The Natural and Supernatural Existence of Rivers before, during, and after the Anthropocene
Essay using the method of anthropology of art and history of mentality
Abstract
Since ancient times, rivers have accompanied mankind – and also man the rivers. They have become an inexhaustible source of our metaphors: as an ever-changing, yet eternal metaphor of existence, we could list philosophers and poets from Heraclitus to Attila József, who saw rivers as a reality far beyond their purely natural sphere. In their reflections, people recognized not only themselves but also their inescapable embeddedness in this worldly and transcendent web of existence. What has changed over the past decades (or millennia?) to turn rivers into energy and food production tools, a terrain to be tamed, or even an enemy? A situation of constraint due to overpopulation and overproduction? A dislocation of our mentality? Our technological ‘progress’ that is becoming untraceable and indigestible?
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