Abstract | Iako discipline poput kulturološke nisu generalno povezane s istraživanjem živih bića,
činjenica je da smo, kao ljudi, neraskidivo vezani svojim odnosima prema oblicima života
koji nas okružuju. Ovo nadilazi isključivo biološku domenu naših relacija i manifestira se u
društvenom i kulturalnom životu, kroz bezbroj reprezentacija i simbolika, kojima izražavamo
svoja iskustva interakcija sa živim svijetom, tražeći načine da ih opišemo repertoarom
vokabulara i ostalog znanja koje postupno gradimo. Posljedica ovoga je što, ponekad,
pribjegavamo kategorijama koje nisu kadre tumačiti cijelu priču, a mogu dovesti i do
svojevrsne nepravde u reprezentaciji, ali i dovesti do uskraćivanja nama bitnih i potencijalno
formativnih doživljaja za nas kao pojedince, kao i zajednice u kojima obitavamo. Ovaj je rad
nastao kao pokušaj uvida u takozvane društvene konstrukte, kategorije kojima pokušavamo
dati smisao svijetu oko sebe, s posebnim fokusom na naš odnos prema biljkama. Kako će biti
prikazano, njihova je uloga u našoj svakodnevnoj percepciji često svedena na minimum, no,
bez obzira na ovo, itekako smo podložni primjećivati ih i obilježavati onda kad ih ne
smatramo dobrodošlima. Prvenstveno će nam, stoga, od interesa biti pojam korova i njegova
povezanost sa sličnim pokušajima interpretacije svijeta kroz svojstva pripadnosti i
zauzimanja prostora. Ova će analiza pokušati ukazati na potencijalne izvore takve
ograničavajuće kategorije i pozvati na građenje proširenog i angažiranog seta znanja i
aspiracija, kakav može poslužiti za oslobađanje novih odnosa i iskustava prema bićima koja
nas okružuju, a kakav se čini i tim urgentnijim, u svijetu kojeg više nego ikad, progoni
mogućnost ekološke krize. |
Abstract (english) | Even though disciplines like cultural studies aren’t generally connected to researching living
beings, we as people are, as a matter of fact, unbreakably bonded by our relationships
towards the other lifeforms that surround us. This transcends the purely biological domain of
our relations, manifesting in our social and cultural lives through a myriad of representations
and symbolisms, through which we express our experiences of interacting with a living
world, seeking ways to describe them through the repertoire of vocabulary and other forms of
knowledge that we acquire along the way. The consequence of this is that sometimes, we might lean towards categories that are incapable of telling the whole story, but which can also
lead to a kind of representational injustice, while also capable of robbing us of important and
potentially formative experiences, for us as individuals, but also on the level of communities
in which we dwell. This work is intended as a way to explore so called social constructs,
these categories through which we try to give the world meaning, parcticulary those
pretaining to plants. As will be presented, their role in our everyday perception is often
minimally acknowledged, though we seem to be heavily disposed to noticing and marking
them whenever their presence is deemed to be unwanted. Thus, the term “weed” will be our
main point of interest, as will its connections to other similar attempts at interpreting the
world through properties of belonging and taking up space. The attempt of this analysis shall
be to point out some potential sources of this such stifling term and a call to creation of a
widened and engaged set of knowledge and aspirations, which can help us achieve new
relations and experiences towards the living beings that surrounds us, and also one which
seems that more urgent in a world that is, more than ever before, haunted by the possibility of
ecological crisis. |