We are the world? Anthropocene cultural production between geopoetics and geopolitics

Last, A. (2017) We are the world? Anthropocene cultural production between geopoetics and geopolitics. Theory, Culture and Society, 34(2-3), pp. 147-168. (doi: 10.1177/0263276415598626)

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Abstract

The article argues that the work of literary theorist Mikhail M. Bakhtin presents a starting point for thinking about the instrumentalization of climate change. Bakhtin’s conceptualization of human–world relationships, encapsulated in the concept of ‘cosmic terror’, places a strong focus on our perception of the ‘inhuman’. Suggesting a link between the perceived alienness and instability of the world and in the exploitation of the resulting fear of change by political and religious forces, Bakhtin asserts that the latter can only be resisted if our desire for a false stability in the world is overcome. The key to this overcoming of fear, for him, lies in recognizing and confronting the worldly relations of the human body. This consciousness represents the beginning of one’s ‘deautomatization’ from following established patterns of reactions to predicted or real changes. In the vein of several theorists and artists of his time who explored similar ‘deautomatization’ strategies – examples include Shklovsky’s ‘ostranenie’, Brecht’s ‘Verfremdung’, Artaud’s emotional ‘cruelty’ and Bataille’s ‘base materialism’ – Bakhtin proposes a more playful and widely accessible experimentation to deconstruct our ‘habitual picture of the world’. Experimentation is envisioned to take place across the material and the textual to increase possibilities for action. Through engaging with Bakhtin’s ideas, this article seeks to draw attention to relations between the imagination of the world and political agency, and the need to include these relations in our own experiments with creating climate change awareness.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Last, Dr Angela
Authors: Last, A.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
Journal Name:Theory, Culture and Society
Publisher:SAGE Publications
ISSN:0263-2764
ISSN (Online):1460-3616
Published Online:21 September 2015
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2015 SAGE Publications
First Published:First published in Theory Culture and Society 34(2-3): 147-168
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.

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