ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

‘As if Haze from the Alien Universe Travelled as Angels:’ Astropoetry and Planetary Poetics in Scandinavia, 1956–1990

• In Event: Scales of the Earth: Space, Science and the Specters of Planetary History 02

English Abstract

This paper examines intersections between art and science in the early years of the planetization of Earth. It focuses on three Scandinavian poets of the Twentieth Century: Swedish Nobel laureate Harry Martinson (1904–1978), and the Danes Thorkild Bjørnvig (1918–2004) and Inger Christensen (1935–2009). All incorporated astronomical knowledge into their writing, celebrating a ‘cosmic perspective,’ while remaining critical of scientific rationality resulting in instrumental and extractivist ideology. Martinson linked extraterrestrial perspectives and earthly catastrophes through the epic poem Aniara (1956), describing the exodus into outer space by a sample of humanity fleeing a war-ravaged and environmentally doomed Earth. Bjørnvig engaged the cosmos, space exploration and environmental destruction in essays and poetry, producing three collections of eco-poetry – The Dolphin (1975), Monkey Gods (1981), and Epimetheus (1990). Christensen composed essays exploring the interconnections between the universe, humanity, and poetry. In Alphabet (1981) she crafted a protective hymn to life on Earth set within an astronomical context. By stressing environmental degradation within a cosmic context, all three poets contributed to the planetization of Earth consciousness. By tracing how astronomical knowledge transforms into poetic language, this paper argues that all three poets exemplify what Jon Auring Grimm calls 'solar poetry,' a concept derived from Georges Bataille's notion of a 'solar economy.' Their work exemplifies the productive tensions and synergies between scientific rationality and poetic imagination, contributing to an understanding of 'planetary poetics' and showing how scientific knowledge enters social consciousness through literary form.

Author

• Thore Bjørnvig, Independent Scholar