Prisoners of Nature – On Shaping the Human Gaze (the Case of Maurice Maeterlinck) Cover Image

„Więźniowie natury” – rzecz o kształtowaniu się ludzkiego spojrzenia (przykład Maurycego Maeterlincka)
Prisoners of Nature – On Shaping the Human Gaze (the Case of Maurice Maeterlinck)

Author(s): Ireneusz Gielata
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku
Keywords: Maurice Maeterlinck; termites; nature; human perception; space

Summary/Abstract: Relying on Maurice Maeterlinck’s essays, the article reflects on the question of human perception of insects, especially termites. Spatially enclosed termitemounds impose specific way of life which, in Maeterlinck’s view, resembles human way. Following Gernat Böhme’s argument, this realization can only be attained if one accepts emotions in perception. By writing about “places of imprisonment” of living creatures, Maeterlinck was the first to depict human living space as natural imprisonment. At the same time, in his entomological monographs he initiated human experiencing of nature; the process which B¨ohme described as situating man in his surroundings.

  • Issue Year: 2016
  • Issue No: 09
  • Page Range: 39-50
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Polish