We are excited to host a talk and discussion about the work of two colleages from the Aarhus University Department of English, Sune Borkfelt and Matthias Stephan. This hybrid event will be held both in-person at AU Nobelparken and online. 

Event description:

How do our relations to nonhuman animals affect the climate crisis? Alternatively, how does the impact of environmental crises alter our understanding of our relationship to nonhumans? What kinds of culturally framed questions do we need to ask about human-nonhuman relations in light of climate and extinction crises? What kinds of answers or speculations does literature offer?

Questions like these lie behind two new collections that explore literary approaches to the nonhuman in light of climate and environmental crises. Literary Animal Studies and the Climate Crisis (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) and Interrogating Boundaries of the Nonhuman: Literature, Climate Change, and Environmental Crises (Lexington Books, 2022) both comprise a wide selection of literary approaches to nonhumans in times of environmental crises.

Despite the fact that the climate crisis has consequences for humans and nonhumans alike, climate change continues to often be framed as a largely human concern, or even as nature ‘striking back’ against human over-use and abuse of its resources. This raises questions about how the current crisis connects to our historical disregard for the interests and capacities of other species, and of whether changing attitudes to human-nonhuman relations can help point towards new, more sustainable ways forward. At the same time, the climate crisis, and its associated effects in interconnected environments, also changes discussions of our interconnectedness with the nonhuman, in our shared vulnerability.

It is a central question of this seminar – and of the two collections – what literature may do in this regard: How can it change attitudes, or give us new perspectives on the nonhuman that are sorely needed for the times we live in? How does it speak to the global climate debate? How are these debates interminably entangled?

In this seminar, the editors of these two collections will present the books and talk about the thoughts behind them and invite discussion on the issues they raise. In addition, we will hear from two of the contributors, who will present on their chapters. 

All are welcome. For online attendance, please register for the Zoom link at: https://aarhusuniversity.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5UrcOmqrTstHdQM2_CQTnN64c2l1niCuPUv

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

No registration needed for in-person attendance. Coffee and tea provided.