Environmental Parataxis. Writing Hyperabject Patterns of Death in the Web of Life in Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring

Auteurs-es

DOI :

https://doi.org/10.37536/ECOZONA.2026.17.1.5693

Mots-clés :

environmental parataxis, Rachel Carson, the hyperabject, toxic waste

Résumé

Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring is often credited with starting the modern environmental movement. This article turns to a specific stylistic element employed throughout this book: parataxis. This figure can usefully foreground the hyperabject – contemporary infrastructures of waste – as it weaves together the sprawl of nature and the spread of toxic chemicals. The article presents parataxis as a useful tool for environmental communicators and how Carson used it in the struggle against pesticides. The article also cautions authors employing environmental parataxis against overlooking the inequalities of toxic contamination in paratactical compositions where words and phrases are ordered non-hierarchically.

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Biographie de l'auteur-e

Frederik Appel Olsen, University of Copenhagen

Frederik Appel Olsen is PhD in rhetoric from the Department of Communication at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark where he currently works as a lecturer. His work centers on the intersection of science, activism, and the climate and ecological crisis.

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Publié-e

2026-10-31

Numéro

Vol. 17 No. 2 (2026): Eco-Crip Cultures: Disability and the Environment

Rubrique

Articles: General Section

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