Desperate whispers : empathy in the context of an ecological crisis

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dc.contributor.advisorMacKenny, Virginiaen_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorVan der Schijff, Johannen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorGauld, Quantaen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-08-10T06:55:17Z
dc.date.available2015-08-10T06:55:17Z
dc.date.issued2015en_ZA
dc.description.abstractIn his text Invisible Cities, Italo Calvino (1974) describes the fictional city of Baucis, a land suspended in the clouds, in which humans maintain a purposeful and mysterious physical detachment from the earth. Calvino’s imagining of Baucis visualises a conceptualisation of humans as divorced from nature1; a lingering residue of the post-Enlightenment obsession with reason and progress that casts nature as separate from and inferior to humans. In the context of the current ecological crisis, in which the perpetual abuse of human and natural resources threatens the sustainability of the planet and all earthly life, reconsideration of the relationship between humans and the non-human natural world becomes profoundly relevant. An overview of contemporary environmental theory, undertaken in the first section of this text, suggests that the widespread understanding of nature as an inferior realm that lacks the full degree of human rationality or culture, is giving way to conceptualisations of the relationship between humans and nature that highlight the interdependence and interrelatedness of all living organisms and systems. Sustainability scholar Stacy Alaimo ( 2010: 15-16) states: At this point in time, with global climate change proceeding even more rapidly than was projected, we hardly have the luxury of imagining any expanse of land or sea as beyond the reach of humanly-induced harm. Matters of environmental concern and wonder are always “here,” as well as “there,” simultaneously local and global, personal and political, practical and philosophical. This concept of the interrelatedness of global economic, technological, social, cultural and ecological systems, is significant in conceptualising the role that humans play in ecological degradation and exploitation.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationGauld, Q. (2015). <i>Desperate whispers : empathy in the context of an ecological crisis</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Michaelis School of Fine Art. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13696en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationGauld, Quanta. <i>"Desperate whispers : empathy in the context of an ecological crisis."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Michaelis School of Fine Art, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13696en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationGauld, Q. 2015. Desperate whispers : empathy in the context of an ecological crisis. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Gauld, Quanta AB - In his text Invisible Cities, Italo Calvino (1974) describes the fictional city of Baucis, a land suspended in the clouds, in which humans maintain a purposeful and mysterious physical detachment from the earth. Calvino’s imagining of Baucis visualises a conceptualisation of humans as divorced from nature1; a lingering residue of the post-Enlightenment obsession with reason and progress that casts nature as separate from and inferior to humans. In the context of the current ecological crisis, in which the perpetual abuse of human and natural resources threatens the sustainability of the planet and all earthly life, reconsideration of the relationship between humans and the non-human natural world becomes profoundly relevant. An overview of contemporary environmental theory, undertaken in the first section of this text, suggests that the widespread understanding of nature as an inferior realm that lacks the full degree of human rationality or culture, is giving way to conceptualisations of the relationship between humans and nature that highlight the interdependence and interrelatedness of all living organisms and systems. Sustainability scholar Stacy Alaimo ( 2010: 15-16) states: At this point in time, with global climate change proceeding even more rapidly than was projected, we hardly have the luxury of imagining any expanse of land or sea as beyond the reach of humanly-induced harm. Matters of environmental concern and wonder are always “here,” as well as “there,” simultaneously local and global, personal and political, practical and philosophical. This concept of the interrelatedness of global economic, technological, social, cultural and ecological systems, is significant in conceptualising the role that humans play in ecological degradation and exploitation. DA - 2015 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - Desperate whispers : empathy in the context of an ecological crisis TI - Desperate whispers : empathy in the context of an ecological crisis UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13696 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/13696
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationGauld Q. Desperate whispers : empathy in the context of an ecological crisis. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Michaelis School of Fine Art, 2015 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13696en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentMichaelis School of Fine Arten_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherFine Arten_ZA
dc.titleDesperate whispers : empathy in the context of an ecological crisisen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMFAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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