Make Waves: Water in Contemporary Literature and Film

by Paula Anca Farca

Overview

Water is a symbol of life, wisdom, fertility, purity, and death. Water also sustains and nourishes, irrigates our crops, keeps us clean and healthy, and contributes to our energy needs. But a strain has been put on our water resources as increased energy demands combine with the effects of climate change to create a treacherous environment. Individuals and communities around the globe increasingly face droughts, floods, water pollution, water scarcity, and even water wars. We tend to address and solve these concerns through scientific and technological innovations, but social and cultural analyses and solutions are needed as well.

In this edited collection, contributors tackle current water issues in the era of climate change using a wide variety of recent literature and film. At its core, this collection demonstrates that water is an immense reservoir of artistic potential and an agent of historical and cultural exchange. Creating familiar and relatable contexts for water dilemmas, authors and directors of contemporary literary texts and films present compelling stories of our relationships to water, water health, ecosystems, and conservation. They also explore how global water problems affect local communities around the world and intersect with social and cultural aspects such as health, citizenship, class, gender, race, and ethnicity.

This transformative work highlights the cultural significance of water—the source of life and a powerful symbol in numerous cultures. It also raises awareness about global water debates and crises.

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781948908306
Publisher:	University of Nevada Press
Publication date:	10/16/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Paula Anca Farca is an author, editor, and associate professor at Colorado School of Mines where she teaches literature and environmental humanities courses.
 

Read an Excerpt

Introduction
Paula Anca Farca

When NASA confirmed in 2015 that there was liquid water on Mars, many of us immediately thought there was or could be life on Mars. That is because we associate water with life itself. And we know that life originated from water and human beings are more than 50% water. In fact, our history on Earth has been a history of and with water. Water sustains and nourishes us, irrigates our crops and produces our food, keeps us clean and healthy, and contributes to our energy needs and various industries. People could potentially survive without fossil fuels, but we cannot live without water and, unlike coal and oil, water is irreplaceable, and thus priceless. In addition to supporting any life form on our planet, water is also a cultural icon. A rich reservoir of symbolic associations, water is present in many creation myths, and it is said to possess purification and regeneration powers. From ancient Greek and Egyptian mythology to the Bible, Taoist tradition, or Native American practices, water has symbolized life, wisdom, fertility, purity, and even death.

During the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, water’s symbolic associations as a foundational life force carried on, but a new layer of environmental issues marked modern times. Water in Contemporary Literature and Film strives to capture the cultural aspects of water and the environmental concerns of recent decades; in many situations, these two aspects are intertwined. While water is essential to human survival and prosperity, it also sustains our modern lifestyle through its uses in agriculture, energy production, industry, and manufacturing. Our increasing water and energy demands coupled with the effects of climate change put a strain on our even more depleted freshwater supply and water resources. Individuals and communities around the globe have increasingly faced droughts, floods, water pollution, water scarcity, and even water wars. We tend to address and solve these concerns through scientific and technological innovations, but social and cultural analyses and solutions are needed as well. That is why, the contributors of this book chose to tackle current water issues in the era of climate change through the lens of recent literature and film. Creating familiar and relatable contexts for their water dilemmas, authors and directors of contemporary literary texts and films present compelling stories on water crises and suggest possible solutions to these crises.

This edited book underscores how water is a creatively transformative symbol through which we synthesize environmental concerns and a source of cultural and political tensions exacerbated by climate change. At its core, Make Wavesseeks to demonstrate that water is an immense reservoir of artistic potentiality and an agent of historical and cultural exchange. Throughout the book, contributors ask and attempt to answer the following questions: What does water as a symbol entail in contemporary literature and film? How do writers and directors address people’s current relationships with water? How does water establish or erode relationships between individuals, communities, and nations? How do water issues intersect with societal and cultural aspects in different regions and countries? What are some of the ecological ramifications of water in contemporary literature and film? Why and how are connections among water, climate change, and people significant? For what reasons do those who control water use it and allow it to be used in different ways? How do we address and solve water pollution? How do individuals and communities respond to water and environmental disasters?

Analyzing novels, autobiographies, poems, non-fiction pieces, video installations, poems written on the stones of a watershed, documentaries, and films, contributors address topics such as: water in industrial landscapes, dam construction, depletion and pollution, water wars, health of river ecosystems, river restoration, interoceanic canals, acequia culture versus prior appropriation, privatization, and ocean activism. Other topics include water symbolism, individual and communal relationships with water, droughts, high sea level, oil spills in rivers and oceans, floods, and temperature rises. Contributors to the collection also explore how global water problems affect local communities around the world and intersect with social and cultural aspects such as health, citizenship, class, gender, race, and ethnicity.

In addition to the introduction, Make Waves contains three parts. More theoretical in nature, Part I foregrounds the symbolic and spiritual qualities of water and its potential for cultural change and environmental justice. While Part I focuses on how we view nature and water through culture and art, Part II deals with how water crisis and scarcity could lead to culture clashes and even water wars. This section of the book deals with water scarcity due to climate change—a serious threat in densely populated countries, one which impacts the mental health of vulnerable segments of the population and leaves them exposed and powerless. Part III revolves around connections among water, energy, and industrial development. While climate change effects such as high sea levels and floods impact communities around the world, our high energy demands contribute to oil spills and water pollution. Contributors also look at the future of water as portrayed by authors of post-apocalyptic texts, a future which includes both violence and water wars, but also chances toward new forms of adaptability and humanity.

Despite numerous environmental challenges presented in the book, the tone of the collection is not bleak as many contributors boldly promise a new water ethics, engaging forms of activism, environmental justice ideas, and fresh ways of breaking down boundaries between human and nonhuman, clean and dirty, or natural and artificial. Water becomes a foundation for life, health, and justice and a sanctuary of creative energies worth fighting and advocating for. The goal Make Waves is thus two-fold: to celebrate water which is the source of life and a powerful, creative symbol in numerous cultures and to raise awareness about global water debates and crises.
 

Table of Contents

Introduction
 
Part 1: Water Natures: Culture, Identity, and Creativity
Chapter 1. Liquidity Incorporated: Economic Tides and Fluid Data in Hito Steyerl’s Liquidity, Inc.
Christina Gerhardt and Jaimey Hamilton Faris
Chapter 2. Material States of Poetry: The Stanza Stones
Emma Trott
Chapter 3. Preying on Water: Hunting Spiritual and Environmental Rebirth on the Kentucky River in Selected Essays from Wendell Berry’s The Long-Legged House
Andrew S. Andermatt
Chapter 4. “Let everything that binds fall”: The Significance of Water in David Vann’s Fiction
Sofia Ahlberg
Chapter 5. Water-blind: Erosion and (Re)Generation in Colm Tóibín’s The Heather Blazing
Julienne H. Empric

Part 2: Water Cultures: Nations, Borders, and Water Wars
Chapter 6. A Clash of Water Cultures in John Nichols’ The Milagro Beanfield War
Susan J. Tyburski
Chapter 7. Watershed Ethics and Dam Politics: Mapping Biopolitics, Race, and Resistance in Sleep Dealer and Watershed
Tracey Daniels-Lerberg
Chapter 8. Thomas King Tells a Different Story: Dams, Rivers, and Indigenous Literary Hydromythology
Rebecca Lynne Fullan
Chapter 9. Shifting Tides: A Literary Exploration of the Colorado River Delta
Paul Formisano
Chapter 10. Poetry and Revolution on the Brink of Ecological Disaster: Ernesto Cardenal and the Interoceanic Canal in Nicaragua
Jeremy G. Larochelle
Chapter 11. “Bad for the glass”: Chinatown’s Skewed Rendition of the California Water Wars
Robert Niemi
Chapter 12. The Cinematic Portrayal of Water Wars in Bolivia and Ecuador
Laura Hatry

Part 3: Arid and Awash: High Pollution, High Energy Demands, and High Waters
Chapter 13. Troubled Waters: Unveiling Industrial Negligence in Three Deepwater Horizon Films
Ila Tyagi
Chapter 14. The River as Character in Niger Delta Poetry
Idom T. Inyabri
Chapter 15. Water and Mental Health in Three British Climate Fiction Novels
Giulia Miller
Chapter 16. There Will Be Blood: Water Futures in Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Water Knife and Claire Vaye Watkins’ Gold Fame Citrus
Paula Anca Farca

Concluding Remarks
About the Contributors
 

What People are Saying About This

Scott DeVries

The collection is highly accessible. It gives a view of the representation of water from a variety of perspectives and introduces readers to likely unfamiliar texts—the Stanza Stones art/poetry installation or the Niger Delta poets—while providing unique new interpretations and/or insight into more familiar texts such as Chinatown or The Milagro Beanfield War.

Chris Travis

This edited book underscores how water is a creatively transformative symbol through which we synthesize environmental concerns and a source of cultural and political tensions exacerbated by climate change.