J.M.G. Le Clézio and Baruch Spinoza: Understanding and Accepting the ‘God’ of Material Reality

The Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza and the contemporary Franco-Mauritian author J.M.G. Le Clézio place great emphasis on the materiality of the human condition. For both of these extremely divergent thinkers, the path to existential redemption and spiritual edification is inseparable from the biotic network of life to which we are inextricably linked. Given that nothing exists in a cosmic vacuum in complete isolation from other material organisms, Spinoza and Le Clézio urge the modern subject to deconstruct seductive, anthropocentric ideology and to embrace reality. Indeed, understanding and accepting our own corporality in addition to exploring the complex relationship between ourselves and the cosmic forces that sustain us is perhaps the only true path to self-actualization that allows us to project meaning upon the absurdity of the universe

Reviving the Nuanced Concept of Mother Earth in an Era of Non-Sustainability: A Serresian Reading of Marcel Pagnol’s L’eau des collines

This essay examines the efforts of the writer Marcel Pagnol and the philosopher Michel Serres to revive the nuanced Amerindian metaphor of “Mother Earth” in the Anthropocene epoch.  Given that faulty anthropocentric logic and the unfounded doctrine of human exceptionalism concretize the nexus of the current era of non-sustainability, Pagnol and Serres attempt to breathe life back into this often misunderstood, multifaceted concept in an effort to (re-)envision a healthier relationship with the cosmic whole that sustains the existence of all sentient and non-sentient beings.  As this study highlights, this rich Amerindian metaphor opens up into philosophical, spiritual, and scientific dimensions.  Moreover, this investigation of the common threads that exist between Pagnol’s prose and Serres’s interdisciplinary, unconventional philosophy reveals the deep symbolism of the Amerindian metaphor of “Mother Earth.  This ecocentric concept could represent an invaluable point of departure for articulating the radical paradigm shift in our homocentric thinking that is paramount in order to avert the impending, anthropogenic ecological crisis that threatens to destroy all abundant life on this planet.  Pagnol’s prose and Serres’s philosophy promote a different way of being in the world in a human-centered universe that is increasingly defined by an environmental calamity of epic proportions

The Complex Ambivalence of ‘Privileged Moments’ in the Works of J.M.G. Le Clézio: Their Force, Their Limitations, and Their Relationship to Alterity

This dissertation delves into the complexities and nuances of the contemporary French author J.M.G. Le Clézio, one of the most respected and prolific writers of his era. Specifically, it investigates the phenomenon of a “privileged moment” or a “moment privilégié” in his works. This literary concept is most often associated with Marcel Proust. In this study, the intricacies as well as the limitations and paradoxes of three distinct types of privileged moments in Le Clézio’s writings are methodically explored. Privileged moments related to nature, musicality, and sexuality are systematically probed during the course of this investigation. The introduction provides an operational definition for the expression “privileged moment,” and briefly outlines some of the main ideas discussed in the various chapters which follow. Although several literary scholars use this term, a precise definition of this word or even a clear explanation of what it encompasses does not seem to exist. Chapter one explores manifestations of privileged moments in the writings of earlier French writers. Specifically, it analyses intense instants of euphoria in Proust’s A la Recherche du Temps Perdu, Sartre’s La Nausée, and Camus’s Noces. Chapter two investigates the undeniable literary transformation that occurs in Le Clézio’s works beginning with the publication of Mondo in 1978. Specifically, this section examines the existentialist nature of some of Le Clézio’s early writings and explores how his powerful experiences with the Embreras and Waunanas in Panama, with the indigenous cultures in Mexico, etc. drastically altered him and his writings. Chapter three investigates the inexplicable instants of euphoria which abound when Le Clézio’s characters commune with nature in Mondo, Désert, Le Chercheur d’Or, and Pawana. Chapter four explores privileged moments related to music in the short story “La Roue d’Eau,” as well as in the novels Etoile Errante, Désert, Le Chercheur d’Or, and Le Poisson d’Or. Chapter five systematically investigates moments of sexual ecstasy shared with an Other in Désert, Le Chercheur d’Or, and La Quarantaine. Whereas the other mysterious moments of euphoria are solitary instants, these erotic encounters constitute a different type of experience, which will also obligate us to reflect upon various ethical issues

Maintenance of forest ecosystem health and vitality

Natural Resource Ecology and Managemen

Is Preserving Minority Languages and Cultures the Key to Avoiding the Impending Eco-Apocalypse? : An Ecolinguistic Reading of Le Clézio’s Le Rêve Mexicain

The purpose of this essay is to explore Le Clézio’s Le Rêve Mexicain from the lens of the growing field of ecolinguistics. In Le Rêve Mexicain, the 2008 Nobel Laureate in Literature speculates about the present and future ramifications of the destruction of divergent Amerindian civilizations. When a civilization or a language disappears, an entire worldview vanishes as well. In addition to wondering how Amerindian societies would have evolved if their trajectory would not have been ‘interrupted’ by the Conquest, Le Clézio hypothesizes that these indigenous voices could still help us to avoid the impending eco-apocalypse. In Le Rêve Mexicain, the Franco-Mauritian author attempts to preserve the remaining vestiges of rich Amerindian cultures and to embed them into the existing environmental discourse of dominant world languages

Implications of reduced stand density on tree growth and drought susceptibility: A study of three species under varying climate

Producción CientíficaA higher frequency of increasingly severe droughts highlights the need for short-term measures to adapt existing forests to climate change. The maintenance of reduced stand densities has been proposed as a promising silvicultural tool for mitigating drought stress. However, the relationship between stand density and tree drought susceptibility remains poorly understood, especially across ecological gradients. Here, we analysed the effect of reduced stand density on tree growth and growth sensitivity, as well as on short-term drought responses (resistance, recovery, and resilience) of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), sessile oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.), and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex C. Lawson). Tree ring series from 409 trees, growing in stands of varying stand density, were analysed at sites with different water availability. For all species, mean tree growth was significantly higher under low compared with maximum stand density. Mean tree growth sensitivity of Scots pine was significantly higher under low compared with moderate and maximum stand density, while growth sensitivity of ponderosa pine peaked under maximum stand density. Recovery and resilience of Scots pine, as well as recovery of sessile oak and ponderosa pine, decreased with increasing stand density. In contrast, resistance and resilience of ponderosa pine significantly increased with increasing stand density. Higher site water availability was associated with significantly reduced drought response indices of Scots pine and sessile oak in general, except for resistance of oak. In ponderosa pine, higher site water availability significantly lessened recovery. Higher site water availability significantly moderated the positive effect of reduced stand density on drought responses. Stand age had a significantly positive effect on the resistance of Scots pine and a negative effect on recovery of sessile oak. We discuss potential causes for the observed response patterns, derive implications for adaptive forest management, and make recommendations for further research in this field.Eva Mayr-Stihl Stiftung (170124)ERANet SUMFOREST project REFORM- AEI (PCIN-2017-026)German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (2816ERA02S

Emerald Ash Borer Modeling Methods for Future Forest Projections

Natural Resource Ecology & Mgm

Modeling the Effects of Emerald Ash Borer on Forest Composition in the Midwest and Northeast United States

Natural Resource Ecology & Mgm

Invasibility of three major non-native invasive shrubs and associated factors in Upper Midwest U.S. forest lands

We used non-native invasive plant data from the US Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program, spatial statistical methods, and the space (cover class)-for-time approach to quantify the invasion potential and success (‘‘invasibility”) of three major invasive shrubs (multiflora rose, non-native bush honeysuckles, and common buckthorn) in broadly classified forest-type groups in seven Upper Midwest states. Smoothed maps of presence and cover percent showed a strong clustering pattern for all three invasive shrubs despite their different ranges. The species are clustered around major cities or urban areas (e.g., Chicago, Illinois, and Des Moines, Iowa), indicating the potential role humans played in their invasion and spread on the landscape and throughout the Midwest. Conditional inference tree (ctree) models further quantified the significant factors contributing to the observed regional patterns: for distribution of multiflora rose, percentage of forest cover in the county (measuring human disturbance intensity) and stand density index; for distribution of common buckthorn, distance to major highways. Non-native bush honeysuckles were not associated with any disturbance and site/stand variables except for latitude and longitude. The infested FIA plots by cover class were positively associated in space, signifying a concentric-like spread trend from previously infested sites (hot spots) to surrounding areas. By forest-type groups or as a whole, the three species spread slowly at earlier stages, but recently have increased significantly in presence/ expansion. Oak/hickory and elm/ash/cottonwood forests were more susceptible to the three invasive shrubs compared to other forests. We recommend that resource managers and planners prescribe control and mitigation treatments for non-native invasive plants by forest types and spatial locations close to highways and residences

Invasibility of three major non-native invasive shrubs and associated factors in Upper Midwest U.S. forest lands

We used non-native invasive plant data from the US Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program, spatial statistical methods, and the space (cover class)-for-time approach to quantify the invasion potential and success (‘‘invasibility”) of three major invasive shrubs (multiflora rose, non-native bush honeysuckles, and common buckthorn) in broadly classified forest-type groups in seven Upper Midwest states. Smoothed maps of presence and cover percent showed a strong clustering pattern for all three invasive shrubs despite their different ranges. The species are clustered around major cities or urban areas (e.g., Chicago, Illinois, and Des Moines, Iowa), indicating the potential role humans played in their invasion and spread on the landscape and throughout the Midwest. Conditional inference tree (ctree) models further quantified the significant factors contributing to the observed regional patterns: for distribution of multiflora rose, percentage of forest cover in the county (measuring human disturbance intensity) and stand density index; for distribution of common buckthorn, distance to major highways. Non-native bush honeysuckles were not associated with any disturbance and site/stand variables except for latitude and longitude. The infested FIA plots by cover class were positively associated in space, signifying a concentric-like spread trend from previously infested sites (hot spots) to surrounding areas. By forest-type groups or as a whole, the three species spread slowly at earlier stages, but recently have increased significantly in presence/ expansion. Oak/hickory and elm/ash/cottonwood forests were more susceptible to the three invasive shrubs compared to other forests. We recommend that resource managers and planners prescribe control and mitigation treatments for non-native invasive plants by forest types and spatial locations close to highways and residences