Narrative, Values, and the Place of the Human: Coordinating Anthropocentrism and Biocentrism
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Marco Caracciolo
Abstract
This chapter1 argues for a cross-fertilization of contemporary narrative theory - particularly the framework developed by Liesbeth Korthals Altes in Ethos and Narrative Interpretation - and current work in ecocriticism. Adopting a “meta-hermeneutic” approach (in Korthals Altes’s terminology) can help us disclose the multiple value attributions that underpin artistic narratives engaging with the nonhuman world. Exploring a famous short story by Jack London, “To Build a Fire,” and two recent adaptations in comics and animated film, I show that the narrative creates a tension between anthropocentric and biocentric values, and I argue that this tension should be embraced meta-hermeneutically rather than resolved in interpretation. In this way, I conclude that ecocritics should take a closer interest in the workings of interpretation and in how narrative can stage a plurality of values that bear significantly on human-nonhuman relations.
Abstract
This chapter1 argues for a cross-fertilization of contemporary narrative theory - particularly the framework developed by Liesbeth Korthals Altes in Ethos and Narrative Interpretation - and current work in ecocriticism. Adopting a “meta-hermeneutic” approach (in Korthals Altes’s terminology) can help us disclose the multiple value attributions that underpin artistic narratives engaging with the nonhuman world. Exploring a famous short story by Jack London, “To Build a Fire,” and two recent adaptations in comics and animated film, I show that the narrative creates a tension between anthropocentric and biocentric values, and I argue that this tension should be embraced meta-hermeneutically rather than resolved in interpretation. In this way, I conclude that ecocritics should take a closer interest in the workings of interpretation and in how narrative can stage a plurality of values that bear significantly on human-nonhuman relations.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- By Way of Introduction – Reflections on Narrative and Values, and the Value of Narratives 1
- The Ethical Potential and Risks of Narratives: Six Evaluative Continuums (and Sofi Oksanen’s Open Letter to Melania Trump) 23
- Narrative, Values, and the Place of the Human: Coordinating Anthropocentrism and Biocentrism 43
- The Circulating Professor: Narrative Configuration in Nabokov’s Pnin 61
- Multi-authored Yet Authorless Film Photonovels, an Ethical Paradox? 75
- Schrödinger’s Duck-Rabbit: Ambiguity and Meta-Framing across Media 93
- “Find me a motive!” Accusatory Rhetoric, Narrative and Values in Emile Zola’s ‘J’accuse’ 117
- The Right to Speak: The Cultural Archive and the Public Sphere in South Africa 133
- Dangerous Narratives: How Fake News and Narrative Journalism Shed Light on Journalism’s Epistemological Foundations and Self-understanding in the Twenty-first Century 155
- Beating Illness Into Shape: Applied Narratology and the Dangers of Storytelling 181
- Contributors 205
- Index 209
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- By Way of Introduction – Reflections on Narrative and Values, and the Value of Narratives 1
- The Ethical Potential and Risks of Narratives: Six Evaluative Continuums (and Sofi Oksanen’s Open Letter to Melania Trump) 23
- Narrative, Values, and the Place of the Human: Coordinating Anthropocentrism and Biocentrism 43
- The Circulating Professor: Narrative Configuration in Nabokov’s Pnin 61
- Multi-authored Yet Authorless Film Photonovels, an Ethical Paradox? 75
- Schrödinger’s Duck-Rabbit: Ambiguity and Meta-Framing across Media 93
- “Find me a motive!” Accusatory Rhetoric, Narrative and Values in Emile Zola’s ‘J’accuse’ 117
- The Right to Speak: The Cultural Archive and the Public Sphere in South Africa 133
- Dangerous Narratives: How Fake News and Narrative Journalism Shed Light on Journalism’s Epistemological Foundations and Self-understanding in the Twenty-first Century 155
- Beating Illness Into Shape: Applied Narratology and the Dangers of Storytelling 181
- Contributors 205
- Index 209
