Nordiske økofiktioner og økonarrativ forestillingsevne: romanen i den antropocæne tidsalder

Jens Kramshøj Flinker

Publikation: Bog/antologi/afhandling/rapportPh.d.-afhandlingForskning

Abstract

The research question that this PhD dissertation examines is the following: How do Nordic ecofictions have the potential to influence the reader's econarrative imagination? Econarrative imagination is about how ecofictions can create inner mental worlds in the reader, and how the reader uses these worlds to come to grips with a complex, Anthropocene reality. Whether one speaks of "environmental imagination" (Lawrence Buell), of "ecological imagination" ("Nicole Seymour") or, as I do, of econarrative imagination, these various terms indicate the following: that much ecocritical research is based on the premise that fictional narratives play an essential and innovative role in changing the reader's imagination and behavior in relation to nature, the environment, and climate change. Despite this widespread claim, few ecocritical studies have ventured into examining what is going on in the ecofiction-reader-world dynamics. Therefore, the focus of the dissertation is directed towards this complex relationship; therefore, it cultivates and explores what I call econarrative imagination. To answer my research question, I am developing an econarratological communication model. In my work with this theoretical framework, I draw on econarratology—more specifically by combining ecocriticism with cognitive narratology. Ecocriticism and cognitive narratology have, in their inception, nothing to do with each other. When I weave them together, I demonstrate that cognitive narratology has much to say about what narratives are and how they can affect readers, listeners, or viewers. Mainly within the last five to six years, a fruitful conversation has arisen between ecocriticism and narratology. My dissertation participates in this conversation. Based on my econarratological communication model, I analyze how Nordic ecofictions—i.e. Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish climate fictions and what I call weird ecofictions—have the potential to activate econarrative imagination. The literary corpus for my dissertation is comprised of the following ecofictions: Charlotte Weitze’s Den Afskyelige (2016), Aksel Selmer’s Ekspeditøren (2015), Lyra Koli’s Allting Växer (2018), Theis Ørntoft’s Solar (2018), Mette Karlsvik’s Den beste hausten er efter monsoun (2014), Kristian Byskov’s Græsset (2020), and Peter Adolphsen’s Machine (2006). Also referenced will be Dennis Gade Kofod’s Nancy (2015), Nina Bolt’s Oversvømmelsen (2015), Maja Lunde’s Bienes historie (2015) and Blå (2017), Jesper Weithz’s Det som inte växer är döende (2012) and Brit Bildøen’s Adam Hiorths veg (2011). Firstly, the findings of this study suggest: Nordic ecofiction is not preoccupied as much with sensitive and alienated individuals trying to integrate into society as it is the case in the modern novel (meaning the realistic and modernist novel in the 19th and 20th century). Nordic ecofiction short-circuits what Bruno Latour calls “the Modern Constitution” and expands the novel's perspective to place the human, to a greater or lesser degree, into an intimate relation with the more-than-human. Nordic ecofiction is still about humankind, but to a greater or lesser degree, humankind has been pushed out of the center. This is by no means a surprising development for the novel—or a surprising historical interpretation on my part. The strength and relevance of this observation is rather that, with the dissertation, I build a relatively solid and well-founded basis for this claim. Among other things, by operating with what I call weird ecofictions, realistic climate fictions, and speculative climate fictions. However, I predominantly use this sub-study to arrive at the dissertation's actual focus on the concept of econarrative imagination. Secondly, the main finding of this PhD thesis supports my initial assumption that Nordic ecofictions have the potential to activate the reader's econarrative imagination—and for that reason they are an essential cultural resource for coming to terms with time, process, and change; in short, the Anthropocene. My main approach to ecofiction is how someone or something experiences, structures, and organizes their imagination, feelings, and reflections on nature, the environment, and climate change. As the reader reconstructs these structures of imagination, feelings, and reflections, they have the opportunity to re-imagine, re-structure, and re-organize their cognitive models of the world, i.e. their imagination, feelings, and reflections about the Anthropocene world outside the text. The point is not whether the dynamics between the ecofiction-reader-world are more truthful than scientific or other argumentative climate narratives. Econarrative imagination is instead about the reader building an inner world of causal, temporal, spatial, ethical, and sensual structures, which has the potential to catalyze a shift in the reader's orientation towards the physical world. Finally, I gather these observations and findings into a larger and future-oriented perspective. If ecofiction is an important cultural actor, how can we, as a society, most appropriately realize this potential? Here I zoom in on the education systems and the teaching of humanities’ material, which have the opportunity to work with ecofiction, i.e. foreign language education, media, and literature studies. The research question that is relevant to work with in this context could be: How can humanities in the education system help to activate econarrative imagination and thus contribute to the green transition?
OriginalsprogDansk
Antal sider188
StatusUdgivet - 1 dec. 2021

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