Academic literature on the topic 'Antroposeen'

Anthropocene on the National Stage: Maaseudun tulevaisuus (“Future of the Countryside”, The Finnish National Theatre 2014) and the Interregnum We Live in The article argues that entering the Anthropocene has pushed us into a cultural interregnum. However, the discussions of the Anthropocene and the concept of interregnum seldom meet. In this article it is assumed that this stems from the fact that the concept of interregnum pertains to the 20th century critical epistème and as such, it is a mismatch with the current theoretical impulse of turning toward affects, ontology and becoming. However, the case is made that we should not let go of the critical legacy altogether: to analyse struggle over and between epistemologies, we need critical concepts. Research material in the article consists of the manuscript of Leea Klemola’s 2014 Finnish National theatre production “The Future of the Countryside”, and nine articles from the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat’s digital archive, published during the play’s opening week. “The Future of the Countryside” asks what could the relationship between humans and their companion species be like, were it not based on the idea that it is legitimate for humans to treat the rest of the world as resources. However, the media brouhaha surrounding the play’s opening night hardly touches upon this theme at all. Instead, the nation and the limits of national culture are repeatedly evoked as the primary explanatory framework. In this way, the “Future of the Countryside” provides an illustrative case of the interregnum we live in, understood as old epistemologies losing ground but still keeping the new from emerging.

Tarkastelen artikkelissa pohjoisen metsäekosysteemin representaatiota Yleisradion Avaran luonnon esittämässä luontodokumentissa Villi Pohjola, osa 1/6: Suomi (Saksa 2011). Analyysini kautta piirtyy esiin eläinten toiminnan näyttämöksi muodostunut metsä, jonka pohjoisuus korostaa kaukaisen, koskemattoman ja rajattoman luonnon vaikutelmaa. Reflektoin tällaisen luontorepresentaation merkitystä villin luonnon kulttuurisesta konstruktiosta käydyn keskustelun avulla.Luontodokumenteille tyypillinen ajatus dokumentaarisuudesta toden tallenteena tiivistyy Villissä Pohjolassa pelkistettyyn tyyliin, jossa teknisesti rakennettuja kuvia tai kohtauksia ja vahvaa tarinankerrontaa on vältetty. Kertoja selostaa hajanaisen kollaasin metsän eläinten toiminnoista vuodenaikojen edetessä. Puheosioiden väleissä tunnelmoidaan musiikilla ja metsän visuaalista kauneutta korostavilla maisemakuvilla.Jos toden tallentamiseen kytkeytyvän läpinäkyvyyden vaikutelman ymmärtää tekijöiden valitsemana tyylinä, avautuu näkökulma kerronnan tarpeiden kautta muokkautuvaan luontoon. Erityisyyden, ihmeellisyyden, ikiaikaisuuden ja villiyden ominaisuudet eivät niinkään nouse metsän fyysisestä olemuksesta, vaan tarinan rakenteiden, visuaalisuuden ja televisiokerronnan asettamien vaatimusten ja mieltymysten mukaisesti. Vaikka näitäkin piirteitä suomalaisesta metsästä voi löytää, niiden tiivistymää Villin Pohjolan kerronnassa voidaan kuvailla eräänlaisena antroposkenen ekosysteeminä. Yhdistettynä villin luonnon kulttuuriseen konstruktioon toden tallentamiseen typistyvä dokumentaarisuus mahdollistaa uskottavan esityksen pohjoisesta luonnosta, joka ei ole poliittinen, riippuvuussuhteessa itseemme tai inhimillisten näkökulmien muokkaama valinta. Luontodokumentin todeksi vahvistama metsä muuttuu polaariseksi toiseudeksi, paikaksi ajan ja ihmisyyden ulkopuolella.Forest ecosystem as a stage: constructing wilderness with northernnessIn this article, I investigate the representation of a forest ecosystem in a nature documentary series episode Wild Scandinavia – Finland (Germany 2011). Through the analysis, the ecosystem appears as a stage for visually curious animals and their behavior. By emphasizing the northern location of the forest, the representation connects with the cultural construction of wilderness. The northern nature appears untouched, remote, and boundless. Typically for many wildlife films, the idea of capturing a neutral reality prevails in Wild Scandinavia – Finland. The audiovisual narrative is created with a style devoid of technically constructed images or scenes and by eschewing apparent storytelling. A loose collection of animal activity along the passing seasons is narrated by a male voice-over. In between the narrated parts, music and scenery highlight the visual beauty of the forest. If we understand the appearance of transparency as a style selected by the authors, a nature with features enhanced by audiovisual narration can be seen to unfold. Wild Scandinavia – Finland presents a forest characterised by rarity, perpetuity, and wildness. These are all traits that can be found in a Finnish forest, but the condensation suggests a nature modified by the needs of visuality and narration. Using the concept of antroposcene by Brett Mills, the article describes an ecosystem converted into a cinematic forest. Combined with the cultural construction of wilderness, the idea of capturing a neutral reality enables a plausible impression of northern nature free from politics, subjective perception, or dependency on ourselves.

Yhdysvaltalaisen runoilijan Max Cafardin yhdeksän säkeistön pituinen ”Tervetuloa idioseeniin” on jo useamman vuoden ajan kiertänyt internetissä vihaisena ja turhautuneena kommenttina antroposeenikeskusteluihin, jotka ovat 2000-luvun aikana nopeasti levinneet geologiasta muihin luonnontieteisiin, yhteiskuntatieteisiin ja humanistisiin tieteisiin sekä taiteeseenkin. Antroposeeni on geologien puntaroima ehdotus uudeksi planeetan historiaa jäsentäväksi epookiksi holoseenin jälkeen. Se merkitsee planetaarisen ihmisvaikutuksen aikaa, joka jättää pysyvät jäljet Maapallon maa- ja kallioperään, kryosfääriin, ilmastoon, meriin, vesistöihin ja elonkehään sekä siten koko maapallojärjestelmän toimintaan.

“Romanın yükselişi” hakkındaki akademik tartışmalarda çoğunlukla kabul edildiği üzere İngiliz romanının evrimi 1740ların ortasından sonra bir sıçrama yaşamıştır. Bu dönemi takip eden yüz yıllık süre içerisinde, yani 1840ların sonuna kadar, İngiliz romanı hızlı bir biçimde olgunluğa erişmiştir. Bu tarihsel dönem birçok akademisyen tarafından Antroposen çağının başlangıcı olarak kabul edilen Endüstri Devrimi’nin de tarihsel yoğunluk noktası ile neredeyse bire bir olarak örtüşmektedir. ‘Erken Antroposen Çağı’ olarak nitelendirilebilecek olan bu yüz yıllık dönemin neredeyse tam ortasında James Watt’ın buharlı lokomotifi icadı (1784) da yer almaktadır. Watt’ın icadı, o dönemde Britanya’daki insan toplumunun işaret, üretim-tüketim ve değiş-tokuş sistemlerinde insanlardan sonra en fazla eyleyici güce sahip hayvanlar olan atların yerini Viktorya Çağı’nın sonuna gelindiğinde “beygir gücü” ve “demir at”ların aldığı bir süreci başlatmıştır. Ancak, bu yüz yıllık sürede atlar sadece İngiltere’nin şehirlerinde ve kırsal bölgesinde çalışmaya devam etmekle kalmamış, aynı zamanda da İngiliz romanında “anlatısal iş yükü” taşımaya devam etmiştir. On dokuzuncu yüzyılın ortasında yaşanan Darwin Devrimi ile de bu kez insan-at ilişkilerinin ontolojik boyutlarına ilişkin algı bağlamında bir değişim yaşanmıştır. İnsanlar ve hayvanlar arasındaki ontolojik sürekliliğe ilişkin Darwinci anlayış, İngiliz romanında da yansımalarını bulmuştur. Bu arka plan üzerinde, bu makalede öncelikle Antroposen bağlamı “romanın yükselişi” tartışması ile ilişkilendirilmektedir. Daha sonra da, insansonrası bir eleştirel konumdan bakılarak, Henry Fielding’in Joseph Andrews (1742), Jane Austen’ın Northanger Manastırı (Northanger Abbey) (1818) ve Emily Brontë’nin Uğultulu Tepeler (Wuthering Heights) (1848) adlı romanlarına atıfla canlı atların “anlatısal eyleyiciliği,” George Eliot’ın Silas Marner (1861) ve Thomas Hardy’nin Tess (Tess of the d’Urbervilles) (1891) adlı romanlarına ilişkin olarak da ölü atların “anlatısal eyleyiciliği” tartışılmakta ve örneklendirilmektedir.

”Liha- vai kasvisruoka” on kysymys, josta on hyvä lähteä liikkeelle. Mutta kriittisen monilajisen kasvatustieteen ja pedagogiikan tulokulmasta pitäisi lisäksi kysyä: mikä liha, mikä kasvis, keiden kustannuksella, keiden hyödyksi, millaisia historioita vaalien?

The aim of the study was to develop a critical posthumanist and democratic theory that may be applied in the teaching and learning of Life Sciences in South Africa in order to achieve an expanded form of democracy that would not discriminate between human and nonhuman. Though both critical posthumanist and democratic theories have been used in pedagogical studies separately, this study focused on the development of a merged and broader theory that has elements of both of the theories. The term nonhuman, as used here, does not specifically refer to non-person individuals only. Rather, it also refers to people who are regarded by the dominant humans as nonhumans – inferiors and subalterns. The latter group of people include the poor, women, children, people of colour and the disabled. Owing to this binarisation characteristic of the Life Sciences as a subject – which it adopts from the nature of science, its curriculum, and pedagogical approaches – the impression is given that as the master of the universe, the human has unlimited power over all other entities. These other nonhuman entities are then regarded as resources for the use of humans. Yet, it is this attitude which has caused humans to abuse nonhumans to the extent that the earth is facing the catastrophe of the Anthropocene. The adoption of a critical education approach characterised by the development of a critical posthumanist and democratic theory that may be applied in the teaching and learning of Life Sciences is essential in dealing with the issue of the Anthropocene that is threatening the earth currently. This study thus seeks to adopt a critical education approach through the introduction of democracy into the teaching and learning of Life Sciences, specifically so that humans would get to a position where they would consider nonhumans as entities with which they co-exist, and entities with equal agency within the environment. The recognition of the need for democracy would allow the humans to treat the nonhumans (such as the environment and ‘subalterns’) with respect, as their compatriots; and by doing that, the harrowing issues leading to the catastrophe of the Anthropocene could be either avoided or averted.
Educational Foundations