Showing papers in "European journal of literature, culture and the environment in 1970"

Ecocriticism, Cultural Ecology, and Literary Studies

Abstract: In recent years, ecocriticism has become one of the most visible and productive new directions of literary and cultural studies. Having originated in the United States as a minor, mostly regional form of environmentally oriented approach in the late 20 th century, it has since spread throughout literature departments, and become a successful new branch of the humanities not only in the U.S. and Europe but worldwide. At first, ecocriticism met with considerable resistance at first from a scholarly community that was deeply shaped by the theoretical fields of cultural studies, poststructuralism, and postmodernism 1 . However, it has gained increasing recognition as an important new field of research and teaching that opens up a broad spectrum of new perspectives and that can help to reaffirm the relevance and responsibility of the humanities and of literary studies at a time when the process of globalization, and the concomitant globalization of knowledge and science, continue to be interpreted in primarily economic and technological terms. One of the most promising directions of ecocriticism, which has developed especially in Europe, is the approach of Cultural Ecology. From the perspective of the theory of science, Peter Finke‟s Okologie des Wissens (Ecology of Knowledge) is perhaps the most systematic presentation of this theory, which posits ecology as a paradigmatic perspective of knowledge not only for the natural sciences, but for cultural studies as well. Such an ecology of knowledge implies a unifying perspective in the sense that it brings together the various cultures of knowledge that have evolved in history, and that have been separated into more and more specialized disciplines and subdisciplines in the evolution of modern science. Indeed, if ecocriticism is fundamentally concerned with the relationship between culture and nature, then it must necessarily also face up to the challenge of a new dialogue between the “two cultures” of the natural sciences and the humanities. Disciplines on both sides of the divide thereby turn into “shifting hybrid domains,” in which traditional disciplinary boundaries are blurred (Wilson Consilience 10). At the same time, this drive for the

Material Engagements: Science Studies and the Environmental Humanities

Abstract: Key words: materiality, natural world, humanities , ethical ecocriticism , agency In the twentieth century the principle tendency has been to denigrate the value of non-human nature. In this sense, scientific studies can help recover the materiality of the natural world for research in the humanities, especially when dealing with ecocriticism. Our current image of the environment has been deprived of its living beings and turned into an empty space at the disposal of humans. Natural sciences can provide theoretical and methodological models which can advance ethical and political projects of ecocriticism and encourage research that would consider the materiality of the non-human world, thereby restoring entity to the natural world. Twenty-first century environmental movements need to view the material and natural world as subjects with agency and not take for granted that these exist “somewhere out there.” Palabras clave: materia, naturaleza no humana, humanidades, etica ecocritica, agencia En el siglo XX la tendencia fundamental hacia el medioambiente fue la de menospreciar el valor de la naturaleza no humana. En este sentido, los estudios cientificos pueden ayudar a recuperar la materialidad del mundo natural para la investigacion de las humanidades, especialmente en lo que concierne a la ecocritica. El medioambiente actual ha sido privado de sus seres vivos y convertido en un espacio vacio a disposicion del ser humano. Las ciencias naturales pueden aportar modelos teoricos y metodologicos que hagan avanzar los proyectos eticos y politicos de la ecocritica, en definitiva, crear una investigacion que considere la materialidad del mundo no humano: que devuelva entidad al mundo natural. Los movimientos medioambientalistas del siglo XXI deben contemplar el mundo material y natural como sujeto agente, pues no se puede dar por sentado que estos existen “por ahi, en alguna parte.”

État des lieux de la pensée écocritique française

Abstract: Key words: ecocritique francaise, litterature et ecologie, representation litteraire du paysage, Nathalie Blanc, ethique animale Ecocriticism may be in its infancy in France, yet it has the potential to make a distinctive contribution The few current French members of ASLE generally work in American Studies However, their focus on narrative strategy and poetic structures suggests a difference in approach which parallels that between French political ecology and Anglo-American thinking on the environment The editors of a recent ecocritical publication identified the central question for their compatriots as one of literary aesthetics Current research in France includes work on literary landscapes, animals and the aesthetics of urban environments There are, of course, also ecocritics writing in French outside France Palabras clave: ecocritica francesa, literatura y ecologia, representacion literaria del paisaje, Nathalie Blanc, etica animal Puede que la ecocritica en Francia aun este en su infancia, pero tiene el potencial para hacer una contribucion distintiva Los pocos miembros franceses de ASLE en la actualidad trabajan generalmente Estudios Norteamericanos Sin embargo, su foco en la estrategia narrativa y en las estructuras poeticas sugiere una diferencia en el enfoque paralela a la que hay entre la ecologia politica francesa y el pensamiento medioambiental anglo-americano Los editores de una reciente publicacion ecocritica identificaron para sus compatriotas la cuestion central como una de estetica literaria La investigacion actual en Francia incluye el trabajo sobre paisajes literarios, sobre animales, y sobre la estetica de entornos urbanos Por supuesto, tambien hay fuera de Francia ecocriticos/as que escriben en frances

The Human Alien. Otherness, Humanism, and The Future Of Ecocriticism

Abstract: Keywords: ecocritical theory, humanism, disability studies. In a time when the “palimpsest” of ecocriticism is being constantly enriched, and that a “third wave” (Slovic & Adamson, Opperman) is largely consolidating, it is more and more compelling to re-address the question about the human. Issues such as madness or disability, for example, both radically challenge and provoke the very idea of human, regardless of social contexts, of race, religion or ethnic group. Madness and disability create in fact a “wilderness zone,” inside the tamed area of normality, of humanity-as-normality, of human as a norm and a measure of itself. Placing the question of otherness within the taxonomy of the human subject, madness and disability introduce a radical fracture in this taxonomy, showing that “the other” is not only nature (as the other-than-human), but it can be the human itself. Trying to trace the theoretical and literary coordinates of this reflection, this short essay discusses the current trends of ecocriticism and its possible developments into an ecological form of humanism. Palabras clave: teoria ecocritica, humanism, estudios sobre discapacidad. En una epoca en la que el “palimpsesto” de la ecocritica se enriquece constantemente, y en la que una “tercera oleada” (Slovic & Adamson, Opperman) se esta consolidando en gran medida, resulta mas y mas necesario volver a tratar la cuestion del ser humano. Temas como la locura o la incapacidad, por ejemplo, desafian y provocan radicalmente la idea misma del humano, sin tener en cuenta contextos sociales, raza, religion o grupo etnico. La locura y la incapacidad crean de hecho una “zona virgen”, dentro de la region de normalidad domesticada, de humanidad-como-normalidad, de lo humano como norma y medida de si mismo. Planteando la cuestion de la alteridad dentro de la taxonomia del sujeto humano, la locura y la incapacidad introducen una fractura radical en esta taxonomia, mostrando que “el otro” no es solo naturaleza (como el “no-humano”), sino que puede ser el humano mismo. Intentado trazar las coordinadas teoreticas y literarias de esta reflexion, este breve ensayo trata las tendencias actuales de la ecocritica y su desarrollo en una forma ecologica de humanismo.

Whose there is there there? Queer Directions and Ecocritical Orientations

Abstract: Key words: queer ecocriticism, environmental justice, ecophobia, performativity, normative heterosexuality This essay outlines the necessary role of queer ecocriticism as one of unsettling normative thinking about environmental issues and defamiliarizing some ecocritical practices. In particular, a queer ecocritic can propose a rethinking of what our reinhabitation of the world should be like. Other questions as the implications of the intersection between sex and nature or the rethinking of nature itself as queerly performative in the fact that species become themselves over and over again through a process of evolutionary “satisficing” according to the demands of their environment should also be addresssed. Likewise, queer ecocriticism can question the role of the senses and corporeal relations in experiencing place. Palabras clave: ecocritica queer , justicia medioambiental, ecofobia, performatividad, heterosexualidad normativa Este ensayo esboza el papel necesario de la ecocritica queer para cuestionar el pensamiento normativo sobre temas medioambientales y como defamiliarizacion de algunas practicas ecocriticas. En particular, un/a ecocritico/a queer puede proponer un nuevo planteamiento de como deberia ser nuestra re-habitacion del mundo. Otras cuestiones son las implicaciones de los cruces entre sexo y naturaleza o el volver a pensar en la naturaleza como “performativa” desde una perspectiva q ueer en el sentido de que las especies se convierten en si mismas una y otra vez a traves de un proceso evolucionario de satisfacer en grado suficiente segun las demandas de su entorno. De la misma manera, la ecocritica queer puede cuestionar el papel de los sentidos y de las relaciones corporales al experimentar el lugar.

Notes toward an Ecological Conception of Bakhtin’s ‘Chronotope’

Abstract: Key words: Bakhtin, chronotope, road, nature poetry, American novel, Robert Frost, Jack Kerouac, poetic interconnection Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of the ‘chronotope’ as a set of space-time relations characterising a particular genre, motif or period deserves the special attention of ecocritics. Bakhtin believed that literary texts help to sustain the vitality of their discursive, social and even natural environment: chronotopic motifs reflect, negotiate and emphasize the status of the environment in contemporary discourse. The ‘road’ illustrates how rivalling space-time configurations play out in twentieth-century literature. Typically imagined as a means of overcoming space and time in the novel, it has been for poets a site of awareness of the subject’s connections with the environment, and of reflections on their own past and future. Palabras clave: Bakhtin, cronotopo, carretera, poesia de la naturaleza, novela norteamericana, Robert Frost, Jack Kerouac, interconexion poetica. El concepto de “cronotopo” de Mikhail Bakhtin como un conjunto de relaciones espacio-tiempo que caracterizan un genero, motivo o periodo en concreto, merece especial atencion de la ecocritica. Bakhtin creia que los textos literarios contribuyen a preservar la vitalidad de su ambiente discursivo, social e incluso del natural: los motivos cronotopicos reflejan, negocian y ponen de relieve la situacion del medio ambiente en el discurso contemporaneo. La “carretera” ilustra como las configuraciones rivales de espacio-tiempo se agotan en la literatura del siglo veinte. Imaginada tipicamente como una forma de superar el espacio y el tiempo en la novela, la carretera ha sido para los poetas un lugar de concienciacion de las conexiones del sujeto con el entorno, y de reflexiones sobre sus propios pasados y futuros.

Reading Ecophobia: a Manifesto

Abstract: Key words: ecophobia, speciesism, ecocritical theory, ecocritical ethics, Andrew Battista, Lawrence Buell To a large extent, ecocriticism has not developed its own body of critical theory, largely so because many prominent ecocritics deliberately shy away from theoretical entanglements. Reading ecophobia is an attempt to theorize ecocriticism and reach a kind of methodological and structural definition of the field. Reading ecophobia consists of uncovering and seeing unassumed connections in our thinking and in our conceptual links that would recognize the interweaving of racism, misogyny, homophobia, speciesism and ecophobia. It would imply acknowledging biases in our analyses of cultural products and their representations of nature. Thus, it becomes a necessary step for the discipline. Palabras clave : ecofobia, especiesismo, teoria ecocritica, etica ecocritica, Andrew Battista, Lawrence Buell En gran medida la ecocritica no ha desarrollado su propio cuerpo de teoria critica, en parte debido a que muchos ecocriticos destacados rehuyen deliberadamente los enredos teoricos. Una lectura de la ecofobia constituye un intento de teorizar la ecocritica y alcanzar una especie de definicion metodologica y estructural del campo. Esta lectura consiste en revelar y ver conexiones no aparentes en nuestro pensamiento y en nuestros vinculos conceptuales, lo que reconoceria la union inextricable entre racismo, misoginia, homofobia, especiesismo y ecofobia. Esto implicaria reconocer los prejuicios en nuestros analisis de productos culturales y sus representaciones de la naturaleza. Por lo tanto, se convierte en un paso necesario para la disciplina.

Environmental Justice and Third Wave Ecocritical Approaches to Literature and Film

Abstract: Key words: environmental justice, globalization, indigenous peoples, third wave ecocriticism Using films such as Babel directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inartu, or novels such as Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko can raise consciousness on environmental justice issues and the consequences of globalization and free trade agreements for different communities around the world. Both works illustrate quite poignantly the meaning of such landmark manifestos such as the United Nations Declaration on the the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the 17 Principles of Environmental Justice or the Earth Charter. Likewise these approaches constitute the third wave of ecocriticism whose interests lie in exploring human experience from eco-global perspectives which transcend ethnic and national borders in research. Palabras clave: justicia medioambiental, globalizacion, pueblos indigenas, tercera oleada de la ecocriticaIncorporar al aula largometrajes como Babel de Alejandro Gonzalez Inartu o novelas como Almanac of the Dead de Leslie Marmon Silko puede redundar en un aumento de la concienciacion sobre la justicia medioambiental y fomentar la reflexion sobre las consecuencias de la globalizacion y del comercio libre en distintas comunidades que coexisten en el planeta. Ambos documentos resultan utiles para ilustrar el significado de otros tan importantes como la Declaracion de las Naciones Unidas sobre los derechos de los pueblos indigenas, los 17 principios para la justicia ambiental y la Carta de la Tierra, al mismo tiempo que se inscriben en la tercera oleada de la ecocritica cuyos intereses se centran en explorar la experiencia humana desde perspectivas ecoglobales y trascender las fronteras etnicas y nacionales en la investigacion.

On the absence of nature: writing on nature and ecocriticism in the Netherlands

Abstract: Key words : Dutch literature, absence of nature, Dutch ecocriticism, Frederik van Eeden, Ton Lemaire, dwelling, tourism, sublime, materiality, multicultural landscape. The traditional Dutch self-understanding is one of a nation of sober, pragmatic city-dwellers, indifferent towards Romantic nature. Their very landscapes have been seen to reflect an absence of ‘nature’. Yet a body of writing worthy of study can be found, in literature, theory and journalistic writing on Dutch landscapes, plants and animals. Pastoralism has dominated historically – promoting a bleak sense that nature has virtually been destroyed in the Netherlands. Recent interventions have included efforts to reinscribe cultural and historical meaning into the landscape, a renewed interest in life’s materiality, and the evocation of nature by immigrant writers as an indomitable site of vitality. Palabras clave: literatura holandesa, ausencia de naturaleza, ecocritica holandesa, Frederik van Eeden, Ton Lemaire, hogar, turismo, sublime, materialidad, paisaje multicultural. La imagen tradicional que los holeadandeses tienen de si mismos es la de una nacion de urbanitas sobrios y pragmaticos, indiferentes hacia la naturaleza romantica. Se ha visto en sus propios paisajes un reflejo de la ausencia de “naturaleza”. Pero puede encontrarse un conjunto de obras que merecen ser estudiadas, obras literarias, teoricas y periodisticas sobre paisajes holeadandeses, asi como sobre plantas y animales. Lo pastoral ha dominado historicamente, promoviendo un sentido sombrio de que en los Paises Bajos la naturaleza ha sido virtualmente destruida. Intervenciones recientes han incluido esfuerzos por volver a inscribir significado cultural e historico al paisaje, un interes renovado en la materialidad de la vida, y como los escritores inmigrantes evocan la naturaleza como lugar indomito de vitalidad.

Ecocriticism in Taiwan

Abstract: Key words: sustainable development, globalization, environmental justice, environmental disasters This brief article provides an overview of the recently established chapter of ASLE-Taiwan, the result of efforts and contributions made by scholars from leading universities interested in environmental issues and specializing in ecocriticism and environmental literature for more than a decade. Worthy of my special mentioning is the contributions made by the English Department of Tamkang University, one of the leading institutions focusing on ecocriticism in its PhD program. Tamkang University has held four international conferences on ecocriticism since 2000. The fifth international conference is scheduled to be held in December 2010. Many world-renowned ecocritics have been invited to attend the conferences and their papers are published in the Tamkang Review. Moreover, I’ll introduce some of the prominent ecocritics in Taiwan and their achievements in ecocriticism. Finally, I’ll deal with the impact of globalization on Taiwan and the conflict between a sustainable economy and a market-oriented economy currently confronting Taiwan. Many eco-scholars call attention to the devastating effects of the long-time pursuit of a market economy on the environment and try to push for the adoption of sustainable development as an alternative. In the wake of the tragic disaster caused by Typhoon Morakot in 2009, environmental issues are being taken more seriously in the press and are more widely debated in Taiwanese society in general. Environmental justice thus is beginning to play a more important role in ecocriticism in Taiwan right now. Palabras clave: desarrollo sostenible, globalizacion, justicia medioambiental, desastres medioambientales Este breve articulo proporciona una vision general del grupo de ASLE Taiwan creado recientemente, resultado de esfuerzos y contribuciones de investigadores de universidades punteras, interesados en cuestiones medioambientales y especializados en ecocritica y literatura medioambiental desde hace mas de una decada. Merecen mencion especial las contribuciones del departamento de ingles de la Universidad de Tamkang, una de las instituciones punteras que centran sus programas de doctorado en la ecocritica. La Universidad de Tamkang ha organizado cuatro congresos internacionales de ecocritica desde el ano 2000. El quinto congreso internacional tendra lugar en diciembre del 2010. Se ha invitado a muchos ecocriticos reconocidos mundialmente a participar y sus ponencias se publicaran en el Tamkang Review . Ademas, presentare a algunos de los ecocriticos mas importantes en Taiwan y sus logros en ecocritica. Finalmente, tratare del impacto de la globalizacion en Taiwan y del conflicto entre una economia sostenible y una economia de mercado que Taiwan esta afrontando actualmente. Muchos eco investigadores estan llamando la atencion sobre los efectos devastadores de la extensa busqueda de una economia de mercado como alternativa. Tras el tragico desastre causado por el tifon Morakot en 2009, las cuestiones medioambientales estan siendo tomadas mas en serio en la prensa y se estan debatiendo mas ampliamente en la sociedad taiwanesa en general. Asi, la justicia medioambiental esta comenzando a representar un papel mas importante en la ecocritica de Taiwan en estos momentos.

Ecocrítica en España e Hispanoamérica

Abstract: Key words: environment, environmental awareness, ecological commitment, ecological disasters, Spanish America Despite repeated efforts to introduce environmental consciousness in the Humanities in Spain, there is still a significant gap between ecocriticism in Spain and Latin America Latin American literature has always been tied to the historical ecological disasters which have taken place in America while it is surprising to see the few Spanish poets committed to the environment In Latin America, there is a flowering of both poetry and criticism which analyzes the consequences of urbanization and industrialization of the landscape which contrasts with the neglect of Spanish poets for environmental issues Palabras claves: entorno, concienciacion medioambiental, compromiso ecologico, desastre ecologico, Hispanoamerica A pesar de repetidos intentos de introducir la concienciacion por la conservacion del mundo natural en las facultades de Letras en Espana, aun existe gran disparidad entre la ecocritica en Espana y en Hispanoamerica La literatura hispanoamericana ha estado desde siempre ligada al desastre ecologico historico que ha tenido lugar en America mientras que sorprende el reducido numero de poetas espanoles comprometidos con el entorno y la conservacion del medioambiente En Hispanoamerica, sin embargo, florecen las producciones poeticas y criticas que analizan las consecuencias de la urbanizacion e industrializacion del entorno al mismo ritmo que los poetas espanoles muestran su despreocupacion por los desastres ecologicos

Repräsentationen der Ökologie

Abstract: Key words: politische Okologie, Michel Foucault, Gouvernementalitat, Reprasentation, narrative Verfahren, rhetorische Strategie, Regulationsmechanismen, Diskursformation, Poetologie okologischen Wissens, kulturwissenschaftlich ausgerichtete Literaturwissenschaft ‘Political ecology’ has emerged since the 1970s as a powerful discursive formation embracing science, economy and politics. The key concepts with which it operates are System, Equilibrium and Regulation. Modelling, simulation, visual representation, narrative shaping and rhetorical strategies play a key role: dystopian visions of the future are for instance frequently used to justify the imposition of a more authoritarian social order. Literary ecocriticism possesses the necessary methodology for critical analysis of the discourse of political ecology, in practices combining historical contextualisation of representations of environmental problems with investigation of the ‘poetology of ecological knowledge’, examining lead metaphors, narratives and representational techniques. Palabras clave: ecologia politica, Michel Foucault, mentalidad gubernamental, representacion, metodos narrativos, estrategias retoricas, mecanismos reguladores, formacion del discurso, conocimiento de la poetica ecologica, ciencias culturales frente a ciencias literarias. “La ecologia politica” aparecio en los anos 70 como una poderosa formacion discursiva que abarca ciencia, economia y politica. Los conceptos clave en los que se basa son Sistema, Equilibrio y Regulacion. El modelismo, la simulacion, la representacion visual, la forma narrativa y las estrategias retoricas desempenan un papel clave: por ejemplo las visiones distopicas del futuro suelen usarse para justificar la imposicion de un orden social mas autoritario. La ecocritica literaria posee la metodologia necesaria para el analisis critico del discurso de la ecologia poetica, en las practicas que combinan la contextualizacion historica de las representaciones de problemas medioambientales con la investigacion de la “poetologia del conocimiento ecologico”, examinando las metaforas principales y las tecnicas narrativa y de representacion.