Though the relationship between the American male and nature has traditionally been that of the dominant and the dominated, which has led ecofeminists to argue that women and nature share an analogous history of oppression, it is true that in the history of American literature we also find a counter-discourse opposite to the traditional rhetoric of masculine self-affirmation over wildlife. Such counter-discourse is not limited to postmodernity, but emerges in different periods and genres, always challenging both conventional hypermasculinity/ies and the social models based on capitalism and exploitation of nature. From this perspective, a particularly fertile moment is represented by the fin-de-siècle revival of interest in the outer space and specifically in planet Mars. Following astronomer Percival Lowell’s observations and uncommon insights – e.g., in Mars As the Abode of Life (1909) Lowell expressed his worries about Earth's environmental decline and sky pollution: according to him, man “has enslaved all that he could; he is busy exterminating the rest […] Already man has begun to leave his mark on this his globe in deforestation, in canalization, in communication”) – many (uncanonical) authors, both male and female, were attracted by the utopias suggested by Earth’s sister planet in opposition to the decay they observed on the one they inhabited. Though these authors are frequently dismissed (even by Sci-Fi) as minor, marginal, and visionary, they were engaged in showing alternative social and political models characterized by a higher level of democracy, true gender equality, and a high respect for nature. In my essay, it is my aim to discuss four examples of such literary production, which is as extraordinary as it is almost forgotten: The Man from Mars. His morals, politics, and religion by William Simpson (1891), Unveiling a Parallel: A Romance by Two Women of the West Alice Ilgenfritz Jones and Ella Merchant (1893), The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury (1951), and The Man Who Fell on Earth by John Tevis (1963). In different ways, and more or less dramatically, these novels convey the idea that a different model of masculinity and a social model based on caring and nurturing attitudes towards the environment would be (or have been) possible. Quite differently from the current projects of Terraforming – which, farfetched as they may seem, are actually re-proposing the same models of conquest and colonization we know too well – they saw Mars and the Outer Space as a metaphorical arena not only of utopia, but of resistance and active experimentation in what we nowadays call ecomasculinity.
Eco-Men from Outer Space? Mars and Utopian Masculinities in Fin de Siècle Literature
alessandra calanchi
2019
Abstract
Though the relationship between the American male and nature has traditionally been that of the dominant and the dominated, which has led ecofeminists to argue that women and nature share an analogous history of oppression, it is true that in the history of American literature we also find a counter-discourse opposite to the traditional rhetoric of masculine self-affirmation over wildlife. Such counter-discourse is not limited to postmodernity, but emerges in different periods and genres, always challenging both conventional hypermasculinity/ies and the social models based on capitalism and exploitation of nature. From this perspective, a particularly fertile moment is represented by the fin-de-siècle revival of interest in the outer space and specifically in planet Mars. Following astronomer Percival Lowell’s observations and uncommon insights – e.g., in Mars As the Abode of Life (1909) Lowell expressed his worries about Earth's environmental decline and sky pollution: according to him, man “has enslaved all that he could; he is busy exterminating the rest […] Already man has begun to leave his mark on this his globe in deforestation, in canalization, in communication”) – many (uncanonical) authors, both male and female, were attracted by the utopias suggested by Earth’s sister planet in opposition to the decay they observed on the one they inhabited. Though these authors are frequently dismissed (even by Sci-Fi) as minor, marginal, and visionary, they were engaged in showing alternative social and political models characterized by a higher level of democracy, true gender equality, and a high respect for nature. In my essay, it is my aim to discuss four examples of such literary production, which is as extraordinary as it is almost forgotten: The Man from Mars. His morals, politics, and religion by William Simpson (1891), Unveiling a Parallel: A Romance by Two Women of the West Alice Ilgenfritz Jones and Ella Merchant (1893), The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury (1951), and The Man Who Fell on Earth by John Tevis (1963). In different ways, and more or less dramatically, these novels convey the idea that a different model of masculinity and a social model based on caring and nurturing attitudes towards the environment would be (or have been) possible. Quite differently from the current projects of Terraforming – which, farfetched as they may seem, are actually re-proposing the same models of conquest and colonization we know too well – they saw Mars and the Outer Space as a metaphorical arena not only of utopia, but of resistance and active experimentation in what we nowadays call ecomasculinity.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
