The first page opens with a “fable” about a lifeless town, but she puts that conceit to rest just a few paragraphs later: “This town does not actually exist, but it might easily have a thousand counterparts in America or elsewhere in the world. I know of no community that has experienced all the misfortunes I describe. Yet every one of these disasters has actually happened somewhere, and many real communities have already suffered a substantial number of them. A grim specter has crept upon us almost unnoticed, and this imagined tragedy may easily become a stark reality we all shall know. What has already silenced the voices of spring in countless towns in America? This book is an attempt to explain.” There isn’t a word in the ensuing 350-odd pages that could be mistaken for fiction. Carson went to great lengths to have her work reviewed by scientists and experts across several relevant fields, and the resulting prose reflects her commitment to clearly and accurately presenting the truth.
Cheers, Ted On Jun 1, 2021, 12:53 AM -0600, [email protected], wrote: > Hi Ryan, yes I take your point that calling Silent Spring 'fiction' > when maybe the word fable might not have been more appropriate was a > mistake. > > I guess this usage followed without enough reflection on from work I > have been doing over the last few years around the idea of 'fiction > as method' > https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/cim/events/asif/. > https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/fiction-method > > This particularly applied to an exhibition I curated in 2017/18 called > 'How Much of this is Fiction'. Which worked with artists whose work > used simulations or hoaxes to satirise or un-veil hidden political > realities.https://www.fact.co.uk/event/how-much-of-this-is-fiction > > That said I was probably quite clumsy in the way I characterised > Carson's ground breaking work. > > Best > > David > > On 2021-05-30 18:52, Ryan Griffis wrote: > > Thanks for this David! > > > > Minor point: "Silent Spring" is not a work of fiction in any sense of > > the word; the short first chapter "Fable for Tomorrow," is, as its > > title suggests, a fable (of a "town that does not actually exist"). > > That chapter is obviously a literary device that establishes the > > stakes up front and in an accessible and compressed manner, but I > > wouldn't use it to classify the rest of the book as even "creative > > nonfiction." The book is otherwise a work of reportage, probably *the* > > model for popular contemporary climate/science journalists such as > > Elizabeth Kolbert who rely on a combination of first-person > > observations, interviews, and syntheses of scientific papers and > > policy documents. > > Unfortunately, it's still deeply relevant 50 years later... > > > > Take care all, > > Ryan > > > > "To get a comparative sense of where we currently stand its useful to > > contrast today?s environmental politics with the political impact of > > Rachel Carson?s ?Silent Spring? published in 1962. As is well known > > this > > was an account of an imaginary community afflicted by environmental > > calamity. Although a fiction the narrative drew on detailed evidence > > from events that had already actually happened in a number of separate > > > > incidents. Carson had simply and brilliantly drawn these threads > > together into a worst-case scenario." > > # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission > > # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, > > # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets > > # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l > > # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: [email protected] > > # @nettime_bot tweets mail w/ sender unless #ANON is in Subject: > # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission > # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, > # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets > # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l > # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: [email protected] > # @nettime_bot tweets mail w/ sender unless #ANON is in Subject:
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