In class this week, we talked about how “nature” and “environment” are rather slippery terms. We also read an article that introduced ways of thinking about literature that discusses the nonhuman world. For this week’s blog, I’d like you to find something that uses one of these terms, such as a piece of writing, an advertisement, an image, a video (or movie, or TV show) etc. and discuss your source’s use of that term. How does this relate to our classroom discussion? Or to the reading we did for Tuesday? Please don’t forget to cite or link to the source you choose!
The source I chose for this blog post is the advertisement for REAL cigarettes posting in the course readings. REAL cigarettes is advertising a "natural" cigarette. What the company means by "natural" is that there is nothing artificial added to it, implying it is all tobacco which is a naturally occurring plant in the environment. In relation to our class discussion on what the meaning of "natural" is, I do not think these cigarettes are natural or apart of nature. Yes, cigarettes are made of tobacco and tobacco grows all on its own in nature, but cigarettes do not occur on their own in nature. Not to mention that the word natural usually implies healthy in this day and age, and there is definitely nothing healthy about cigarettes; artificial ingredients added or not.
On a different note, I do not think nature or environment can ever have a specific definition, as demonstrated in our "heated" class discussion (haha). There are so many different views on what nature and environment mean and they are all subjective. An indian that grew up in the jungle would have a totally different idea of what nature is compared to a person who grew up in New York City. Individual definitions of nature and environment depend on one's personal experiences in life and ideas about existence all around them.
Short; 224; 1/2 credit.
ReplyDeleteThe song "Big Rock Candy Mountain" describes the cigarette tree in hobo heaven. Your post made me think of that song. :)
Great connection that the idea of "nature" is culturally relative! Very smart. It absolutely is, and not just within large cultures, but even w/in subculures. Not only do I (white middle class high education US woman) experience 'nature' as very differently than, say, a Chinese woman my age would, but I also experience it differently than a black woman in my country would because we have different cultural histories (my ancestors were never made to be field slaves, so I probably understand a field of cotton very differently than she does). Great insight.