Facts and Fiction: Narrating the Anthropocene in Picture Books

Beschreibung

The Anthropocene, the 'age of humankind', is both a geological technical term and a cultural concept. As such it offers a change of perspective on culture-nature relations: that we humans see ourselves as participants in interdependant networks and life cycles, together with (inter alia) landscape and atmosphere, plants and animals, bacteria and matter. This recognition calls for participation in and co-creation of sustainable futures, in a fact-based and solution-oriented as well as empathetic and value-conscious way. Being itself a narrative, the Anthropocene invites for narration as a medium of science communication.
In children's literature especially the genre of the picture book is dynamically developing new forms of hybrid narration to convey factual knowledge, while at the same time encouraging empathy and co-responsibility for a healthy life on planet Earth for all. This contribution presents outstanding examples of German language picture books that narrate the Anthropocene in a creative mix of facts and fiction. From the point of view of cultural ecology it discusses the narrative potential of picture books for a poetology of knowledge. Using at least two semiotic systems, i.e. text and images, picture books as multimodal ensembles are able to tell human and nonhuman stories in a great variety of discursive styles. In questioning the anthropocentric conceptions of nature, the ecological narratives performed in picture books can contribute to an aesthetics of the Anthropocene. The exploration of its poetology of knowledge opens up a new field for picture book research and the teaching of sustainable texts.

Zeitraum	15 Aug. 2023
Ereignistitel	IRSCL Congress 2023: Ecologies of Childhood
Veranstaltungstyp	Konferenz
Ort	Santa Barbara, USA / Vereinigte Staaten, CaliforniaAuf Karte anzeigen
Bekanntheitsgrad	International