Among the Vultures, Alcoy

Terry Gifford is the author of six collections of poetry, including The Unreliable Mushrooms: New and Selected Poems (Redbeck Press, 2003). Green Voices: Understanding Contemporary Nature Poetry (Manchester University Press, 1995; second edition due in 2010) was acclaimed as ‘the first comprehensive British study of contemporary ecopoetry’. Co-author of Ted Hughes: A Critical Study (Faber and Faber, 1981), his ecocritical study of Ted Hughes (2009) was recently published by Routledge. Also author of Reconnecting With John Muir: Essays in Post-Pastoral Practice (University of Georgia Press, 2006) and Pastoral (Routledge, 1999) and he is Visiting Professor at the University of Chichester, UK and Profesor Honorario at the University of Alicante, Spain

Contemporary British georgic writing

Do we need the modish term “eco-georgic” to help us discover the unsentimental, holistic, healing qualities in the best georgic writing of the Anthropocene? When were georgics not “eco”? Is there a “post georgic” in forms of contemporary literature that seem to reject husbandry altogether, such as rewilding texts? Do such categories serve any purpose to readers and critics in the Anthropocene? This essay argues that such careful distinctions do, indeed, matter more than ever now as we reconsider our sustainable options in husbandry, land-management and what sustainability might look like, as it is represented and explored in our fiction and non-fiction georgic literature in Britain at the present. One might expect contemporary georgic writing to exemplify the environmental engagement implied in the term “eco-georgic”. In fact, contemporary georgic can be environmentally radical or apparently indirect in its implications for sustainability. It remains as diverse, hybrid and composted in the past as Virgil’s original text. This essay begins by considering definitions, with reference to Virgil’s founding Latin text, begun in the third decade BCE, the “Georgics”. It recognises Laura Sayre’s complaint that ecocriticism has neglected georgic writing, and argues that this is certainly true for contemporary British georgic texts. This essay focuses on contemporary georgic fiction and non-fiction in relation to Virgil’s founding text. The novels of Cynan Jones, Tom Bullough, Marie-Elsa Bragg and Tim Pears are discussed and contrasted with one by Melissa Harrison that might mistakenly be thought of as georgic. Three categories of non-fiction are identified and discussed with examples: instructional georgic, personal memoir and future-oriented georgic. Consideration of the latter leads to conclusions about their inevitable overlaps and a final call for a radical mutual agency to embed animism and enchantment into contemporary georgic writing.¿Necesitamos el término de moda "eco-geórgico" para ayudarnos a descubrir las cualidades no sentimentales, holísticas y curativas en la mejor escritura geórgica del Antropoceno? ¿Cuándo no eran "eco" las geórgicas? ¿Hay un "post-geórgico" en las formas de literatura contemporánea que parecen rechazar por completo la agricultura, como los textos de retorno a la vida silvestre? ¿Sirven tales categorías para los lectores y críticos en el Antropoceno? Este ensayo argumenta que tales distinciones cuidadosas, de hecho, importan más que nunca ahora que reconsideramos nuestras opciones sostenibles en la agricultura, la gestión de la tierra y cómo podría ser la sostenibilidad, tal y como está representada y desarrollada en la literatura de ficción y no ficción en Gran Bretaña en la actualidad. Uno podría esperar que la escritura geórgica contemporánea ejemplifique el compromiso ambiental implícito en el término "eco-geórgico". De hecho, la geórgica contemporánea puede ser ambientalmente radical o aparentemente indirecta en sus implicaciones para la sostenibilidad. Sigue siendo tan diverso, híbrido y compostado en el pasado como lo es el texto original de Virgilio. Este ensayo comienza considerando las definiciones, con referencia al texto fundacional en latín de Virgilio, comenzado en la tercera década a. C., las Geórgicas. Reconoce la queja de Laura Sayre de que la ecocrítica ha descuidado la escritura geórgica, y argumenta que esto es indisputablemente cierto para los textos geórgicos británicos contemporáneos. Este ensayo se centra en la ficción contemporánea y la no ficción en relación con el texto fundacional de Virgilio. Las novelas de Cynan Jones, Tom Bullough, Marie-Elsa Bragg y Tim Pears se analizan y contrastan con una de Melissa Harrison que erróneamente podría considerarse como geórgica. Tres categorías de no ficción se identifican y son analizadas con ejemplos: geórgico instructivo, memorias personales y geórgico orientado al futuro. La consideración de estos últimos lleva a conclusiones sobre sus inevitables superposiciones y a un llamamiento final a una agencia mutua radical para integrar el animismo y el encantamiento en la escritura contemporánea

Mobiles

Poem by Terry Gifford

The Storks of Alcalá

Terry Gifford is the author of six collections of poetry, including The Unreliable Mushrooms: New and Selected Poems (Redbeck Press, 2003). Green Voices: Understanding Contemporary Nature Poetry (Manchester University Press, 1995; second edition due in 2010) was acclaimed as ‘the first comprehensive British study of contemporary ecopoetry’. Co-author of Ted Hughes: A Critical Study (Faber and Faber, 1981), his ecocritical study of Ted Hughes (2009) was recently published by Routledge. Also author of Reconnecting With John Muir: Essays in Post-Pastoral Practice (University of Georgia Press, 2006) and Pastoral (Routledge, 1999) and he is Visiting Professor at the University of Chichester, UK and Profesor Honorario at the University of Alicante, Spain