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Paper short abstract

In the face of ecological crises, storytelling and our concepts of it are being challenged. Using elemental stories from the realms of ecology and art, I like to show how narration can be conceptualised as posthuman – that is, beyond anthropocentric and dualistic notions.

Paper long abstract

Facing the convergence of technological and ecological transformations, narrating and our concepts of it are being profoundly challenged: what does storytelling mean when non-human entities and materials express themselves in unprecedented ways? Consider every day and literary collaborations with generative AI, or ecological crises that demand a new sensitivity to the diverse stories told by layers of ice and rock, eutrophicating waters or burning forests.

In light of this, I would like to address the question of how narrating can be conceptualised as posthuman – that is, beyond anthropocentric and dualistic notions. Immersion in elemental worlds is illuminating here, insofar as fire, water, earth and air can be experienced as inherently creative, dynamic, and expressive, particularly within everyday life in the Anthropocene. Using two empirical examples from the realms of ecology and art, I will illustrate how a polluted glacial lake, through its eutrophicating matter, calls out to the conscience of human actors, and how, in the artwork “Traces of Fire” by Jakob Kirchmayr, folded, tattered, charred and weathered masses of fabric articulate the apocalyptic conditions of our time. These elemental stories are the result of more-than-human interactions and the distribution of narrative agency.

In my talk, I would like to present ideas for a posthumanist narratology and, moreover, discuss the gesture that comes into play when nature, in the form of fire, water, earth and air, is identified as a co-narrator: is this anthropomorphism, or a way of intensifying the experience of nature?