Material Engagements: Science Studies and the Environmental Humanities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37536/ECOZONA.2010.1.1.322Keywords:
materiality, natural world, humanities, ethical ecocriticism, agencyAbstract
Key words: materiality, natural world, humanities, ethical ecocriticism, agency
In the twentieth century the principle tendency has been to denigrate the value of non-human nature. In this sense, scientific studies can help recover the materiality of the natural world for research in the humanities, especially when dealing with ecocriticism. Our current image of the environment has been deprived of its living beings and turned into an empty space at the disposal of humans. Natural sciences can provide theoretical and methodological models which can advance ethical and political projects of ecocriticism and encourage research that would consider the materiality of the non-human world, thereby restoring entity to the natural world. Twenty-first century environmental movements need to view the material and natural world as subjects with agency and not take for granted that these exist “somewhere out there.”
Palabras clave: materia, naturaleza no humana, humanidades, ética ecocrítica, agencia
En el siglo XX la tendencia fundamental hacia el medioambiente fue la de menospreciar el valor de la naturaleza no humana. En este sentido, los estudios científicos pueden ayudar a recuperar la materialidad del mundo natural para la investigación de las humanidades, especialmente en lo que concierne a la ecocrítica. El medioambiente actual ha sido privado de sus seres vivos y convertido en un espacio vacío a disposición del ser humano. Las ciencias naturales pueden aportar modelos teóricos y metodológicos que hagan avanzar los proyectos éticos y políticos de la ecocrítica, en definitiva, crear una investigación que considere la materialidad del mundo no humano: que devuelva entidad al mundo natural. Los movimientos medioambientalistas del siglo XXI deben contemplar el mundo material y natural como sujeto agente, pues no se puede dar por sentado que éstos existen “por ahí, en alguna parte.”
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