Directors: Anne Fastrup and Tue Andersen Nexø
Rural Imaginaries explores how literature has shaped and reflected the complex and intertwined history of agriculture – understood as a dynamic field where environmental, biological, technological, social and cultural changes intersect in ways that have had – and continue to have – crucial economic, ecological and climatic significance.
The project studies the literary history of agriculture from local and global perspectives, drawing on both canonical and non-canonical works from a variety of languages, genres, and historical periods. By placing agriculture at the centre, the project challenges the tendency in literary history writing to favour literature written in and about urban spaces and city life.
Rather than taking a strictly chronological approach, the project combines historical and thematic perspectives. It investigates how literature from various time periods and cultural contexts has addressed issues related to human and non-human labour, the relationships between humans and animals, family life, attachment to the land, and the transformation of landscapes through cultivation and terraforming. Additionally, it examines the tensions between rural and urban areas, as well as the migration of humans, animals, and substances. Furthermore, it looks at how literature has negotiated political and societal issues such as social inequality, property rights, land ownership, pollution and government regulation.
The project's methodological approach draws on concepts and theories such as new materialism, ecocriticism, the Anthropocene and planetary thinking. This means that agriculture, and consequently its literary history, is not viewed solely through the lens of humanity. By shifting the focus away from humans, we recognise the influence of animals, plants, geography, microorganisms, technology, EU regulations, and other factors on the practices, ways of life, cultures, and identities depicted in literature.