Abstract
Gravitation: Modes of Reading in the Anthropocene In this article, I suggest ‘gravitation’ as a new way of reading in and for the anthropocene, which is characterised by environmentally destructive ‘social acceleration’. This reading practice would imply two things: First, that representations of the natural environment take a primary position in relation to the characters in many genres, including those where nature so far has been read as a highly conventional construction. It also involves acknowledging that ultimately, characters are positioned by the physical environment in these genres, as characters, in one way or the other, can never exist unrelated to the environment that encompass and cut through them. These genres I suggest be called ‘gravitating genres’. Second, and in a similar fashion, I suggest the term ‘gravitating reading’ to denote reading of physical books, which in this context becomes a highly preferred medium. This term partly coincides with that of ‘deep reading’ suggested by Mangen, but in addition, it also recognizes the dependency of both the reader and the medium on the natural environment. Together, these two practices amount to, I suggest, nothing less than a mutually sustainable economy of reading.
Highlights
I suggest ‘gravitation’ as a new way of reading in and for the anthropocene, which is characterised by environmentally destructive ‘social acceleration’
This reading practice would imply two things: First, that representations of the natural environment take a primary position in relation to the characters in many genres, including those where nature so far has been read as a highly conventional construction
This term partly coincides with that of ‘deep reading’ suggested by Mangen, but in addition, it recognizes the dependency of both the reader and the medium on the natural environment
Summary
Denna artikel handlar om något jag väljer att benämna gravitation i litteratur och läsning. Några av Astrid Lindgrens barnromaner kännetecknas av denna spänning, där spänningen oftast framträder i form av en existentiell problematik.[23] Också dystopin i sin klassiska 1900-talsform,[24] där naturen är närvarande enbart genom sin fullständiga frånvaro och därmed har lämnat ett slags svart hål mot vilket berättelsen ofrånkomligt förskjuts, kan räknas hit.[25] Även om de här genrerna anses kraftigt styrda av litterära konventioner är det trots allt den fysiska naturmiljön, även om självfallet litterärt konstruerad, som ytterst bjuder personerna motstånd. Det är som om sjön, älven, strömmen och forsen tillsammans utgjorde extremiteter på en främmande kropp i häftig rörelse, som fångar in skolklassen, stoppar den och gör den till sin.[39] Ett av romanens viktigaste ärenden är naturen själv, såväl dess bortvändhet och annanhet som dess kraft att binda kroppar vid sig, gravitationen, något som skulle kunna förstås genom Bennetts formulering av ”an active, earthy, not-quite-human capaciousness [...]”.40.
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