Loss and Wonder at the World's End

by Laura A. Ogden

Overview

In Loss and Wonder at the World's End, Laura A. Ogden brings together animals, people, and things—from beavers, stolen photographs, lichen, American explorers, and birdsong—to catalog the ways environmental change and colonial history are entangled in the Fuegian Archipelago of southernmost Chile and Argentina. Repeated algal blooms have closed fisheries in the archipelago. Glaciers are in retreat. Extractive industries such as commercial forestry, natural gas production, and salmon farming along with the introduction of nonnative species are rapidly transforming assemblages of life. Ogden archives forms of loss—including territory, language, sovereignty, and life itself—as well as forms of wonder, or moments when life continues to flourish even in the ruins of these devastations. Her account draws on long-term ethnographic research with settler and Indigenous communities; archival photographs; explorer journals; and experiments in natural history and performance studies. Loss and Wonder at the World's End frames environmental change as imperialism's shadow, a darkness cast over the earth in the wake of other losses.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781478021865
Publisher:	Duke University Press
Publication date:	09/13/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	200
File size:	93 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Laura A. Ogden is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Dartmouth College, author of Swamplife: People, Gators, and Mangroves Entangled in the Everglades, coauthor of Gladesmen: Gator Hunters, Moonshiners, and Skiffers, and coeditor of The Coastal Everglades: The Dynamics of Social-Ecological Transformation in the South Florida Landscape.

Table of Contents

The World's End: A Figure  1
Introduction. Loss and Wonder  4
The Explorer's Refrain: A Figure  15
1. The Earth as Archive  21
Arturo Escobar: A Figure  44
The Archival Earth: A Figure  47
2. Alternative Archives of the Present  51
Lichens on the Beach: A Figure  57
3. An Empire of Skin  62
The Anthropologist: A Figure  86
4. Stolen Images  91
Lewis Henry Morgan: A Figure  107
5. Dreamworlds of Beavers  111
Traces of Derrida: A Figure  127
Anne Chapman: A Figure  130
Conclusion. Birdsong  133
Gratitude: A Figuration  141
Notes  145
Bibliography  169
Index  183

Editorial Reviews

"The eclectic parts of Loss and Wonder at the World’s End hold together with the improbable coherence of sticks and mud that make up a beaver dam. Each piece has its own valence, but recurring strands of inquiry and reflection link the elements in multiple ways, inviting the reader to retrace their steps in a creative reordering of content. These characteristics, along with a humble tone and presentation, makes this an accessible and thought-provoking text for a wide audience. Meanwhile, it offers valuable contributions to method, theory and scholarly debate, in relation not only to the Fuegian  region but also to wider reimaginings of socio-environmental change."

Bulletin of Latin American Research - Alex Latta

"The book could be very useful in an introduction to environmental anthropology, cultural anthropology, or regional history. The volume is well produced, and the photographs are abundant, well-chosen, and thought provoking. I learned a variety of specific things, was reminded of others in new contexts, and laughed out loud (in a good way) at still others."

Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology - John H. Walker

One of the most brilliant and compelling aspects of this beautiful little book is Laura A. Ogden's voice. A woman's seasoned, feminist, highly attuned and tuned, expertly lived voice, it leads us graciously into a critical world of wonder and loss—a collective looking around at what could have been and might still be. Loss and Wonder at the World's End is sharply, fiercely loving. It teaches us to live and think differently. This is a masterful, inspiring, wholly original work.

The Hundreds - Kathleen Stewart

In its freshness of vision, its first-person mode of presentation, its openheartedness, and its scattering of materials in delicate montages, Loss and Wonder at the World's End is such fun to read. Laura A. Ogden's persistent view of history throughout the text as multivalent, dense, and mysterious is wonderful.

Mastery of Non-mastery in the Age of Meltdown - Michael T. Taussig

"Ogden’s book is a nonlinear presentation, a meticulously articulated variety of thought on the Fuegian world. It is many stories well told that continue evolving, and although its academic style is not always attractive to lay audiences, Loss and Wonder at the World’s End is a highly recommended, fun to read book for those interested in world boundaries, what lies beyond them, and their place within the legacy of imperialism."

Journal of Global South Studies - Yoly Zentella

"The eclectic parts of Loss and Wonder at the World's End hold together with the improbable coherence of sticks and mud that make up a beaver dam. Each piece has its own valence, but recurring strands of inquiry and reflection link the elements in multiple ways, inviting the reader to retrace their steps in a creative reordering of content. These characteristics, along with a humble tone and presentation, makes this an accessible and thought-provoking text for a wide audience. Meanwhile, it offers valuable contributions to method, theory and scholarly debate, in relation not only to the Fuegian region but also to wider reimaginings of socio-environmental change."--Alex Latta "Bulletin of Latin American Research" (8/8/2023 12:00:00 AM)

"The book could be very useful in an introduction to environmental anthropology, cultural anthropology, or regional history. The volume is well produced, and the photographs are abundant, well-chosen, and thought provoking. I learned a variety of specific things, was reminded of others in new contexts, and laughed out loud (in a good way) at still others."--John H. Walker "Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology" (5/1/2023 12:00:00 AM)

"Ogden's book is a nonlinear presentation, a meticulously articulated variety of thought on the Fuegian world. It is many stories well told that continue evolving, and although its academic style is not always attractive to lay audiences, Loss and Wonder at the World's End is a highly recommended, fun to read book for those interested in world boundaries, what lies beyond them, and their place within the legacy of imperialism."--Yoly Zentella "Journal of Global South Studies" (10/1/2022 12:00:00 AM)

"In its freshness of vision, its first-person mode of presentation, its openheartedness, and its scattering of materials in delicate montages, Loss and Wonder at the World's End is such fun to read. Laura A. Ogden's persistent view of history throughout the text as multivalent, dense, and mysterious is wonderful."--Michael T. Taussig, author of "Mastery of Non-mastery in the Age of Meltdown"

"One of the most brilliant and compelling aspects of this beautiful little book is Laura A. Ogden's voice. A woman's seasoned, feminist, highly attuned and tuned, expertly lived voice, it leads us graciously into a critical world of wonder and loss--a collective looking around at what could have been and might still be. Loss and Wonder at the World's End is sharply, fiercely loving. It teaches us to live and think differently. This is a masterful, inspiring, wholly original work."--Kathleen Stewart, coauthor of "The Hundreds"

From the Publisher