Semiotics of Nature Representations: On the Example of Nature Writing
Date
2017-06-06
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Abstract
Töö eesmärgiks on avada uusi perspektiive looduskirjanduse uurimisel, kombineerides selleks semiootika ja ökokriitika vahendeid.
Tartu-Moskva koolkonna semiootikutelt pärinevad primaarsete ja sekundaarsete modelleerivate süsteemide mõisted. Primaarseks modelleerivaks süsteemiks on nende käsitluses keel kui vahendatud inimsuhtluse põhiline vahend. Sekundaarsed modelleerivad süsteemid nagu kirjandus, film ning paljud teised kunstilise väljenduse liigid põhinevad keelel kui märgisüsteemil, tegeledes meid ümbritseva maailma kunstilise modelleerimisega. Ameerika semiootik Thomas A. Sebeok osutas, et neile, puhtalt inimliigile omastele modelleerivatele süsteemidele, eelneb nii inimeste kui teiste loomade puhul zoosemiootilise modelleerimise tasand, mis põhineb meie tajudel ja kehalisel kogemusel maailmaga suhestumisel. Jakob von Uexkülli mõistet kasutades põhineb zoosemiootiline modelleerimine omailmal (Umwelt) ehk liigispetsiifiliste taju- ja mõjuorganite koostoimel loodaval arusaamal oma keskkonnast ning sellega suhestumise viisidest.
Seega võime lähtuda tõdemusest, et modelleerimine on igasuguse mõtestamis- ja kujutamistegevuse alus. Mudel on kommunikatsioonivahend, mis võimaldab nii kunstilist kui teaduslikku infoedastust. Inimliigile omane modelleerimine toimub peaasjalikult loomuliku keele ning selles keeles esitatavate representatsioonide abil. Representatsiooni all mõistan käesolevas töös keskkonna vahendatud esitamist inimkeele kasutamise erijuhu – kirjanduse – vahenditega.
Oma töös uurin kirjanduse spestiifilist alaliiki – looduskirjandust. Eesti looduskirjandus kitsamas mõttes on algupäraselt eesti keeles kirjutatud dokumentaalproosa, mis põhineb autori isiklikel looduskogemustel ning loodusteaduslikul informatsioonil ja annab seda edasi kirjanduslikus keeles. Looduskirjandus on tekstuaalse ülesehituse põhimõtetelt sarnane ilukirjandusega, mistõttu teda saab uurida kirjandusteaduslike vahenditega, nagu seda teeb ökokriitika. Erinevalt kirjandustekstist suunab looduskirjandus oma lugejat tekstist läbi, tagasi selle reaalse (loodus)keskkonna juurde, mida tekstis on kujutatud. Iga tekst sisaldab varjatud või vähem varjatud kujul alati ka zoosemiootilise modelleerimise tasandit: tajud, teiste liikide omailmad, liikumis- ja toitumisviisid jm. Biosemiootika aitab seda kihistust nähtavaks teha.
Lisaks on töös kasutatud ka teiste distsipliinide abi (botaanika, ajalugu). See ajendab töö viimases osas mõtisklusi distsipliinideülese koostöö võimalustest suunaga keskkonnahumanitaaria poole, et anda oma panus globaalsete keskkonnaprobleemide lahendamisse.
Semiootilise mõttevahetuse seisukohalt on oluline töös esitatud mõistete tekst, omailm, mudel ja representatsioon omavaheline suhestamine näitamaks, kuidas looduskirjanduses nende abil tähendusi luuakse. Representatsiooni mõiste lähivaatluse abil jõuame parema arusaamani inimese kui liigi tähendusloomepraktikatest, aga ka nende kasutamisest liikideüleses kommunikatsioonis.
The aim of the present thesis is to open up new perspectives in the study of nature writing, combining semiotic and ecocritical approaches. The idea of primary and secondary modelling systems originates from Tartu-Moscow school of semiotics. In their works, human language is considered as primary modelling system – it is the main means of mediated human communication. Secondary modelling systems, such as literature, film, and many others that deal with artistic modelling of the world, are based on language as a sign system. Thomas A. Sebeok, an American semiotician, pointed out that those exclusievly human modelling systems are preceded by a zoosemiotic level of modelling that is based on our sensory and bodily experience in relating to the material world. Using the concept coined by Jakob von Uexküll, we can say that zoosemiotic modelling is based on Umwelt, or the life-world as formed in the combination of the species-specific sensory organs and the repertoire of possible ways of relating to the environment around us. Thus we can proceed from the understanding that modelling is the foundation of all interpretational and representational activities. Model is a means of communication that enables both artistic and scientific propagation of information. Modelling characteristic of human species takes place mainly with the help of human language and by representations created in human language. Representation is understood in the present work in the limits of language-mediated descriptions of environment as they appear in literary texts. The material for my work comes from a specific sub-field of literature, namely nature writing. Estonian nature writing in a narrow sense is understood as documentary prose that is based on the author’s personal experiences in nature, informed by knowledge of natural history and biology in general, and written in literary language. In regard of textual poetics, nature writing is similar to fiction, and can therefore be studied using the means of literary studies, as traditionally done in ecocriticism. What is different in case of nature writing, is that unlike fiction, it invites its reader to move beyond the text, to the natural environment that has been represented in a piece of nature writing. More or less explicitly, each literary text also contains the level of zoosemiotic modelling: senses, Umwelten of other species, their ways of movement, feeding, etc. Biosemiotic analysis helps to bring this layer of modelling to the fore. In addition, the work contains articles written in co-operation with researchers from other disciplines (botanics, history). Stemming from that experience, the last part of the cover article is devoted to questions related to cross-disciplinary co-operation in connection to the notion of environmental humanities, in order to contribute to the search for solutions to our global environmental problems. It is proposed that the original contribution of the present work into the general semiotic discussion lies in relating the concepts of text, Umwelt, model, and representation to each other and demonstrating how meaning is created in in nature writing in their interplay. By analysing the notion of representation, a better understanding of human sign-use practices is achieved, ass well as a bettern understanding of the application possibilities of human signification in inter-species communication.
The aim of the present thesis is to open up new perspectives in the study of nature writing, combining semiotic and ecocritical approaches. The idea of primary and secondary modelling systems originates from Tartu-Moscow school of semiotics. In their works, human language is considered as primary modelling system – it is the main means of mediated human communication. Secondary modelling systems, such as literature, film, and many others that deal with artistic modelling of the world, are based on language as a sign system. Thomas A. Sebeok, an American semiotician, pointed out that those exclusievly human modelling systems are preceded by a zoosemiotic level of modelling that is based on our sensory and bodily experience in relating to the material world. Using the concept coined by Jakob von Uexküll, we can say that zoosemiotic modelling is based on Umwelt, or the life-world as formed in the combination of the species-specific sensory organs and the repertoire of possible ways of relating to the environment around us. Thus we can proceed from the understanding that modelling is the foundation of all interpretational and representational activities. Model is a means of communication that enables both artistic and scientific propagation of information. Modelling characteristic of human species takes place mainly with the help of human language and by representations created in human language. Representation is understood in the present work in the limits of language-mediated descriptions of environment as they appear in literary texts. The material for my work comes from a specific sub-field of literature, namely nature writing. Estonian nature writing in a narrow sense is understood as documentary prose that is based on the author’s personal experiences in nature, informed by knowledge of natural history and biology in general, and written in literary language. In regard of textual poetics, nature writing is similar to fiction, and can therefore be studied using the means of literary studies, as traditionally done in ecocriticism. What is different in case of nature writing, is that unlike fiction, it invites its reader to move beyond the text, to the natural environment that has been represented in a piece of nature writing. More or less explicitly, each literary text also contains the level of zoosemiotic modelling: senses, Umwelten of other species, their ways of movement, feeding, etc. Biosemiotic analysis helps to bring this layer of modelling to the fore. In addition, the work contains articles written in co-operation with researchers from other disciplines (botanics, history). Stemming from that experience, the last part of the cover article is devoted to questions related to cross-disciplinary co-operation in connection to the notion of environmental humanities, in order to contribute to the search for solutions to our global environmental problems. It is proposed that the original contribution of the present work into the general semiotic discussion lies in relating the concepts of text, Umwelt, model, and representation to each other and demonstrating how meaning is created in in nature writing in their interplay. By analysing the notion of representation, a better understanding of human sign-use practices is achieved, ass well as a bettern understanding of the application possibilities of human signification in inter-species communication.
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Keywords
kirjandusteadus, representatsioon, looduskirjeldused, kirjandussemiootika, zoosemiootika, literary science, representation, nature descriptions, literary semiotics, zoosemiotics