Hunting for Nature’s Treasures or Learning from Nature
The Narrative Ambivalence of the Ecotechnological Turn
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15445356 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sanne Van der Hout (0000-0003-2128-2951, Radboud University Nijmegen, corresponding author), Martin Drenthen (0000-0003-2502-6963, Radboud University Nijmegen) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 162-180 |
| Publication date | 2017-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Nature and Culture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1558-6073 • E-ISSN: 1558-5468 |
| Publisher | Berghahn Books (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.3167/nc.2017.120204 |
| OpenAlex | W2666872173 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 8 |
Scientists need narrative structures, metaphors, and images to explain and legitimize research practices that are usually described in abstract and technical terms. Yet, sometimes they do not take proper account of the complexity and multilayered character of their narrative self-presentations. This also applies to the narratives of ecotechnology explored in this article: the treasure quest narrative used in the field of metagenomics, and the tutorial narrative proposed by the learning-from-nature movement biomimicry. Researchers from both fields tend to underestimate the general public’s understanding of the inherent ambivalence of the narratives suggested by them; the treasure quest and tutorial narratives build upon larger master narratives that can be found throughout our culture, for instance, in literature, art, and film. We will show how these genres reveal the moral ambivalence of both narratives, using two well-known movies as illustrations: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Disney’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1940)
Aesthetics · Ambivalence · Archaeology · Art · Epistemology · Field (mathematics · Literature · Narrative · Narrative criticism · Narrative inquiry · Narrative network · Sociology · Treasure · Climate Change Communication and Perception · History · Innovation, Sustainability, Human-Machine Systems · Philosophy · Psychology · Science Education and Perceptions · Social Psychology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |