Respect for Nature! Umweltethik und -ästhetik in Brandis und Ziemeks Ruf der Tiefe und Julia Boehmes Conni rettet die Tiere

Abstract

This article endorses Paul Taylors concepts of environmental ethics compiled in the book Respect for Nature. A theory of Environmental Ethics. (1986 / 2011) It is based on the premise that literature plays a pivotal role in addressing environmental degradation and can bring a significant, and perhaps different discourse on the Human-Nature-relationship to the fore. It proposes to read fictional texts under the premises of both Hubert Zapf’s cultural ecology, and other concepts from the field of environmental ethics, using Katja Brandis’ and Hans-Peter Ziemek’s Ruf der Tiefe and Julia Boeme’s Conni rettet die Tiere as focal texts. This contribution investigates aspects of environmental narratives, as well as forms of environmental discourse in the selected fictional texts. In doing so, the paper extends the perspectives on environmental literature and participates in an academic practice of reading fictional texts in the context of the Anthropocene.