The Useless Arctic: Exploiting Nature in the Arctic in the 1870s
What is the discursive genealogy of an ecological approach to the Arctic? Building on distinctions suggested by Francis Spufford and Gísli Pálsson, this article examines a specific juncture in the history of European–Arctic interaction – the reception of the Austro-Hungarian Arctic Expedition in 187...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Septentrio Academic Publishing
2015-04-01
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| Series: | Nordlit: Tidsskrift i litteratur og kultur |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/3423 |
| _version_ | 1797332739965321216 |
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| author | Ulrike Spring Johan Schimanski |
| author_facet | Ulrike Spring Johan Schimanski |
| author_sort | Ulrike Spring |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | What is the discursive genealogy of an ecological approach to the Arctic? Building on distinctions suggested by Francis Spufford and Gísli Pálsson, this article examines a specific juncture in the history of European–Arctic interaction – the reception of the Austro-Hungarian Arctic Expedition in 1874 – and traces the potential for ecological and relational understandings in what seems to be an orientalist and exploitative material. Examining the medial reception in Austria and in Norway, along with certain key texts in which Arctic wildlife is described, we find that the Norwegian reception of the expedition emphasizes practical issues connected with resource exploitation in the Arctic, while the Austrian reception mostly sees the Arctic as a symbolic resource with which to negotiate issues of identity and modernity. The Austrian discourse revolves around a set of paradoxical contradictions, the most central being those between materialism and idealism and emptiness and fullness; we argue it is the instability of such ambiguities which produces the possibility of a future ecological discourse. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T07:53:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-59aa27a986e74287909c558a478c4cd0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0809-1668 1503-2086 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T07:53:40Z |
| publishDate | 2015-04-01 |
| publisher | Septentrio Academic Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nordlit: Tidsskrift i litteratur og kultur |
| spelling | doaj.art-59aa27a986e74287909c558a478c4cd02024-02-02T14:33:56ZengSeptentrio Academic PublishingNordlit: Tidsskrift i litteratur og kultur0809-16681503-20862015-04-013510.7557/13.34233187The Useless Arctic: Exploiting Nature in the Arctic in the 1870sUlrike Spring0Johan Schimanski1Sogn og Fjordane University CollegeUniversity of OsloWhat is the discursive genealogy of an ecological approach to the Arctic? Building on distinctions suggested by Francis Spufford and Gísli Pálsson, this article examines a specific juncture in the history of European–Arctic interaction – the reception of the Austro-Hungarian Arctic Expedition in 1874 – and traces the potential for ecological and relational understandings in what seems to be an orientalist and exploitative material. Examining the medial reception in Austria and in Norway, along with certain key texts in which Arctic wildlife is described, we find that the Norwegian reception of the expedition emphasizes practical issues connected with resource exploitation in the Arctic, while the Austrian reception mostly sees the Arctic as a symbolic resource with which to negotiate issues of identity and modernity. The Austrian discourse revolves around a set of paradoxical contradictions, the most central being those between materialism and idealism and emptiness and fullness; we argue it is the instability of such ambiguities which produces the possibility of a future ecological discourse.https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/3423Naturethe ArcticAustria-HungaryAustro-Hungarian Arctic Expeditionecologydiscourse |
| spellingShingle | Ulrike Spring Johan Schimanski The Useless Arctic: Exploiting Nature in the Arctic in the 1870s Nordlit: Tidsskrift i litteratur og kultur Nature the Arctic Austria-Hungary Austro-Hungarian Arctic Expedition ecology discourse |
| title | The Useless Arctic: Exploiting Nature in the Arctic in the 1870s |
| title_full | The Useless Arctic: Exploiting Nature in the Arctic in the 1870s |
| title_fullStr | The Useless Arctic: Exploiting Nature in the Arctic in the 1870s |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Useless Arctic: Exploiting Nature in the Arctic in the 1870s |
| title_short | The Useless Arctic: Exploiting Nature in the Arctic in the 1870s |
| title_sort | useless arctic exploiting nature in the arctic in the 1870s |
| topic | Nature the Arctic Austria-Hungary Austro-Hungarian Arctic Expedition ecology discourse |
| url | https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/3423 |
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