Today's profound topic came from none other than Lauret Savoy. She presents the idea that whatever environmental essay is supposed to be defined as could be and most likely is wrong. Rather than the timeless argument of people versus nature it should people combined with nature, and more importantly the roots that connect one as person to their ancestral environment. The environmental essays have done wonders talking about that land but only as a separate unit from people who had it first. As she said "to essay" in french is to try, to attempt. The environmental essay is only an attempt to understand the land the point but it also needs to try to connect through diversity, and then continue to try even past that.
Has the environmental essay skipped the basics of what it was supposed to known for? Why are writers shying away from the aspect of connectivity between culture and land? What would literature gain from these new types of essays Savoy implores people to write about? What are the "democratic" values Savoy is talking about here?
I'd love to hear your opinions; there's a lot of interesting things to be said for this week!
I definitely think there is a rival presence between humans and nature in our modern culture, largely due to our separation from nature. Its almost as if as we evolved so did our perspective of nature. We moved away from the idea that we all originated from a rich culture beginning in the wild and abandoned simplicity with the development of our modern society. With the creation of indoor plumbing came the extinction of our identity with nature. Now that we've reached civilization, writers have shied away from the aspect of connectivity between culture and land because we no longer no how to survive nature. Furthermore, we have failed to understand nature. This in turn has led to Savoy's idea that "self-protective silence and denial have kept too much of America from even knowing who “we” really are, and have kept a language of possibility impoverished."
ReplyDeleteWhat we could gain from these new types of essays Savoy implores is a new sense of self getting in touch with our "roots" once again. To elaborate on your idea of what literature could gain from the new types of essays Savoy mentions, we can think about how we would write about ourselves within essays if we began to think of ourselves as part of nature again? Would we redefine the environmental essay if we thought of nature personally rather than objectively? How could we eliminate the rival status between culture and land through reflection and association?