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Relational Transilience in the Garden: Plant–Human Encounters in More-than-Human Life Narratives
- Source :
- Open Cultural Studies, Vol 8, Iss 1, Pp 145-161 (2024)
- Publication Year :
- 2024
- Publisher :
- De Gruyter, 2024.
-
Abstract
- Whereas many indigenous and non-western cultures see plants and humans as connected, western worldviews tend to disregard plants as material commodities. Plant non-thinking of this kind is increasingly being challenged in response to the environmental threats arising from human exceptionalism. This essay investigates garden narratives as a form of more-than-human life writing which depicts plant–human relations as mutually transformative and reciprocal. I argue that garden narratives pioneer such a rethinking as a win-win scenario. The positive developments garden writers document are consistent with a concept put forward in environmental psychology: transilience. Making reference to five recent western garden narratives I show how plant encounters can help us move towards an emerging environmental culture which emphasises more-than-human embeddedness and embraces symbiotic over competitive relations.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 24513474 and 20240031
- Volume :
- 8
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Directory of Open Access Journals
- Journal :
- Open Cultural Studies
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsdoj.2db0bca4322449a987c5278ad07b3837
- Document Type :
- article
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2024-0031