<b>Naturalcultural Hybridity and Becoming: Andrus Kivirähk’s <i>The Man Who Spoke Snakish</i> in a Material Ecocritical Perspective</b> // Hibridismo naturocultural y transformación: <i>The Man Who Spoke Snakish</i> desde la ecocrítica material

Authors

  • Maris Sõrmus Tallinn University, Institute of Germanic-Romance Languages and Cultures

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37536/ECOZONA.2015.6.1.637

Keywords:

material ecocriticism, natureculture, new materialism, trans-corporeality, Andrus Kivirähk, ecocrítica materialista, naturocultura, nuevo materialismo, trans-corporalidad

Abstract

The article takes a material ecocritical view on contemporary Estonian literature—Andrus Kivirähk’s The Man Who Spoke Snakish. The canonical novel, which focuses on the forest life being replaced with village life as well as the extinction of snakish, or, snake language, has importantly been classified as “the first Estonian eco-novel” (Hasselblatt 1262). In this light, I discuss the ways that nature emerges in new materialist terms as a subject, tangled with culture, challenging normative understandings of humanity. Particularly interesting is the fluid border of nature and culture, which suggests their reciprocal becoming. First, naturalcultural hybridity becomes manifest in the blurring of voices. Snakes emerge as the ancient brothers of humans, speaking with the last forest dwellers, while the protagonist speaks snakish and resembles a snake. The hybridity is further represented through the grandfather, human apes, and the protagonist’s sister. Above all, a hybrid “natureculture” is portrayed through Meeme, who resembles human “turf” and dissolves in nature, foregrounding the trans-corporeal naturalcultural entanglement. As Meeme becomes the earth, the novel suggests the intra-active becoming of the natural and the cultural, confirming the new materialist idea that there is no solid ground on which to stand but a dynamic world, where nature and culture finally still retreat into their own worlds.

 

Resumen

 

Este artículo analiza la obra The Man Who Spoke Snakish de Andrus Kivirähk, escritor estonio contemporáneo, desde una perspectiva ecocrítica materialista. Esta novela de culto, que se centra en la desaparición de la vida en el bosque y en la extinción del idioma de las serpientes, ha sido llamada “la primera econovela estonia” (Hasselblatt 1262). Teniendo esto en cuenta, observo cómo aparece la naturaleza como un sujeto entrelazado con la cultura, desafiando de esta manera el concepto normativo de ser humano. Es particularmente interesante el borroso límite entre naturaleza y cultura, haciendo hincapié en su transformación recíproca. En primer lugar, se manifiesta el hibridismo naturocultural en la mezcla de las voces. Las serpientes, hermanos de los humanos, hablan con los últimos habitantes del bosque, mientras que el protagonista habla el idioma de las serpientes y se parece a una serpiente. El mismo hibridismo es también evidente en la figura del abuelo, los simios y la hermana del protagonista. No obstante, la máxima declaración del hibridismo naturocultural es Meeme, que se parece a un pasto humano disolviéndose en la naturaleza y destacando el entrelazamiento transcorporal y naturocultural. Así como Meeme se convierte en tierra, la novela enfatiza la interacción del bosque y el pueblo reflejando una nueva comprensión materialista según la cual la naturaleza y la cultura se funden para formar un solo concepto.

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Author Biography

Maris Sõrmus, Tallinn University, Institute of Germanic-Romance Languages and Cultures

Tallinn University, Estonia

maris.sormus@tlu.ee

Educated at Tallinn University (Estonia) and Uppsala University (Sweden), Maris Sõrmus is a Cultural Studies PhD Candidate at Tallinn University, Estonia. Her dissertation is titled „In-Between Nature and Culture: A Material Ecocritical Perspective on Contemporary British and Estonian Literature”. Having MA Hons. in comparative literature and cultural semiotics, her previous research has been also situated in ecocriticism. She has published ecocritical articles, conference papers and has been a Visiting Scholar at the Posthumanities Hub, Linköping University, Sweden. Being a member of ASLE, her research interests include ecocriticism, especially material ecocriticism, new materialism, posthumanism, contemporary British, and Estonian literature. She is also a member of the European network on New Materialism: Networking European Scholarship on “How Matter Comes to Matter”.

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Published

2015-02-16

Issue

Section

European New Nature Writing