<b>Writing Beyond Nature: Interview with Julian Hoffman</b> // Escritura más allá de la naturaleza: Entrevista a Julian Hoffman

Authors

  • Deborah Ann Lilley Royal Holloway, University of London

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37536/ECOZONA.2015.6.1.640

Keywords:

Nature writing, Europe, Prespa, Julian Hoffman, ecology, culture, escritura de la naturaleza, Europa, ecología, cultura.

Abstract

This interview discusses new nature writing in Europe with Greece-based writer Julian Hoffman. The dialogue explores the notion of new nature writing in Europe through Hoffman’s practice, from the legacies and influences of the tradition and the contemporary development of the form to the ecological, political and social considerations of the places and people that inform and inspire his work. Focusing in particular upon Hoffman’s 2013 publication The Small Heart of Things: Being at Home in a Beckoning World (Athens and London: University of Georgia Press), the discussion explores the ways in which the work approaches and accounts for the complex environmental and political geography of the region of the Prespa Lakes, described as a “transboundary park” bordering Greece, Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Exploring the interconnected attention that Hoffman directs towards the nature, history and politics of the area, the discussion explores the possibilities of social and cultural engagement in nature writing. Further, it examines the ways that Hoffman’s approach is informed by the particular complexities of the cultural and ecological landscapes of Prespa, addressing conceptions of nature and of place in borderlands and at the margins between regions. Additionally, the exchange explores Hoffman’s use of digital media to mix the tradition of nature writing with photography.

 

Abstract

 

                Esta entrevista analiza la nueva escritura de la naturaleza en Europa con el escritor afincado en Grecia Julian Hoffman. El diálogo explora la noción de nueva escritura de la naturaleza en Europa a través de la práctica de Hoffman, desde los legados e influencia de la tradición y el desarrollo contemporáneo de la forma hasta las consideraciones ecológicas, políticas y sociales de los lugares y la gente que forman su trabajo. Centrándose en particular en la obra de Hoffman de 2013 The Small Heart of Things: Being at Home in a Beckoning World (Athens and London: University of Georgia Press), el análisis explora las formas en que el trabajo aborda y representa la compleja geografía medioambiental y política de la región de los lagos Prespa, descrita como un “parque trans-frontera” conlindante con Grecia, Albania y Macedonia. Explorando la atención interconectada que Hoffman presta a la naturaleza, la historia y la política de la zona, se analizan las posibilidades de compromiso social y cultural en la escritura de la naturaleza. Además, examina las formas en que el enfoque de Hoffman abarca las complejidades particulares de los paisajes culturales y ecológicos de Prespa, abordando los conceptos de naturaleza y lugar en las zonas fronterizas y los bordes entre regiones. Asimismo, el intercambio explora el uso que hace Hoffman de los medio digitales para mezclar la tradición de la escritura de la naturaleza con la fotografía.

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Author Biography

Deborah Ann Lilley, Royal Holloway, University of London

Royal Holloway, University of London, United Kingdom

d.a.lilley@rhul.ac.uk

I was awarded my PhD in English Literature from Royal Holloway, University of London, in 2014. My doctoral thesis, 'The New Pastoral in Contemporary British Writing', argues that a transformed version of pastoral can be seen to emerge in the period since 1990 in relation to environmental considerations. My research interests lie in 20th and 21st century Anglophone literature and theory, with particular interests in British literature and environmental humanities and criticism. 

 

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Published

2015-02-16

Issue

Section

European New Nature Writing