ACT NATURAL: The (im)possibility of human-nonhuman communication in contemporary ecopoetics.
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Department Name: English
Abstract
Critical Chapters:
1) SOUNDS QUEER: Gays, Jays, Copycats and Fakes
Aligning with RENEW's people-in-nature approach, the chapter explores avian and poetic mimicry queering categories of nature and culture; the potential creepiness of voices speaking between species and across time.
2) ACT NATURAL: Reflexive anthropomorphism in the 'self-conscious Anthropocene'
Underpinned by queer theory and queer ecologies, this chapter explores contemporary poets' attempts to speak in (or for) the voices of nonhuman animals. It proposes that - in the 'self-conscious Anthopocene', we might embrace a drag aesthetic - or 'Critter-Glitter' - to draw attention to, rather than trying to hide, the constructedness of nonhuman voices in poems.
3) RECIPROCAL ALTERITY: Poem-making with birds, group practice case study
In this poetry pedagogical chapter, a group of interdisciplinary researchers as part of a Creative Clubs series. During the session, they will investigate ways of making-with birds, or other nonhuman collaborators, drawing on methods from across specialisms. This will be written up as an autoethnographic study of this specific session, to extrapolate learning for future interdisciplinary poetry sessions.
Creative Work:
Inspired by Timothy Morton's 'hyperobjects', the three-strand creative work aims to 'weird' the idea of biodiversity, with its scale and challenges. It braids three worlds, to muddle the local and global. Who is speaks for the biosphere, if not 'Nature' itself?
'Hither' or Garrulus, is thinking-with Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius) in my local cemetery, with continued research and field writing with jays.
'Thither' is a travelogue, written on a field course expedition to Yukon, Alaska and California, inspired by conversations and experiences with fellow travellers and encounters along the way (especially bears).
'Yonder' is a schlocky science-fiction narrative, inspired in part by Frankenstein (Little Shop of Horrors, too) lampooning our attempts to 'capture' the more-than-human.
These strands begin to blur and fictionalise, becoming unstable, artificial, more-than-human.
1) SOUNDS QUEER: Gays, Jays, Copycats and Fakes
Aligning with RENEW's people-in-nature approach, the chapter explores avian and poetic mimicry queering categories of nature and culture; the potential creepiness of voices speaking between species and across time.
2) ACT NATURAL: Reflexive anthropomorphism in the 'self-conscious Anthropocene'
Underpinned by queer theory and queer ecologies, this chapter explores contemporary poets' attempts to speak in (or for) the voices of nonhuman animals. It proposes that - in the 'self-conscious Anthopocene', we might embrace a drag aesthetic - or 'Critter-Glitter' - to draw attention to, rather than trying to hide, the constructedness of nonhuman voices in poems.
3) RECIPROCAL ALTERITY: Poem-making with birds, group practice case study
In this poetry pedagogical chapter, a group of interdisciplinary researchers as part of a Creative Clubs series. During the session, they will investigate ways of making-with birds, or other nonhuman collaborators, drawing on methods from across specialisms. This will be written up as an autoethnographic study of this specific session, to extrapolate learning for future interdisciplinary poetry sessions.
Creative Work:
Inspired by Timothy Morton's 'hyperobjects', the three-strand creative work aims to 'weird' the idea of biodiversity, with its scale and challenges. It braids three worlds, to muddle the local and global. Who is speaks for the biosphere, if not 'Nature' itself?
'Hither' or Garrulus, is thinking-with Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius) in my local cemetery, with continued research and field writing with jays.
'Thither' is a travelogue, written on a field course expedition to Yukon, Alaska and California, inspired by conversations and experiences with fellow travellers and encounters along the way (especially bears).
'Yonder' is a schlocky science-fiction narrative, inspired in part by Frankenstein (Little Shop of Horrors, too) lampooning our attempts to 'capture' the more-than-human.
These strands begin to blur and fictionalise, becoming unstable, artificial, more-than-human.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Caleb Parkin (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NE/W004941/1 | 31/01/2022 | 30/01/2027 | |||
| 2777562 | Studentship | NE/W004941/1 | 09/01/2023 | 08/01/2027 | Caleb Parkin |