The Vibrancy of Materiality and Otherwise-Than-Place in Susan Gillis’s Obelisk (2017)
<p>This article deals with <em>Obelisk</em> (2017), a poetry collection by Canadian Susan Gillis (b. 1959) concerned with the impact of human action on Earth in a myriad of forms. Drawing on a wide spectrum of poets, thinkers and artists, including Du Fu, Czeslaw Milosz, Walter Ben...
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Universidad de Huelva
2020-12-01
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Online Access: | http://www.uhu.es/publicaciones/ojs/index.php/CanadaBeyond/article/view/4880 |
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doaj-53de0b9ab4224337b9ab623dd38bca542021-06-18T08:11:17Zeng Universidad de HuelvaCanada and Beyond2254-11792020-12-019110.33776/candb.v9i0.48804107The Vibrancy of Materiality and Otherwise-Than-Place in Susan Gillis’s Obelisk (2017)Leonor María Martínez Serrano0University of Córdoba, Córdoba (Spain)<p>This article deals with <em>Obelisk</em> (2017), a poetry collection by Canadian Susan Gillis (b. 1959) concerned with the impact of human action on Earth in a myriad of forms. Drawing on a wide spectrum of poets, thinkers and artists, including Du Fu, Czeslaw Milosz, Walter Benjamin, John Dixon Hunt, Don McKay, Xi Chuan and Edward Burtynsky, <em>Obelisk</em> looks like an essay in fragments where Gillis assembles the precious insights of her ancestors to shed light on homo sapiens’ intromission into physical space to make the Earth suit human needs. When put together, her heavily annotated and erudite poems read like a denunciation of the indelible mark humans are leaving on the face of the Earth to make it a habitable space, whilst destroying it in the process. However, there is room in <em>Obelisk</em> for a probing reflection on wilderness and place, for a celebration of the vitality of matter and the more-than-human world, for an environmentally-informed critique of the way human action is having a colossal impact on the planet in the age of the Anthropocene, and for a meditation on what poetry can do in the light of environmental degradation to encourage humanity to act and live responsibly on Earth. Thus, <em>Obelisk</em> warns readers against the destruction of the biosphere and celebrates the persistente of poetry as a mode of knowing and as a tool for fashioning an environmental ethics.</p>http://www.uhu.es/publicaciones/ojs/index.php/CanadaBeyond/article/view/4880poesía canadiensesusan gillismundo más que humanoantropocenomateria vibrantepalimpsestolugar. |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Leonor María Martínez Serrano |
spellingShingle |
Leonor María Martínez Serrano The Vibrancy of Materiality and Otherwise-Than-Place in Susan Gillis’s Obelisk (2017) Canada and Beyond poesía canadiense susan gillis mundo más que humano antropoceno materia vibrante palimpsesto lugar. |
author_facet |
Leonor María Martínez Serrano |
author_sort |
Leonor María Martínez Serrano |
title |
The Vibrancy of Materiality and Otherwise-Than-Place in Susan Gillis’s Obelisk (2017) |
title_short |
The Vibrancy of Materiality and Otherwise-Than-Place in Susan Gillis’s Obelisk (2017) |
title_full |
The Vibrancy of Materiality and Otherwise-Than-Place in Susan Gillis’s Obelisk (2017) |
title_fullStr |
The Vibrancy of Materiality and Otherwise-Than-Place in Susan Gillis’s Obelisk (2017) |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Vibrancy of Materiality and Otherwise-Than-Place in Susan Gillis’s Obelisk (2017) |
title_sort |
vibrancy of materiality and otherwise-than-place in susan gillis’s obelisk (2017) |
publisher |
Universidad de Huelva |
series |
Canada and Beyond |
issn |
2254-1179 |
publishDate |
2020-12-01 |
description |
<p>This article deals with <em>Obelisk</em> (2017), a poetry collection by Canadian Susan Gillis (b. 1959) concerned with the impact of human action on Earth in a myriad of forms. Drawing on a wide spectrum of poets, thinkers and artists, including Du Fu, Czeslaw Milosz, Walter Benjamin, John Dixon Hunt, Don McKay, Xi Chuan and Edward Burtynsky, <em>Obelisk</em> looks like an essay in fragments where Gillis assembles the precious insights of her ancestors to shed light on homo sapiens’ intromission into physical space to make the Earth suit human needs. When put together, her heavily annotated and erudite poems read like a denunciation of the indelible mark humans are leaving on the face of the Earth to make it a habitable space, whilst destroying it in the process. However, there is room in <em>Obelisk</em> for a probing reflection on wilderness and place, for a celebration of the vitality of matter and the more-than-human world, for an environmentally-informed critique of the way human action is having a colossal impact on the planet in the age of the Anthropocene, and for a meditation on what poetry can do in the light of environmental degradation to encourage humanity to act and live responsibly on Earth. Thus, <em>Obelisk</em> warns readers against the destruction of the biosphere and celebrates the persistente of poetry as a mode of knowing and as a tool for fashioning an environmental ethics.</p> |
topic |
poesía canadiense susan gillis mundo más que humano antropoceno materia vibrante palimpsesto lugar. |
url |
http://www.uhu.es/publicaciones/ojs/index.php/CanadaBeyond/article/view/4880 |
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