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In The Machine in the Garden: Technology and the Pastoral Idea in America, Leo Marx “evaluates the uses of the pastoral ideal in the interpretation of American experience” (Marx 4). While Marx explores ways that pastoralism has been impacted by factors such as industrialism, it is the purpose of this project to explore Marx’s assertion regarding the presence of the figurative and literal machine within the poetry of Robinson Jeffers. Jeffers’ poetry is generally located within the landscapes of California. His lyric poetry has a distinct connection to the land and is driven by inhumanism, which works to shift the “emphasis and significance from man to not-man…” (Oelschlaeger 246). Jeffers’ machine like elements highlight the relationship between the natural world and humanity’s intrusion; in doing so, Jeffers furthers Marx’s supposition that American literature continues to be impacted by the machine, by “forces working against the dream of pastoral fulfillment” (Marx 358).

Denna uppsats analyserar dikterna ”(Österöd)”, ”(Återbesök – 26 augusti)” och ”(Koelbjergkvinden)” ur Gunnar D Hanssons diktsamling Tapeshavet. Dikterna undersöks i förhållande till Timothy Mortons ekokritik, samt ur ett metapoetiskt och etiskt perspektiv. Vad dikterna framhåller är det problematiska i att försöka skriva fram en anti-antropocentrisk värld eftersom det mänskliga subjektet alltid finns implicerad i det metapoetiska greppet som Hansson använder sig av. Dikterna bär i och med detta också på en etisk aspekt eftersom de engagerar sig i frågor om både hur man bör och kan dikta om miljön. / This essay analyses the poems ”(Österöd)”, ”(Återbesök – 26 augusti)” and ”(Koelbjergkvinden)” from Gunnar D Hansson’s collection of poems Tapeshavet. The poems are examined in relation to Timothy Morton’s ecocriticism, and from a meta-poetic and ethical perspective. What the poems emphasize is the problematic aspect of trying to convey an anti-anthropocentric world, as the human subject is always implicated in the meta-poetic grip which Hansson uses. Subsequently, the poems also carry an ethical aspect because they engage in questions about both how one ought and can write about the environment.

In this comparative examination of cinematic representations of American and Brazilian wildernesses, I argue for the necessity of a transnational, postregional, and ecocritical approach to film studies. The way that the deserts of the American West are represented by Hollywood Western filmmakers reveal underlying ecological and political philosophies, and provide a productive contrast with representations of the sertão, a similarly arid biome in Brazil. Among other theoretical approaches, this study uses W. J. T. Mitchell’s idea of “landscape” as a verb to examine the formal devices by which filmmakers and audiences “landscape” these “wildernesses.” Using John Ford’s The Searchers (1956) as an example, I suggest that Hollywood Westerns inscribe the land with a colonial gaze that reflects and perpetuates a dualistic conception of nature, one that sees nature as separate and distinct from humankind. Cinema Novo, the radical anticolonial movement in Brazilian cinema, provides an aesthetic and philosophical alternative. Through an analysis of one of Cinema Novo’s foundational works by one of its founding figures—Glauber Rocha’s Deus e o diabo na terra do sol [Black God, White Devil] (1964)—I demonstrate how the theory and practice of Rocha’s anticolonial “aesthetic of hunger” has an ecological dimension, one that rejects and collapses a binary opposition between humans and nature. By looking beyond borders which too often function not only as national boundaries but to delimit fields of academic study, this project finds common ground for comparison in representations of nature, and demonstrates the political and ecological implications thereof.

The aim of the present study is to investigate how three coursebooks used in upper secondary school in Sweden portray nature and promote agency to enact the environmental perspective as outlined by Skolverket (2022). The data for this study was obtained through a close reading of the coursebooks, and the criteria for selecting data were that the texts should touch upon subjects related to nature, sustainability and the environment. The research method employed was qualitative discourse analysis. The data was analyzed within the theoretical framework of ecocriticism as well as some concepts from climate psychology. When examining the data, it was found that nature was portrayed in mainly an anthropocentric way, but also as metaphysical one. Furthermore, the findings suggest that there is an emphasis on individual rather than collective responsibility when promoting agency to act in favor of the environment. This emphasis could potentially promote climate anxiety rather than encourage engagement and, therefore, it could ultimately undermine the environmental perspective. In conclusion, the findings suggest that there is a risk of failing the environmental perspective as stipulated by Skolverket (2022). Ultimately, this study suggests further research be carried out in the field of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) to explore the effects of promoting environmental engagement among students.

In this thesis called “Soon there was nowhere to go”, I investigate how relations between environments, landscapes and emotions are shaped in Birgitta Lillpers’ novel Om du fick tänka dig ett hem (If you could think of a home) (2010). I do this by looking at how landscapes are expressed in the novel and how the human bodies who live in this landscapes answers to their surroundings. The landscapes in the novel are exploited and fragmented, destroyed by production. But they are also landscapes full of traces, of different temporalities and connections. Through Volmar Frank, the main protagonist, other ways of relating to the land are made visible, in a sensual way, a way built on his longing for an inclusive relation to his surroundings. Here I also point to the difficulties with a relation built on closeness, because, as Lillpers shows, this could also be the moment where destruction begins, with the human gaze and how it values different lives. The exploited landscapes where loss is inscribed awaken strong feelings of hopelessness and grief within the characters of the novel. This comes from living with the knowledge of an continuous, ongoing loss around them, but also from the painful awakening, a changing gaze from which one cannot return. I investigate grief and the possibility to express this grief, both in a social context and on an individual level. In the thesis I have shown the difficulties that come with ecological grief, both in the acknowledgement of a grief that reaches beyond the human, and in relation to the absence of rituals when it comes to grieving the more-than-human. I also bring up the temporal problems with a loss that is ongoing. Here I problematize norms around what and who is recognized as grievable and how a process of mourning is expected to unfold. Lillpers gives no answers in her novel, neither solutions nor alternative worlds, but she raises important questions about what we do to our environments and to non-human lives. She leaves us with the question of what kind of world we can imagine, if we could think of a home? She also leaves openings to other ways of approaching the world, approaches built on reciprocity. I conclude that grief and the process of mourning could be a place to begin, a starting point for a transformative process, which I argue is necessary to access the problems we face today with destroyed environments and species vanishing at an escalating pace, with consequences for all life on earth. / I denna uppsats undersöker jag känslomässiga svar på människans exploatering av miljöer och landskap i Birgitta Lillpers roman Om du fick tänka dig ett hem (2010). Detta gör jag genom att titta på hur möten och relationer mellan kroppar och landskap gestaltas utifrån en affektiv ekokritik som förstår plats som avgörande när det kommer till hur känslor formas. Romanens karaktärer rör sig i ett trasigt, sårigt och fragmenterat landskap, där det knappt längre existerar platser som inte förstörts av människan. Här pågår liv, styrda av produktionens logik, byggda på narrativ om exploatering som nödvändig för meningsfullhet och social välfärd. Den som inte accepterar dessa narrativ, som känner sorg över förlusten, har ingenstans att ta vägen med sina känslor. Makten sitter i rum långt borta och hör inte de röster som försöker nå in med sina förtvivlade skrik. Vi lever idag i en tid när miljöer förstörs och arter dör ut med en allt högre hastighet. Trots att vi vet att vi behöver ändra vårt sätt att leva händer väldigt lite i praktiken. Den här uppsatsen är ett inlägg i ett samtal om hur vi kan hitta andra sätt att förhålla oss till vår omvärld. Detta gör jag med utgångspunkt i en sorg över det som förvinner och med frågor kring var det är möjligt att ta vägen, både känslomässigt och platsmässigt i en alltmer exploaterad värld. I uppsatsen lyfter jag hur sorg som riktar sig mot det icke-mänskliga möter problem eftersom den inte erkänns som legitim, men också svårigheten med att sörja en förlust som pågår utan synligt slut. Samtidigt kan vår förmåga att sörja det mer-än-mänskliga vara en avgörande aspekt när det kommer till ett annat sätt att närma oss vår omvärld. Lillpers ger i romanen inga egentliga svar, men hon visar på svårigheten att navigera i detta sorgens landskap, och synliggör frågor vi måste ställa om hur vi brukar och förbrukar vår värld. Hon visar även på öppningar mot andra sätt att närma sig omvärlden som bygger på sinnliga möten och en längtan efter mer ömsesidiga relationer med landskap och med icke-mänskligt liv.

In this essay, I analyze Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita from an ecocritical perspective. I try as far as possible to ignore the pedophile theme and instead focus on the thematic environment: nature, places and language. I then discuss this with Greg Garrard's Ecocriticism, Timothy Morton's ecocritical theories and Leo Marx's The machine in the garden, among others. I come to the conclusion that the pedophile theme is depicted against the American pastoral, which is also used as a rhetorical tool by the novel's main character and narrator. / I den här uppsatsen analyserar jag Vladimir Nabokovs roman Lolita ur ett ekokritiskt perspektiv. Jag försöker så långt som möjligt bortse från det pedofila temat och i stället riktas mitt fokus på den tematiska omgivningen: naturen, platserna och språket. Detta diskuterar jag sedan med hjälp av bland annat Greg Garrards Ecocriticism, Timothy Mortons ekokritiska teorier samt Leo Marxs The machine in the garden. Jag kommer fram till att det pedofila temat skildras mot den amerikanska pastoralen, vilken också används som retoriskt redskap av romanens huvudkaraktär och berättare.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur barns agens framställs i barnböcker som behandlar miljö- och klimatfrågor. Materialet i studien består av fyra finska bilderböcker för barn som behandlar teman kring miljömedvetenhet och klimatförändring. Studien syftar till att undersöka vilka former av agens som kan observeras i de analyserade verken och hur de gestaltas genom text och bild. Jag analyserar relationen mellan barnet och naturen som de fyra bilderböckerna förmedlar och undersöker om barnet i dem ses som en aktiv miljöaktör som har en skyldighet att agera för att bekämpa klimatförändringarna. Jag diskuterar även maktrelationerna mellan barn och vuxna och hur miljöansvaret är fördelat mellan dem. Som det teoretiska ramverket använder jag ett ekokritiskt perspektiv och tar stöd i teorier om barnlitteratur och bilderboksforskning. Jag knyter även an till forskning som diskuterar barnlitteraturens fostrande funktion och maktförhållanden samt till begreppen ekologisk läskunnighet och agens. Som analysmetod tillämpas närläsning. Utifrån analysen kan olika former av agens identifieras i de analyserade verken, varav en agens som betonar individuella val framstår som den mest centrala. I böckerna betonas individens ansvar för att lösa miljöproblemen, även om kollektiv agens och upplevelser av gemenskap skulle kunna bidra till att minska klimatångest och ansvarsbörda och ge en bredare bild av miljöarbetet. När det individuella ansvaret blir centralt, betonas också det lokala sammanhanget, vilket gör att de globala effekterna av klimatförändringen ignoreras. / The purpose of this study is to investigate how children's agency is portrayed in children's books dealing with the environment and climate change. The study material consists of four Finnish picture books for children that deal with the themes of environmental awareness and climate change. This study does not aim to define all forms of environmental agency but to investigate which forms of agency can be found in the analyzed works and how they are portrayed in text and image. I examine the relationship between the child and nature that the picture books convey and analyze whether the child is seen as an active environmental actor who has an obligation to act to fight the climate change or not. I also discuss the power relations between children and adults and how environmental responsibility is divided between them.  As the theoretical framework, I use an ecocritical perspective and lean on theories of children's literature and picture book studies. I also address research that discusses the educational function and power relations found in children's literature, as well as the concepts of ecological literacy and agency. As the analysis method I use close reading. Based on the analysis, different forms of agency can be identified in the analyzed works, of which an agency that emphasizes individual choices appears to be the most central. The books emphasize the individual's responsibility for solving environmental problems, even though collective agency and community experiences could contribute to reducing climate anxiety and the burden of responsibility and give a broader picture of environmental work. When individual responsibility becomes central, the local context is emphasized, the wider, global effects of climate change are ignored.

This paper discusses the metamorphosis in Ingvild Lothe's poetry collection Hvorfor er jeg så trist når jeg er så søt (2016). To investigate the relationship between human and nature Stacy Alaimo's term "trans-corporeality" is being used. In this paper, an analysis is being made of the poetry collection and the book cover regarding these matters. The poetry analysis is split into four sections, following the stages of the butterfly's metamorphosis. When analyzing the book cover, it is mostly viewed as an adaptation of the poems. The findings of this study suggests that there are three different types of metamorphoses in the poems and on the book cover. These are biological, symbolical and psychological. It is also found that the metamorphosis on the book cover is being more positively depicted than in the poetry collection.

1 online resource (181 leaves) / This study relies on ecocriticism as the discipline benefitting the analysis of the imagery of nature in Konstantin Paustovsky’s prose. The objective of this approach is to demonstrate that Paustovsky’s prose goes beyond of what was expected from a Soviet writer by the socialist realist dogma. This thesis attempts to prove that an ecocritical approach validates his prose as being universal in its message and thus relevant to contemporary readers. Scholars of ecocriticism ask the following questions when analysing a nature-orientated prose: what values are expressed in nature-orientated literature, does the portrayal of nature reflects the cultural values of a nation as well as the way in which a person’s interaction with his natural environment enhances or hampers his spiritual development. The timeframe, within which Paustovsky wrote his prose, should be taken into account, because it coincides with the Lenin and Stalin regimes, when any criticism of the government including its nature conservation policies was impossible. The analysis of attitudes of the Russian people towards nature in Paustovksy’prose demonstrates that it evolved from the acceptance of the official stand to the one of criticism. This research resulted in the following conclusions: Firstly Paustovsky’s view with regard to ecological problems and his solutions to these problems are on par with those of modern ecologists. The writer, for example, proposes a holistic way to undertake nature conservation, such as replacing ruined forests by the same type of trees, not interfering in the cycles of nature and stresses the importance of scientific information on how to care of the natural environment. Secondly, it is through his presentation of nature that the author familiarises the reader with the essence of the Russian culture, which is totally intertwined with the manifestations of Russian nature, such as folklore, superstitions, cultural traditions and values attached to certain animals and trees Thirdly, it has been established that the ‘external’ natural landscape of a person namely his environment, undoubtedly influences his ‘internal landscape’, his psyche. This implies that the natural environment of a person will have an influence on his psychological make-up. It is assumed that this study, in particular the use of ecocriticism as a tool to analyse literature where nature plays a role, will shed new light on the role of nature in Russian prose. This is especially the case with regard to the way in which ecological issues such as nature conservation are treated. / Classics & World Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (Russian)