Eco-Anxiety and Spirtuality in Literature Conference (2023)

  • Sarah Cave (Speaker)

Activity: Participating in or organising an eventParticipation in conference

Description

This two-day international workshop seeks to explore the role of eco-spiritual practices and different ways of knowing in various literary and spiritual traditions. Not restricted to any particular era of writing, this conference will map how representations of the environment have comingled with spiritual practices throughout literary history, and how these practices and sources of knowledge are re-imagined today. From representations of Christian Mysticism to Indigenous Spiritualities to Buddhism and secular meditation, we welcome submissions examining diverse spiritual and therapeutic traditions. However, in approaching these diverse traditions there runs a risk of cultural appropriation and perpetuation of the capitalist-colonial attitudes that continue to perpetuate the climate crisis. Thus, this conference seeks to engage critically with multi-cultural interpretations of spirituality in literature from a decolonial framework that avoids reductions such as the tropes of the ‘ecological Indian’ or wise savage (Shepherd Kreech). We look forward to engaging in exciting conversations about how renewed spiritual perspectives can shape our engagement with literature and the more-than-human world.
Period23 Feb 202324 Feb 2023
Event typeConference
LocationLouain-la-Neuve, BelgiumShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInternational