From Ecologies of Death to Arts of Eco-Grief: A Queer(ing) Approach

• In the times of climate change and planetary environmental disruption that turn certain habitats into unliveable spaces and contribute to socio-economic inequalities and vulnerabilities, (more-than-human) death and loss become urgent environmental concerns. As climate scientists indicate, in order to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), a much more radical transformative action is needed from governments, the private sector, communities and individuals (Höhne et al. 2020).  Simultaneously, unsustainable living conditions contributing to the mortality of human and nonhuman individuals, destruction of entire ecosystems, loss of biodiversity and the sixth mass extinction evoke feelings of anxiety, anger and grief, manifested globally in popular-scientific narratives, cultural expressions, and environmental activism.  In this paper I explore crisis imaginaries linked to more-than-human death, dying and extinction (material and figurative), as well as questions of eco-grief, which the former are inherently entwined with. After unpacking the genealogy of the concept of eco-grief and its interlinked notions, I briefly sketch out the theoretical framework of Queer Death Studies, which this talk is embedded in, and subsequently I look at several examples of contemporary bio-, eco-and media art that mobilise and – at times – subvert the notions of and mourning the more-than-human. 

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Konst -- Bildkonst (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts -- Visual Arts (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Annan humaniora -- Kulturstudier (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Other Humanities -- Cultural Studies (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Annan humaniora -- Övrig annan humaniora (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Other Humanities -- Other Humanities not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Filosofi, etik och religion -- Filosofi (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Philosophy, Ethics and Religion -- Philosophy (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Ecologies of death

Eco-grief

Queer Death Studies

Biophilosophy

Contemporary Art

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