This thesis examines Okada Toshiki’s Ground and Floor and Time’s Journey from the perspective of
post- and nonhumanism, especially in the vein of those dead. Within the various strands of post- and
non-humanism, the focus is on ghosts, especially as described by Jacques Derrida - who coined the
term “hauntology” - and by Mark Fisher, who applied the term to his theory. Post- and nonhuman
philosophy have the potential to inspire creative, innovative and effective ways of re-thinking the
human that surpasses mere humanist self-hatred. By staging ghosts and drawing attention to
nonhuman others, Okada’s theatre fits within this project. I would like to propose that the ghost can
be used as a metaphor within a more fruitful post-anthropocentric worldview. This would be a
Hauntoloscene, a world in which we gain spirit by recontextualizing our relationship with what is not.
The figure of the ghost allows the past to be brought into the present.