Grizzly Man, representation and finding a way into nature (phusis)

• In Event: Agents, Agencies and Icons: Sites and Settings for U.S. Environmental Discourse

Abstract

We ascribe meaning to nature through language. Representations of the environment influence our ability to engage nature. We consider Grizzly Man, the story of Timothy Treadwell, who lived with his video camera among grizzly bears in the Alaskan wilderness, until his death at the hands of a bear. We examine the representation of one man’s attempts to engage nature in order to consider whether we can actually ever reach Heidegger’s conception of nature as phusis.

Authors

• Judd Renken, DePaul University

• Anne Marie Todd, San Jose State University