Paper Short Abstract:

This paper explores drawing as a mode of visual storytelling that uncovers the interconnectedness of humans and non-humans in the Anthropocene. Drawing inspiration from “silent books,” I reflect on how ethnographers can represent non-human perspectives without text.

Paper Abstract:

In this paper, I explore the role of drawing as an alternative mode of visual storytelling, particularly in the context of multispecies ethnographies. In 2023, I worked on a film project about eucalyptus in Sardinia. This experience confronted me with the challenge that plants and non-human entities do not “speak” in the conventional sense. Yet, they do communicate, both with each other and with humans, through a range of subtle, embodied interactions. Drawing from this experience, I reflected on how we, as ethnographers, “see” non-humans and how we might represent their stories without relying on text. Drawing inspiration from the so-called “silent books”—which convey stories purely through images—I experimented with different ways of portraying non-human perspectives and interrelations (Hustak and Myers 2012; Hartigan 2017).

I contend that while audiovisual ethnographic representations fundamentally rely on written-based language, drawing offers a unique way of engaging with the non-verbal narratives of non-human species.

As an ongoing and dynamic process, drawing serves as a powerful tool for visualizing the interconnectedness of humans and non-humans. Through this approach, ethnographers can uncover and represent the complex patterns of the “pathy” Anthropocene (Tsing, Mathews, and Bubandt 2019), revealing how past and present collaborations between human and non-human agents are deeply embedded in the landscape (Mathews 2022).

Drawing, therefore, becomes not just a method of representation but a means of making visible the subtle, often overlooked relationships that shape our world.