Engaging the Imagination: ‘New Nature Writing’, Collective Politics and the Environmental Crisis

Oakley, Kate; Ward, Jonathan B.; Christie, Ian

doi:10.3197/096327118x15343388356383

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…In a 2015 article for the New Statesman, for instance, Cocker argued that many British contemporary nature writers only explore the terrain between nature and literature, and do little to explore the axis between culture and nature. Kate Oakley, Jonathan Ward, and Ian Christie (2018), furthermore, are mainly concerned with 'the overwhelmingly male nature of the grouping', but they also fear that this kind of nature writing 'commodifies or instrumentalises the natural environment-particularly as a balm to troubled psyches' (693). Examples of the latter can, for instance, be found in Richard Mabey's Nature Cure (2005), Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk (2015), or Katharine Norbury's…”

Section: Writing Nonhuman Remembrancementioning

confidence: 99%

From Roost to Rookery: Environmental Memory in Mark Cocker’s Crow Country

Vos

2023

Junctions

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This article expands Lawrence Buell’s notion of environmental memory beyond its seemingly singular focus on the natural environment in relation to the human. It does so by paying close attention to the nonhuman animals that also inhabit these spaces. As our understanding of animals becomes ever more complex, it becomes clear that they each have a specific subjective relation with, and memories of, the environments they inhabit. These more-than-human memories also deserve our recognition and understanding and can help us formulate a less anthropocentric approach to memory studies. Mark Cocker’s Crow Country, a seminal piece of British New Nature Writing, consequently allows us to imagine where such a more-than-human memory can begin and what it could look like. In his book, he reflects at length on the entanglement of landscape with both human and crow memory. By reading his text alongside Jamie Lorimer’s idea of affective logics and Diana Taylor’s conception of the ephemeral repertoire, we can not only see how humans act and remember in relation to other beings, but also what the role of literature might be in these more-than-human interactions.

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Section: Writing Nonhuman Remembrancementioning

confidence: 99%

From Roost to Rookery: Environmental Memory in Mark Cocker’s Crow Country

Vos

2023

Junctions

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“…The inspirations are wide-ranging, as detailed in reviews by Cocker (2015), Graham Huggan (2016), Robert Macfarlane (2013), Joe Moran (2014), Kate Oakley et al (2018), Jos Smith (2017) and Phil Smith (2017, 2020; and as Cecile Oak, 2017). Yet the genre is easily recognized, usually written in first person, and unlike those producing ‘“expert knowledges” about natural phenomena’ (Castree, 2005: xvii) in geography and allied disciplines.…”

Section: Mind the Gap: Psychogeography Beyond The Suburbsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychogeography: Walking through strategy, nature and narrative

Sidaway

2021

Progress in Human Geography

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Proposed as an urban pedestrian practice in French texts of the 1950s, the current vogue for English-language references to psychogeography dates from the 1990s. Sampling this corpus, much of it outside academic geography, this article examines some of psychogeography’s trajectories, connections and affinities, notably with nature writing. In minding gaps, the article considers gendered, decolonial and Muslim registers that extend the range of sites and protagonists, heralding other priorities and opportunities both within and beyond the North Atlantic. Finally, reflecting on what lessons lie in psychogeography and its margins for human geography, the article reconsiders questions of narrative and scale.

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“…Through their lens, ecocriticism (the study of the environment in literary works) understated vectors of domination, including gender issues, embedded in the existing modes of environmental theory, praxis and activism (Gaard, 2014;Stevens et al, 2018). For instance, the recent works of the 'New Nature Writers' in the UK have generated mixed reactions, as writers concerned about the global ecological crisis find solace in a creative escape into 'wild' environments, thus avoiding direct confrontations with histories of oppression (Oakley et al, 2018).…”

Section: How Does Environmental Artivism Articulate With Gender?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Six avenues for engendering creative environmentalism

Rodríguez‐Labajos

Ray

2021

Global Environmental Change

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The ubiquitous use of artworks (e.g., paintings, music, films) in environmental activism has been shown to trigger specific cognitive processes as well as changes in personal values and behaviours. There is less understanding of whether (or how) gender-differentiated environmental claims and gender-transformative initiatives are voiced and promoted through art and cultural expressions. Using network analysis, this paper comprehensively reviews ninety-eight years of peer-reviewed literature on gender and environmental activism. We identify six avenues of gendered artistic activism (or 'artivism') on environmental issues that communities have pursued in the past. We present a non-prescriptive description of each avenue based on key references in the literature. A gendered lens on artistic activism makes visible the power of different groups to act, be they women, men, LGBTQ or other collectives, their chosen (or available) scopes of creative action when engaging with environmental protection and their thematic foci. A highlight of the study is the significant presence of younger demographics, including children and students in environmental artivism. Finally, we discuss how gendered artivism expands our understanding of environmental action, putting our results in conversation with well-known current environmentalism(s).

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Engaging the Imagination: ‘New Nature Writing’, Collective Politics and the Environmental Crisis

Abstract: This is a repository copy of Engaging the imagination: 'new nature writing', collective politics and the environmental crisis.

Cited by 12 publications

References 32 publications

From Roost to Rookery: Environmental Memory in Mark Cocker’s Crow Country

From Roost to Rookery: Environmental Memory in Mark Cocker’s Crow Country

Psychogeography: Walking through strategy, nature and narrative

Six avenues for engendering creative environmentalism

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