»[...]; doch die Natur
— Annette von Droste-Hülshoff – Die Mergelgrube
Schien mir verödet,
und ein Bild erstand
Von einer Erde, mürbe, ausgebrannt; [...]«
In the series Gegenwartserde everything revolves around different perspectives on the Anthropocene, which we want to bring into conversation with each other. To this end, we ask various experts: Who talks about man-made climate change and coins terms? And who is affected by its consequences? How are our sciences and thus our visions for an ecological future intertwined with historical and contemporary colonialism?
Gegenwartserde #3
An evening about plants, literature and artificial intelligence.
What do botany, literary studies and poetry have to say to each other in the digital age?
What can we learn from plants about different forms of communication?
At the beginning of the event, the panelists will each provide insights into their fields of work: Dr. Anke Kramer, head of the Droste Research Center, will talk about her research on plants in Annette von Droste-Hülshoff's work. Fabian Raith and Franziska Winkler present their project Intelligent Allmende and read a text about the encounter of technology, sign poetry and nature. Vegetation ecologist Dr. Frederike Velbert from WWU Münster will talk about plant communities and ecosystem research. Afterwards, the participants will engage in conversation with each other and with the audience.
Gegenwartserde #2
The second part of the series Gegenwartserde took place on August 20, 2021 at Hülshoff Castle. The theme: geology, philosophy and poetry. Shane Anderson, Sophia Kisfeld and Daniel Falb read poems by Annette von Droste-Hülshoff alternating with their translations into English. In addition, philosopher Daniel Falb, geologist Ralph T. Becker, and the curator of the Archaeological Museum of the WWU Münster Helge Nieswandt discuss the dialogue between natural sciences and literature, the merits of technical language, and the popularity of geological metaphors.
Three reactions from the discussion round of Gegenwarterde #2 to Annette von Droste-Hülshoff's poem Die Mergelgrube:
Ralph T. Becker (Geologist)
Natural science and poetry are two intellectual spheres, which in the past and today have only few touches. In the poem Die Mergelgrube the poet shows a preoccupation with geology and mineralogy, which was not self-evident for that time, combined with an accurate lyrical paraphrase of the work in the field, an inner journey through time as an expression of the interpretation of her findings and a depiction of the conflict between science and faith or the knowing and the ignorant, which is still not concluded today. The spirit of the times comes into play here, for geology was a very rapidly and thoroughly controversial developing science in the first half of the 19th century.
Daniel Falb (Philosopher)
Annette von Droste-Hülshoff's Die Mergelgrube demonstrates how strongly a hole in the ground plus rubble can be charged with the virtuality of geological time. Thus, the poem plays into the pit the augmented reality of the prehistoric process by which the marl sediments once came into their formation (supposedly: the Flood). On the other hand, it projects onto the living body of the speaker's figure, crouching amidst the stones, the augmented reality of its own future becoming sediment. The marl pit becomes a chamber of images. At the end, Droste-Hülshoff then "signs" the overshooting virtuality of the geological in the poem with a reference to the source from which it flowed: a book of natural-historical plates. The prop-like and unrounded placement of Bertuch's textbook at the exit of the marl pit points to the fact that deep time is precisely not something that would be natural and always already there: No, it is made - and it is young. Its first appearance literally falls into Droste-Hülshoff's life.
Helge Nieswandt (Archaeologist)
By discussing the question of the geological peculiarity of the Westphalian earth - here marl pit - the poet gives me as a classical archaeologist several possibilities to react to her poem. Geological peculiarities have usually been perceived very significantly in antiquity: whether with the omphalos (the stone designated by the eagles of Zeus as the center of the Greek world) of Delphi, or the various baityloi (stone cult monuments) as aniconic cult images. Personally I found the verses around the Medusa extraordinarily inspiring, because the geologists probably wanted to see in the fossilized sea lilies or jellyfish the reflection of the Gorgo Medusa with her snake hair. How macabre, has Gorgo Medusa herself petrified by looking at her counterpart - she has looked, so to speak, into a mirror in this slate stone?
Gegenwartserde #1
The kick-off of the Gegenwartserde series took place digitally on March 4, 2021. People from art, science and climate activism present their work and talk about how we can think beyond disciplinary boundaries to change the planet. Among them: performance artists Janne Nora Kummer and Max Gadow, climate justice activist Tonny Nowshin, and Lena Wobido from the Research Transfer Office at WWU Münster. They discuss how scientific findings can reach a broad audience, what the way we talk about climate change has to do with colonialism, and which narratives can lead us out of the crisis.
Gegenwartserde ist eine Reihe von Burg Hülshoff – Center for Literature.
#1 entstand in Kooperation mit der Arbeitsstelle Forschungstransfer der WWU Münster.
Die Übersetzungen der Texte von Annette von Droste-Hülshoff entstanden im Projekt Trans|Droste, das durch den Projektfonds des Deutschen Übersetzerfonds im Rahmen des Programms »NEUSTART KULTUR« der Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien gefördert wird und in Kooperation mit der Droste- Forschungsstelle bei der LWL- Literaturkommission für Westfalen entsteht.