Susanne Lettow (MvBZ, Freie Universität Berlin). It takes place once each semester in the lecture room (Vortragsraum) of the Institute of Philosophy at Freie Universität Berlin (Habelschwerdter Allee 30, basement level).