"Symbiosis or Death": - Rhodes University

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It is good thus to try in our imagination to give any form some advantage over another. Probably in no single instance should we know what to do, so as to succeed. It will convince us of our ignorance on the mutual relations of all organic beings; a conviction as necessary, as it seems to be difficult to acquire. – Charles Darwin 130
Chapter Five From Darwinism to Despair: the Material View in A Littoral Zone Douglas Livingstone uses Darwin’s elegant theory of natural selection as a metaphor for the inexorable biological process of “life pumping through as anyhow” (from “Cells” 35) and, in making his readers see that humanity is part of this relentless process of evolution, reminds us of our ecological position. But, in Livingstone’s view, this position is in reality one of anthropocentricism and ecological destruction rather than of humanity knowing its place within the web of life. I therefore use the ecological themes of evolution and human abuse of nature (or ecological destruction) to explore Livingstone’s physical element or his material view in A Littoral Zone. Evolutionary theory In The Ascent of Science Brian Silver makes this optimistic ecological claim: [O]f all the revolutions caused by science, Darwin’s struck most dangerously at the self-image of man. Apart from attacking the literal truth of Genesis, he had shown man to be an integral part of the animal kingdom. This historic turning point in our inner world is the factual justification for the increasing number of people who believe that we are not so much masters of this planet as part of it. (287) Livingstone’s examination of Darwinism becomes more pointed in A Littoral Zone. Four of its 35 poems deal directly with evolution, but they also explore the realms of contingency and teleology which lie beyond the careful elegance of Darwin’s theory of natural selection. In these poems Livingstone uses evolutionary theory as a metaphor for the relentless and interconnected pattern of biological life and makes us aware of the ecological safety net which supports humankind’s existence on Earth. His work is informed by James Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis and by the theory of evolution and the philosophical issues connected with it. Evolution and ecology are inextricably linked, for both take into account the effect of the environment on living creatures. In an article titled “Organism, Environment and Literary Representation”, Joseph Carroll claims that “Evolutionists are of necessity ecological theorists – they understand biological relationships as complex, systemic 131
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"Symbiosis or Death": An Ecocritica
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Swallow) and so obviate its certain
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Contents Abstract .................
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Acknowledgements To Andrew Stevens
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ix Humankind’s abuse of nature an
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Introduction It was a Hogsback poet
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3 USA and was the first to apply th
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5 cilia, spirochaetes, mitochondria
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7 Durban in 1964 to take up the pos
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9 as the Earth. The poetry demands
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Perhaps in moments of - shall we sa
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13 married? This chapter will explo
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15 This is an idealistic position b
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17 Here, the “planet” and “a
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value. Julia Martin repeatedly stre
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21 The puzzle of ecology, then, is
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23 historic social conflicts. Langu
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25 ‘There remains,’ wrote Heide
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27 discourse, but as a fundamental
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the contradictions of consciousness
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31 Shelley refers to imagination an
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33 The freedom of birds - Keats’
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35 universe as mere mechanism” bu
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37 My 1963 comically chivalrous res
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39 research has followed two main p
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41 is definitive, not only for its
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Chapter Two Douglas Livingstone: Hi
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45 admired by poets of all poetical
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47 in the publication of Sjambok an
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49 conflict: “I don’t think any
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51 long-term implications of this t
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53 urbanisation. He adds that in th
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55 be seen as a stylistic pastorali
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57 (173). Livingstone, too, speaks
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59 to find a closer identification
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61 notes the “universality” of
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63 The first chapter of Chapman’s
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65 It should be mentioned, however,
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the stones, slaked battles, seas; t
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69 while I claim the undertone is a
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71 conjuring up a bizarre psycholog
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Yet the overriding relationship we
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75 The next collection, Sjambok and
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77 reflects the major variations of
Page 89 and 90: 79 This new idea-system… I shall
Page 91 and 92: 81 … we are the architects of our
Page 93 and 94: 83 our anthropocentrism. This deepe
Page 95 and 96: The first sputnik blipped above me
Page 97 and 98: 87 way of finding our sense of plac
Page 99 and 100: 89 poem, indicates that overcoming
Page 101 and 102: 91 constancy” where living things
Page 103 and 104: 93 dissolves” (line 46). He is le
Page 105 and 106: 95 / their daily crust on farm and
Page 107 and 108: 97 lightning” (line 14). The fig
Page 109 and 110: 99 life-forms. The poem ends on an
Page 111 and 112: 101 nature. As demonstrated in the
Page 113 and 114: 103 planting and regeneration. In
Page 115 and 116: 105 inhabitants, also cleansed and
Page 117 and 118: 107 The poem is divided into four p
Page 119 and 120: 109 position. Wilson defines biophi
Page 121 and 122: 111 humanity has no future place on
Page 123 and 124: 113 omnipotent power is disastrous
Page 125 and 126: 115 Because he suffers from, or is,
Page 127 and 128: We are an animal that needs to use
Page 129 and 130: 119 his scientific work lies in the
Page 131 and 132: 121 "metallic man" (line 6) who com
Page 133 and 134: 123 It [A Littoral Zone] might with
Page 135 and 136: 125 Livingstone” (1997). David Le
Page 137 and 138: 127 and decreases the pressure on p
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Page 143 and 144: 133 conundrum also plagues Livingst
Page 145 and 146: 135 anything Livingstone has writte
Page 147 and 148: 137 The sestet explores the result
Page 149 and 150: 139 [W]hile human survival may be c
Page 151 and 152: 141 The poem uses the coelacanth, a
Page 153 and 154: 143 examines evolution at cellular
Page 155 and 156: 145 (Dennett 86) which “propel”
Page 157 and 158: 147 reconnecting with the Earth and
Page 159 and 160: 149 ignorant or arrogant to see thi
Page 161 and 162: 151 This densely layered poem explo
Page 163 and 164: 153 is best to leave nature to do i
Page 165 and 166: 155 this reverence is an even great
Page 167 and 168: 157 continuation of a species. The
Page 169 and 170: 159 The remnants of the San people
Page 171 and 172: 161 In the third stanza he sees the
Page 173 and 174: 163 implication is that the San sha
Page 175 and 176: 165 is his anger extended to humank
Page 177 and 178: 167 “Carnivores” and social des
Page 179 and 180: Chapter Six “Seeking life, seekin
Page 181 and 182: 171 symbolise cosmic evil, but rath
Page 183 and 184: 173 The snake here symbolises self-
Page 185 and 186: 175 of Looking at a Black Snake”
Page 187 and 188: 177 The dead snake lies on the beac
Page 189 and 190: [A] constant image is that of the c
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181 with a duiker doe - the visitor
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183 life force (signified by the su
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185 This poem describes the first s
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187 The poem works with the idea of
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189 itself and so managed to captur
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191 The title of the poem alludes t
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193 resolve humankind’s psychomac
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195 The above ‘conventional’ lo
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197 opera, Lohengrin so that the po
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199 redolent of the happier moments
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I conclude this chapter with an exa
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203 perceived by my senses, but not
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205 resolution through atonement, w
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207 they “meld / in manic songs o
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209 A brief review will be useful.
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211 appears as thanatos” (207). T
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Conclusion The coming together of t
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“An appraisal of sewage pollution
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Appendix B continued 217
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Primary Texts Bibliography Livingst
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Clouts, Sidney. "The Violent Arcadi
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Hillman, James. Dream Animals. San
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One’s Reality: A study of the wor
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"Symbiosis or Death": - Rhodes University

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