The nature-cultural Memory in the Anthropocene – Archives, Literatures and Media of Earth History

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Gabriele Dürbeck
• Subject Area: General and Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies ; German Literary and Cultural Studies (Modern German Literature)
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 529500909

The project aims to formulate for the first time a theory of nature-cultural memory in the Anthropocene and, on this basis, to investigate how literature and media function as nature-cultural archives and media of Earth history. The Anthropocene concept, which treats humanity as a globally dominant geophysical force, has also been established as a cultural concept since about 2010. By bringing together human and Earth history, it contributes to a new self-understanding of humanity. In this process, archives of Earth history (e.g. ice cores, sedimentary layers) play an important role as anchor points for new narratives of a human history in the horizon of geological deep time. Whereas previous research in Cultural Memory Studies has worked strictly within the epistemological boundaries of the nature-culture divide, the integration of Earth history and archives of nature into public and political discourses requires a broader conceptualization of cultural memory. Contributing to the interdisciplinary research field of Environmental Humanities, the project addresses the question through which scientific practices, institutions, and representation processes in various media Earth history is constructed as a framework that co-constitutes human identities. The project thus pursues three goals: (1) the formulation of a theory of nature-cultural memory will contribute to the expansion of Cultural Memory Studies; (2) a discourse-analytical investigation of scientific texts on nature-cultural archives from the multidisciplinary Anthropocene discourse will provide an understanding of the constitution of a nature-cultural interpretive power; and (3) a literary, knowledge-poetological and media-aesthetic analysis of the different modes of representation in nature-cultural memory processes will investigate how earth-historical orientation knowledge is constituted and communicated as a framework for responsibly shaping the future. In the first of four subprojects (SP), the theoretical concepts of cultural archives and cultural memory will be extended to include archives of nature and the construction of a nature-cultural memory. On this basis, the SP2 and SP3 will then analyze the representation of Earth history in anthropocenic literature since 2000 as well as in selected media (environmental documentary film, media artworks, exhibitions, archival and art projects). The comparative literary and media analyses guided by the new theoretical framework developed in the project and their results will form the basis for a critical reflection on the potentials and limits of a theory of nature-cultural memory in SP4. The results of the project will be presented for discussion in various formats (1 international conference, 4 essays, 1 anthology, idea lab, monograph).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants