Ecocritics and Ecoskeptics: A Humanist Reading of Recent French Ecofiction

The Natural Contract by Michel Serres advocates for an end to the human war on nature and a symbiotic relationship with the earth. Luc Ferry's The New Ecological Order ridicules this metaphor and accuses ecological thinkers of being "premodern" and "prehumanistic." Ecocritics and Ecoskeptics examines environmental themes in novels by Michel Tournier, Stéphane Audeguy, Chantal Chawaf, Vercors, and Olivia Rosenthal, as well as philosophical works by Jacques Derrida, Élisabeth de Fontenay, and Peter Singer. Two novels by J.-C. Rufin and Iegor Gran provide a dose of healthy skepticism. The book concludes that environmentalism and humanism are not incompatible, if we proceed beyond the traditional humanism of Ferry and other modernists.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 280 pages
Publication date: 01 August 2023
Publisher: Liverpool University Press

In France, the fundamental intellectual debate over ecology revolves around contrasting views held by Michel Serres and Luc Ferry. Serres advocates for a shift towards an ecocentric worldview, where humans should establish a symbiotic relationship with the Earth rather than a parasitic one. In his book "The Natural Contract," he calls for an end to the human war on nature and encourages a transformation from an anthropocentric perspective to an ecocentric one.

On the other hand, Luc Ferry responds to Serres in "The New Ecological Order." He ridicules the metaphor of a natural contract, suggesting that humans and humanism would no longer reign supreme over the Earth. Ferry accuses Serres and other ecological thinkers of being "premodern" and "prehumanistic," valuing nonhuman life as much as human life. He criticizes their approach as reminiscent of the ridiculous trials of five centuries ago, when beetles and rats were threatened with excommunication for their antihuman activities.

After analyzing the Serres-Ferry debate, Ecocritics and Ecoskeptics delves into environmental themes in novels by Michel Tournier, Stéphane Audeguy, and Chantal Chawaf. It also examines the complex and evolving relationship between humans and animals, as expressed in novels by Vercors and Olivia Rosenthal, as well as in philosophical works by Jacques Derrida, Élisabeth de Fontenay, and Peter Singer, among others. Two novels by the humanist J.-C. Rufin and the humorist Iegor Gran offer a healthy dose of skepticism. Rufin's stories reveal the potential dark side of extreme environmentalism, including authoritarianism and terrorism, while Gran's hilarious satires critique some environmentalists' piousness, opportunism, humorlessness, and antihumanism.

The book concludes that environmentalism and humanism are not inherently incompatible. However, it emphasizes the need to move beyond the traditional humanism of Ferry and other modernists. Essays by philosophers such as Claude Lévi-Strauss, Pierre Rabhi, Edgar Morin, and others contribute to this discussion, providing insights into the complexities of the relationship between humans and the environment.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781837644094