The Seasons

Philosophical, Literary, and Environmental Perspectives

Luke Fischer, David Macauley, Luke Fischer, David Macauley

• Publisher: SUNY Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781438484242, 9781438484259
• eBook ISBN: 9781438484266
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Philosophical Essays

Pioneering essays that demonstrate the significance of the seasons for philosophy, environmental thought, anthropology, cultural studies, aesthetics, poetics, and literary criticism.

Although the seasons have been a perennial theme in literature and art, their significance for philosophy and environmental theory has remained largely unexplored. This pioneering book demonstrates the ways in which inquiry into the seasons reveals new and illuminating perspectives for philosophy, environmental thought, anthropology, cultural studies, aesthetics, poetics, and literary criticism. The Seasons opens up new avenues for research in these fields and provides a valuable resource for teachers and students of the environmental humanities. The innovative essays herein address a wide range of seasonal cultures and geographies, from the traditional Western model of the four seasons––spring, summer, fall, and winter––to the Indigenous seasons of Australia and the Arctic. Exemplifying the crucial importance of interdisciplinary research, The Seasons makes a compelling case for the relevance of the seasons to our daily lives, scientific understanding, diverse cultural practices, and politics.

Index

Å, Norway, 145, 146–147

Aboriginal. See Indigenous seasons, Nyoongar

abstractions/abstract concepts, 5, 6, 33, 45–46, 47, 55, 73, 75, 173, 211, 212, 244, 246, 251, 254

acceleration, 42, 201–202, 206–207, 210, 212, 214, 233, 258

actant, 184–185, 191–194, 198

Adams, Ansel, 48, 227

agriculture, 2, 4, 30, 33, 39, 48, 187, 211, 224, 230

aesthetics, 10, 13, 14, 15–16, 20, 31, 35, 39, 43, 44, 46, 49, 70–71, 73–74, 78, 149–150, 181, 185, 187, 203, 218–219n48, 235–239, 255

affect, 5, 9, 13, 14, 18, 20, 21, 28, 42, 44–45, 70–71, 72, 82, 96, 97–99, 104, 107–108, 165–167, 172, 176, 184, 193, 223, 227, 237. See also ambience, atmosphere, mood

almanac, 8, 14, 20, 30, 32, 181–199

ambience, 44–45

ancient Greece/Greek, 9, 15, 36, 38, 131, 133, 211, 233, 261n30

Antarctic, the, 7, 40, 144, 153

anthropocentrism, 94, 103, 108, 188, 251–252

architecture, 2, 145, 155, 159, 161, 162, 197

Arcimboldo, Giuseppe...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Thinking through the Seasons
• Environmental Time
• Phenomenology and Poetics
• Anthropology and the Arctic
• Everyday Aesthetics
• Decolonizing Literature
• Suggestions for Further Reading
• Contributors
• Index
• Back Cover