Ingeplaaste skryf as vergestalting van ekosentriese ingesteldheid in Petra Müller se verhaalkuns

Abstract

Die mens-aarde-verbintenis is ’n deurlopende tema in die oeuvre van Petra Müller. In dié artikel word gefokus op hierdie band soos gereflekteer in haar prosakuns en spesifiek in verhale met ’n outobiografiese inslag. Die doel is om die natuurgesentreerde aard van Müller se verhaalkuns te beklemtoon deur aandag te vestig op die wyse waarop die skrywer (die ‘ek’ in verhale waarin die verteller identifiseerbaar is as die skrywer self) deel word – op sensoriese, emotiewe en intellektuele vlak – van die omgewing in die natuur waarin sy haar bevind en hoe sy daarop reageer. Sentraal in die ondersoek staan die wyse waarop hierdie reaktiewe betrokkenheid in Müller se prosa gemanifesteer word deur die implisiete outeur en die tegniek van ingeplaaste skryf. ‘Emplaced writing’ is ’n konsep deur Linda Russo geskep en geïntegreer deur Susan Smith met die idee van Lawrence Buell van ‘emplacement’ om te verwys na die tegniek wat uitdrukking gee aan ’n aktiewe bewus wees van die self en van die plek wat fisiek deur die skrywer in beslag geneem word en hoe die liggaam daarin pas. Vollediger perspektief op en groter waardering vir Müller se werk spruit uit begrip vir hoe haar noulettende saamleef met die aarde ook in haar verhaalkuns gereflekteer word via die ingeplaaste skryftegniek wat in die artikel ondersoek word en wat aan ’n sterk ekosentriese ingesteldheid stem gee

The human-earth connection is a sustained theme in Petra Müller’s oeuvre. The article focuses on this connection as reflected in her narrative art, specifically in accounts that have an autobiographical proclivity. The aim of this article is to outline the nature-centred disposition of Müller’s narrative art in a more definite sense. This is achieved by paying attention to the manner in which the author (the ‘I’ in accounts where the narrator can be identified as the author herself) becomes part of the natural environment – whether on a sensory, an emotive, or an intellectual level – where she finds herself and the way she responds to it. At the core of the investigation are the ways in which this reactive engagement is manifested in Müller’s prose work by the implied author and the technique of emplaced writing. Emplaced writing, a concept created by Linda Russo, was integrated by Susan Smith with Lawrence Buell’s concept of emplacement. This term refers to the technique allowing an active awareness of self and the place physically occupied by the author, as well as how that body fits into this place, to find expression. A broader perspective and greater appreciation of Müller’s work are drawn from the insight into how her close coexistence with the earth is reflected in her narrative art by means of the technique of emplaced writing which is explored in this article as it gives voice to a strong ecocentric disposition