Indigenous Phytopoetics: Plants, Poetry, and Biocultural Justice

This article considers the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) concerning the idea of “biocultural justice” as expressed in the work of Indigenous poets. Building on developments in the field of Indigenous ecopoetics, the article proposes the idea of ‘Indigenous phytopoetics’ to signify how te...

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第一著者: Ryan, Dr. John Charles
フォーマット: Online
言語:英語
出版事項: Harvest: Jahangirnagar University Studies in Language and Literature 2023
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オンライン・アクセス:http://journals.juniv.edu/index.php/har/article/view/73
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author Ryan, Dr. John Charles
author_facet Ryan, Dr. John Charles
author_sort Ryan, Dr. John Charles
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description This article considers the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) concerning the idea of “biocultural justice” as expressed in the work of Indigenous poets. Building on developments in the field of Indigenous ecopoetics, the article proposes the idea of ‘Indigenous phytopoetics’ to signify how texts by Indigenous writers narrativize human-plant relationships, critique ecological issues disproportionately impacting Indigenous peoples’ access to plants, and inspire place-based expressions of cultural-botanical sovereignty. Attuned to biocultural diversity, Indigenous narratives of plants highlight the significance of botanical life to Indigenous genealogies, ontologies, and epistemologies. Moreover, Indigenous phytopoetic work tends to critique imperialist constructions of plants as objects to be appropriated, commodified, homogenized, exhausted, or eradicated. Indigenous phytopoetic narratives inflect a view of plants – and creative engagements with them – as sources of recuperation, resistance, and reciprocity. Poetic works of this genre thus offer a vibrant medium linking creators, audiences, plants, materials, and technologies in a dynamic interchange over time. In addition to Perez’s poetry, notably Habitat Threshold (2020) and other works, some key examples of Indigenous phytopoetics include Bill Neidjie’s Story About Feeling (1989), Steven Edmund Winduo’s Hembemba (2000), James Thomas Steven’s Combing the Snakes From His Hair (2002), and Joy Harjo’s How We Became Human (2004). As a case in point, Aboriginal Australian poet and cultural spokesperson Bill Neidjie’s Story About Feeling is a verse-narrative focused on the botanical knowledge of the Gaagudju people, whose traditional lands encompass World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory. Neidjie’s work engages with SDG Goals 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), 10 (Reduced Inequalities), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), 13 (Climate Action), and 15 (Life on Land). This article theorizes the idea of Indigenous phytopoetics concerning these and other poetic texts that bring the dynamism of plant life and human-plant relations to the fore, thus addressing Sustainable Development Goals through biocultural justice
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spelling ojs-732024-11-18T04:48:53Z Indigenous Phytopoetics: Plants, Poetry, and Biocultural Justice Ryan, Dr. John Charles Aboriginal people Biocultural justice Indigenous culture Plants Poetry Sustainable development This article considers the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) concerning the idea of “biocultural justice” as expressed in the work of Indigenous poets. Building on developments in the field of Indigenous ecopoetics, the article proposes the idea of ‘Indigenous phytopoetics’ to signify how texts by Indigenous writers narrativize human-plant relationships, critique ecological issues disproportionately impacting Indigenous peoples’ access to plants, and inspire place-based expressions of cultural-botanical sovereignty. Attuned to biocultural diversity, Indigenous narratives of plants highlight the significance of botanical life to Indigenous genealogies, ontologies, and epistemologies. Moreover, Indigenous phytopoetic work tends to critique imperialist constructions of plants as objects to be appropriated, commodified, homogenized, exhausted, or eradicated. Indigenous phytopoetic narratives inflect a view of plants – and creative engagements with them – as sources of recuperation, resistance, and reciprocity. Poetic works of this genre thus offer a vibrant medium linking creators, audiences, plants, materials, and technologies in a dynamic interchange over time. In addition to Perez’s poetry, notably Habitat Threshold (2020) and other works, some key examples of Indigenous phytopoetics include Bill Neidjie’s Story About Feeling (1989), Steven Edmund Winduo’s Hembemba (2000), James Thomas Steven’s Combing the Snakes From His Hair (2002), and Joy Harjo’s How We Became Human (2004). As a case in point, Aboriginal Australian poet and cultural spokesperson Bill Neidjie’s Story About Feeling is a verse-narrative focused on the botanical knowledge of the Gaagudju people, whose traditional lands encompass World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory. Neidjie’s work engages with SDG Goals 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), 10 (Reduced Inequalities), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), 13 (Climate Action), and 15 (Life on Land). This article theorizes the idea of Indigenous phytopoetics concerning these and other poetic texts that bring the dynamism of plant life and human-plant relations to the fore, thus addressing Sustainable Development Goals through biocultural justice Harvest: Jahangirnagar University Studies in Language and Literature 2023-05-31 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Conference Proceedings Submission application/pdf http://journals.juniv.edu/index.php/har/article/view/73 Harvest: Jahangirnagar University Studies in Language and Literature; Vol. 38 No. 1 (2023); 85-96 eng http://journals.juniv.edu/index.php/har/article/view/73/50
spellingShingle Aboriginal people
Biocultural justice
Indigenous culture
Plants
Poetry
Sustainable development
Ryan, Dr. John Charles
Indigenous Phytopoetics: Plants, Poetry, and Biocultural Justice
title Indigenous Phytopoetics: Plants, Poetry, and Biocultural Justice
title_full Indigenous Phytopoetics: Plants, Poetry, and Biocultural Justice
title_fullStr Indigenous Phytopoetics: Plants, Poetry, and Biocultural Justice
title_full_unstemmed Indigenous Phytopoetics: Plants, Poetry, and Biocultural Justice
title_short Indigenous Phytopoetics: Plants, Poetry, and Biocultural Justice
title_sort indigenous phytopoetics plants poetry and biocultural justice
topic Aboriginal people
Biocultural justice
Indigenous culture
Plants
Poetry
Sustainable development
topic_facet Aboriginal people
Biocultural justice
Indigenous culture
Plants
Poetry
Sustainable development
url http://journals.juniv.edu/index.php/har/article/view/73
work_keys_str_mv AT ryandrjohncharles indigenousphytopoeticsplantspoetryandbioculturaljustice