Decolonizing the Anthropocene: Reading Charles de Lint’s "Widdershins"
Weronika Łaszkiewicz
Uniwersytet w BiałymstokuAbstrakt
The aim of this paper is to examine Charles de Lint’s novel Widdershins(2006), whose main theme is an interspecies war for the American land. The paper demonstrates how, by exploring the themes of Indigenous suffering, belief in species interconnectedness, reverence for the natural world, and approach to trauma, the novel participates in the deconstruction of colonial structures present in the concept of the Anthropocene. The paper also engages de Lint’s novel in a dialogue with the studies on the Anthropocene to prove that, by providing its readers with alternative modes of thinking, fantasy fiction can contribute to the cognitive change required to save our planet from human-wrought destruction.
Słowa kluczowe:
Charles de Lint, the Anthropocene, Native Americans, ecocriticism, urban fantasyBibliografia
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Reid Robin Anne. 2002. Charles de Lint. In: Canadian Fantasy and Science-Fiction Writers. Dictionary of Literary Biography. Ed. Ivison D. Vol. 251. Detroit: A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book: 49-61.
Schwägerl Christian. 2014. The Anthropocene: The Human Era and How It Shapes Our Planet. London: Synergetic Press.
Straß-Senol Hanna. 2019. Indigenous Literature and the Anthropocene: Two Case Studies. In: Anglophone Literature and Culture in the Anthropocene. Eds Comos G. and Rosenthal C. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing: 117-136.
Tallbear Kim. 2016. Failed Settler Kinship, Truth and Reconciliation, and Science. In:“Indigenous: Science, Society, Technology”. In: https://indigenoussts.com/failed-set-tler-kinship-truth-and-reconciliation-and-science/ [Accessed 5 III 2020].
Tønnessen Morten and Kristin Armstrong Oma. 2016. Introduction: Once upon a Time in the Anthropocene. In: Thinking about Animals in the Age of the Anthropocene. Eds Tønnessen M., Armstrong Oma K., and Rattasepp S. Lanham: Lexington Books: vii-xix.
Vizenor Gerald. 1999. Postindian Conversations: Gerald Vizenor and A. Robert Lee. Lincoln: Univ. of Nebraska Press.
Ward Kaari, et al. (eds). 1991. Reader’s Digest Illustrated Guide to the Bible. Pleasant-ville: Reader’s Digest Association.
Whyte Kyle Powys. 2017. Our Ancestors’ Dystopia Now: Indigenous Conservation and the Anthropocene. In: The Routledge Companion to the Environmental Humanities. Eds Heise U.K., Christensen J., and Niemann M. New York: Routledge: 206-215.
Young Helen. 2016. Race and Popular Fantasy: Habits of Whiteness. Routledge Inter-disciplinary Perspectives on Literature. New York: Routledge.
Zapf Hubert. 2019. The Challenge of the Anthropocene and the Sustainability of Texts. In: Anglophone Literature and Culture in the Anthropocene. Eds Comos G. and Rosenthal C. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing: 2-22.---. 2009. Native Liberty: Natural Reason and Cultural Survivance. Lincoln: Univ. of Nebraska Press.
Chakrabarty Dipesh. 2009. The Climate of History: Four Theses. “Critical Inquiry” 35: 197-222.
Comos Gina and Caroline Rosenthal. 2019. Introduction. In: Anglophone Literature and Culture in the Anthropocene. Eds Comos G. and Rosenthal C. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing: viii-xxii.
Coulthard Glen Sean. 2014. Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Crutzen Paul J. and Eugene F. Stoermer. 2000. The ‘Anthropocene’. “Global Change” 41: 17-18.
Davis Heather and Zoe Todd. 2017. On the Importance of a Date, or Decolonizing the Anthropocene. “ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies” 16(4): 761-780.
de Lint Charles. 2006. Widdershins. New York: Tor. Kindle edition.
Deloria Vine Jr. 1997. Red Earth, White Lies: Native Americans and the Myth of Scien-tific Fact. Golden: Fulcrum Publishing.
Dürbeck Gabriele. 2019. Narratives of the Anthropocene in Interdisciplinary Perspective. In: Anglophone Literature and Culture in the Anthropocene. Eds Comos G. and Rosenthal C. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing: 23-47.
Gross Lawrence William. 2014. Anishinaabe Ways of Knowing and Being. Farnham: Ashgate.
Little Becky. 2016. Native Americans to J.K. Rowling: We’re Not Magical. In: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/03/160311-history-of-magic-in-north-amer-ica-jk-rowling-native-american-stereotypes/ [Accessed 5 III 2020].
Łaszkiewicz Weronika. 2018. From Stereotypes to Sovereignty: Indigenous Peoples in the Works of Charles de Lint. “Studies in Canadian Literature” 43.1: 233-249.
Meijer Eva. 2016. Speaking with Animals: Philosophical Interspecies Investigations. In: Thinking about Animals in the Age of the Anthropocene. Eds Tønnessen M., Arm-strong Oma K., and Rattasepp S. Lanham: Lexington Books: 73-88.
Niemann Michelle. 2017. Hubris and Humility in Environmental Thought. In: The Rout-ledge Companion to the Environmental Humanities. Eds. Heise U.K., Christensen J., and Niemann M. New York: Routledge: 247-257.
Reid Robin Anne. 2002. Charles de Lint. In: Canadian Fantasy and Science-Fiction Writers. Dictionary of Literary Biography. Ed. Ivison D. Vol. 251. Detroit: A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book: 49-61.
Schwägerl Christian. 2014. The Anthropocene: The Human Era and How It Shapes Our Planet. London: Synergetic Press.
Straß-Senol Hanna. 2019. Indigenous Literature and the Anthropocene: Two Case Studies. In: Anglophone Literature and Culture in the Anthropocene. Eds Comos G. and Rosenthal C. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing: 117-136.
Tallbear Kim. 2016. Failed Settler Kinship, Truth and Reconciliation, and Science. In:“Indigenous: Science, Society, Technology”. In: https://indigenoussts.com/failed-set-tler-kinship-truth-and-reconciliation-and-science/ [Accessed 5 III 2020].
Tønnessen Morten and Kristin Armstrong Oma. 2016. Introduction: Once upon a Time in the Anthropocene. In: Thinking about Animals in the Age of the Anthropocene. Eds Tønnessen M., Armstrong Oma K., and Rattasepp S. Lanham: Lexington Books: vii-xix.
Vizenor Gerald. 1999. Postindian Conversations: Gerald Vizenor and A. Robert Lee. Lincoln: Univ. of Nebraska Press.
Ward Kaari, et al. (eds). 1991. Reader’s Digest Illustrated Guide to the Bible. Pleasant-ville: Reader’s Digest Association.
Whyte Kyle Powys. 2017. Our Ancestors’ Dystopia Now: Indigenous Conservation and the Anthropocene. In: The Routledge Companion to the Environmental Humanities. Eds Heise U.K., Christensen J., and Niemann M. New York: Routledge: 206-215.
Young Helen. 2016. Race and Popular Fantasy: Habits of Whiteness. Routledge Inter-disciplinary Perspectives on Literature. New York: Routledge.
Zapf Hubert. 2019. The Challenge of the Anthropocene and the Sustainability of Texts. In: Anglophone Literature and Culture in the Anthropocene. Eds Comos G. and Rosenthal C. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing: 2-22.---. 2009. Native Liberty: Natural Reason and Cultural Survivance. Lincoln: Univ. of Nebraska Press.
Łaszkiewicz, W. (2020). Decolonizing the Anthropocene: Reading Charles de Lint’s "Widdershins". Acta Neophilologica, 2(XXII), 161–172. https://doi.org/10.31648/an.5593
Weronika Łaszkiewicz
Uniwersytet w Białymstoku
Uniwersytet w Białymstoku
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