Paper short abstract:

In abandoned landscapes, literary works could be used as a source for recovering the traditional ecological knowledge, not only through landscape descriptions or folk names of plants and animals, but also the introduction of the mentality and relationship of the people living there to nature.

Paper long abstract:

Recognizing contemporary environmental problems become uniquely evident in understanding the relationship between nature and human. In landscapes where traditional or historical farming has been abandoned or the countryside is depopulated, it is already more difficult to reconstruct this relationship and traditional ecological knowledge. In such cases, mainly autobiographically inspired literary works can be an indispensable source, not only by representing the traditional ecological knowledge but also by introducing the mentality and relationship of the people living there to nature. I analyzed two Hungarian writers, Gyula Illyés (1902-1983) and Ervin Lázár (1936-2006), who spend their childhood close to each other in Tolna county in Hungary. Besides that, I did fieldwork in the region, visiting the landscape and talking with local people. Both of them lived in a pusta, which is a manorial agricultural estate (it is not a steppe, but a similar name). Their childhood places were destroyed and abandoned after collectivization. In their works, they shared the landuse history of the region in the last 150 years and folk names of plant and animal species presented in their works, and the detailed and correct description concerning the use and occurrence of plants and animals. The information learned from the literature can serve as a support and starting point in field research. In addition, these literary works that authentically incorporate local, traditional ecological knowledge can ensure that knowledge is transferred using the traditional storytelling method. The project is supported by the ÚNKP-21-4-II-PTE-1134.