Abstract for 13/12 - "The symbolic construction of the Big Bad Wolf in contemporary Scandinavia"

The abstract below was written yesterday, in preparation of my upcoming presentation December 13th at First Norwegian Research Seminar – Animals in Changing Environments: Cultural mediation and Semiotic Analysis.

See also the latest online versions of my CV and bibliography.

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The symbolic construction of the Big Bad Wolf in contemporary Scandinavia

Morten Tønnessen

Abstract

First Norwegian Research Seminar – Animals in Changing Environments: Cultural mediation and Semiotic Analysis (December 13, 2013 – University of Stavanger)

In this presentation, as background for the case study “Representations (both Problematic and Romanticizing) of Large Mammals, especially Wolves”, I will summarise my work on wolves to date. This includes 8 academic publications (Tønnessen 2010a, 2010b, 2010c, 2011a, 2011b, 2011c, 2013a and 2013b) and 18 presentations at conferences and research seminars:

• 2009
• Wolf Land: The Phenomenal World of Wolves on the Scandinavian Peninsula
• On Contrapuntuality: Semiotic Niche vs. Ontological Niche: The Case of the Scandinavian Wolf Population
• Estranged, Endangered, Extinct: Lessons from the Extinction off the Scandinavian Wolf
• The Changing Imagery of the Big Bad Wolf
• 2010
• The Legality and Ethical Legitimacy of Wolf Hunting in Scandinavia
• En økosemiotisk analyse av norsk ulveforvaltning [An ecosemiotic analysis of Norwegian wolf management]
• Territory vs. Confinement: The Umwelten of Free-Range vs. Captive Wolves
• Ulovlig jakt på ulv [Illegal wolf hunting]
• The Nature View and Worldview of People in Rendalen Municipality in the Region of Hedmark
• 2011
• Bad Dog: An Uexküllian Analysis of Norwegian Wolf Management
• The Umwelt Trajectories of Wolves, Sheep and People
• Wolf History: Agents in Hiding
• Two Global Species and their Age-Old Foe: The Semiotic Eth(n)ology of Wolves, Sheep and People
• Offisiell og ‘uoffisiell’ rovviltforvaltning i Norge sett med et humanøkologisk blikk: Hva er motivene og handlingene? [Official and ‘unofficial’ predator management in Norway seen from the perspective of human ecology: What are the motifs and actions?]
• The Cultural Semiotic of Wolves and Sheep
• 2012
• The Contemporary Symbolic Construction of Norway’s Big Bad Wolf
• 2013
• Animal and Eve: How Representations of Wolves and Sheep are Used to Construct Human Identities
• Plans for Field Work on Predator-Prey Conflicts in Norway involving Video-Recorded Interviews followed by Pico-Scale Analysis

In cultural terms, hardly any animal is as loaded with symbolic value as the wolf. A main finding in my work to date is that the wolf has become a poster boy for large predators in general, and a scape goat for certain societal developments. In consequence, what wolves are taken to signify depends not so much on actual wolf ecology as on these cultural/societal developments, which are, justly or unfairly, associated with the presence of wolves. The wolf’s vivid symbolicity in current times is enforced by the occurrence of conspiracy theories.

In Norway, the wolf as a symbol is particularly associated with the sheep as a symbol. The sheep’s symbolicity is in the Norwegian context grounded in open landscapes, which are typically taken to be intrinsically Norwegian. Sheep symbolicity is thus effectively associated with outer pastures, which have been crucial in Norwegian sheep husbandry but are now under pressure. And so it is that wolves are blamed for overgrowth (gjengroing).

References

Tønnessen, Morten 2010a. Wolf Land. Biosemiotics 3.3: 289-297.

— 2010b. Is a Wolf wild as Long as it Does Not Know that It Is Being Thoroughly Handled? Humanimalia – a journal of human/animal interface studies 2(1) (Fall 2010): 1-8 (available online).

— 2010c. The Legality and Ethical Legitimacy of Wolf Hunting in Scandinavia. Pp. 65-72 in the Research seminar report 52 of the Scandinavian Council for Criminology.

— 2011a. I, Wolf: The Ecology of Existence. In Johannes Servan and Ane Faugstad Aarø (eds.): Environment, Embodiment and Gender, Bergen: Hermes Text, 315-333.

— 2011b. Fra by og land, mann mot mann til visjon 2040 [From city against countryside, man against man to vision 2040]. Kulturverk (online magazine) – published in three parts Nov. 13, Nov. 17 and Nov. 24.

— 2011c. Umwelt Transition and Uexküllian Phenomenology – An Ecosemiotic Analysis of Norwegian Wolf Management (= Dissertationes Semioticae Universitatis Tartuensis 16). Doctoral dissertation. Tartu: Tartu University Press. 232 pp. Introduction available online.

— 2013a. Hvem er villest i landet her? Et ulveliv [Who is wildest in this country here? A wolf's life]. In Sollund, Ragnhild, Morten Tønnessen og Guri Larsen (eds) 2013, Hvem er villest i landet her? Råskap mot dyr og natur i antropocen, menneskets tidsalder [Who is wildest in this country here? Brutality towards animals and nature in the Anthropocene, the age of Man], Oslo: Spartacus Forlag/Scandinavian Academic Press, 79-98. 

— 2013b. Ketil Skogen, Olve Krange og Helene Figari 2013, Ulvekonflikter – en sosiologisk studie, Oslo 2013: Akademika forlag. Book review. Sosiologi idag 43(2) (Special Issue on „Dyr i samfunnet“ [Animals in society]): 117-122. Summary available online.

The work presented here has been supported by EEA Norway Grants EMP151.

Revised contents for my doctoral dissertation

Below is the revised table of contents for my doctoral dissertation Umwelt Transition: Uexküllian Phenomenology - An Ecosemiotic Analysis of Norwegian Wolf Management, on which I have been working intensely for the last few weeks. This compares with the contents as previously outlined in Semi-detailed table of contents (posted in March). That outline, however, presented only two of the three levels of numbering used previously. All in all I had some 660 subdivisions. Now I have 117. Much more manageable, but still so inter-disciplinary as to be really challenging, and of incredibly wide scope, if I dare say so myself.

Detailed table of contents

Contents at a glance

Detailed table of contents

Acknowledgements

Preface

Chapter 1 Making Sense of Nature

§1. Introduction

§2. Toward a phenomenology of environmental change

§3. From self to world

§4. The notion of integrated biological individualism

§5. On the levels of biosemiosis

§6. Earth - the natural (and absolute) setting for the human condition

§7 Husserl’s notion of the Lebenswelt

§8 The notion of Uexküllian phenomenology

§9 The notion of semiotics of being

§10 Research questions

§11 Methodology

§12. The Umwelt theory of Jakob von Uexküll

§13. Uexküll’s visual representations

§14. Uexküll’s metaphors: Bubble, web, melody

§15. How 'partner' is to be interpreted (whether social companions in general are to be included)

§16. How 'food' is to be interpreted (whether resources in general are to be included)

§17. On the forms of life

§18. Ontological and epistemological outlook

§19. An anecdote on the role of fiction in the natural sciences

§20. Implications for the scientific enterprise at large

§21. Uexküllian thought after Uexküll

§22. Problems in contemporary ethological approaches to nature

§23. Problems in contemporary semiotic approaches to nature

§24. Changing views on a changing nature

§25. The topic of change

§26. On the current ecological situation

§27. Umwelt typology – systematic outline

§28. What is subjective biology today?

Chapter 2 Uexküllian Phenomenology

§29. Introduction: Uexküll and phenomenology

§30. On the notion of phenomenology

§31. The phenomenology of Charles Sanders Peirce

§32. Remarks on contemporary eco-phenomenology

§33. Semiotics and phenomenology

§34. Introducing a universal, twofold notion of self: The explicit and the implicit self

§35. Problems of phenomenology

§36. Problems of ontology

§37. Existential universals

§38. Communal being and distinctive being

§39. On the forms of existence

§40. The notion of swarm Umwelten

§41. Development of a typology of Umwelt transitions

§42. Modern Umwelten

§43. The search image in social life

§44. Further theoretical developments

§45. Playful Umwelten

Chapter 3 The Semiotics of the Ecological Crisis

§46. Introduction: The trajectory of a crisis

§47. Fragment of a metalogue: On the transition from naïve animal to semiotic animal

§48. Semiosis and crisis

§49. On matters of diversity and extinction

§50. The semiotics of domestication and related phenomena

§51. Anthropocene studies: The global species

§52. Favoured vs. unfavoured species – a hypothesis

§53. On matters of ethics and economy

§54. Ecological alienation

§55. Developing the perspective of Umwelt alignment

§56. Simplified management models for human-animal relations: Integration, segregation (assimilation)

§57. The long-term goal for wildlife management: Independent viability?

§58. Characteristic developments in the modern era

§59. Current developments

Chapter 4 Umwelt Mapping

§60. Introduction: On mapping semiosis at the level of the organism, and higher levels

§61. On matters of quality and quantity

§62. The notion of semiotic causation

§63. Mapping human Umwelten

§64. Mapping human impact

§65. Distinguishing between formal and informal human impact

§66. Mapping status as (un)favoured

§67. First examples of ontological maps

§68. Introducing a tripartite model of the human Umwelt

§69. Methodological challenges

§70. Developing the notion of relational Umwelt maps

§71. Developing the notion of phenomenal fields

§72. Further models and visual representations

Chapter 5 Case study: Norwegian Wolf Management

§73. Introduction: Prelude to the Norwegian wolf wars

§74. Field trips

§75. Preliminary remarks on wolf hunting

§76. Remarks on Arne Næss’ philosophy of wolf management

§77. The cultural semiotic of wolves and sheep

§78. Contextual encircling of the topic matter of the case study

§79. Geographical treatment

§80. The situation for Norwegian sheep farmers and agriculture

§81. The symbolic construction of the Big Bad Wolf in contemporary Scandinavia

§82. Conflict areas in current wolf management

§83. Controversial questions in the current debate

§84. Conspiracy theories

§85. On matters of democracy, empowerment and knowledge regimes

§86. Management strategies

§87. Management methods

§88. On matters of legality

§89. Historical exposition – the era of extermination campaigns

§90. Historical exposition – the era of conservation efforts

§91. Contemporary exposition (2006-2011)

§92. Field trip interviews

§93. Summary of findings: The Umwelt of captive wolves in general and socialised wolves in particular

§94. Summary of findings: The nature view and worldview of people in Rendalen

§95. Mapping of the Umwelt of wolves in Norway

§96. Mapping of the Umwelt of sheep and other relevant animals in Norway

§97. Mapping of the Umwelt of selected groups of Norwegians

§98. Analysis: The wolf and other symbols

§99. Analysis of Norwegian wolf ecology in terms of the semiotic niche and ontological niche concepts

§100. Analysis: Matters of management philosophy, and further analysis

§101. To what extent are wolves a favoured species in contemporary Norway?

§102. To what extent are sheep a favoured species in contemporary Norway?

§103. Analysis: Umwelt transitions

§104. Future perspectives: Deep and shallow solutions

§105. Umwelt futurology: Three Umwelt scenarios

Chapter 6 Umwelt Transition

§106. Introduction: Theoretical findings

§107. To what extent can the case study findings be generalized?

§108. In search of the wolf’s perspective

§109. Evaluation of theoretical assumptions

§110. Evaluation of the methodology of Umwelt mapping

§111. On further methodological development

§112. Umwelt transition and animal migration

§113. On Umwelt transitions as habitual

§114. On recolonization as a habitual Umwelt transition

§115. On further theoretical development

§116. Towards an ethics of semiotics of being

§117. On the prospects of Umwelt futurology

Academic news in brief VII

1. The last couple of weeks I have conducted two work papers (6-8pp) reviewing The tacit dimension and chapters of a forthcoming Polanyi-reader, as course work in the course "The philosophy of Michael Polanyi", which I am taking as a reading course. I have established contact with Phil Mullins, who has - along with my course teacher Walter Gulick - suggested Polanyi's article "Sense-giving and sense-reading" as a link to my interests. A further three work papers on Polanyi's work are in process.

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2. Yesterday I finally finished reworking and rewriting my article 'I, wolf: The ecology of existence', with revisions prompted by the critique of David Abram and others. To appear in an anthology this year.

FROM THE INTRODUCTION
Judging by appearances, this article is divided into five parts – under the headings ‘The politics of wolves and sheep’, ‘Estranged, endangered, extinct’, ‘Human beings qua living beings – distinctive being vs. communal being’, ‘Man is not a sign’ and ‘In search of the wolf’s perspective’. But the reader could rightfully claim that but two topics are to be identified in the matrix of this text: The nature of the wolf, and the nature of man.3 These two topics are methodologically problematic for two different reasons: Man’s nature because we are the topic to be investigated, and can thus not judge it without bias; the wolf’s nature because we are not wolves and can thus not know firsthand what it is like to be a wolf.

3. My paper 'The legality and ethical legitimacy of wolf hunting in Scandinavia' has been scheduled for presentation in group 1 (one out of three in 'green criminology'), at 12.30, Tuesday May 11th at the 52nd research seminar of the Scandinavian Reseach Council for Criminology.

4. Two days ago, Wednesday May 5th, I went back and forth to Oslo in one day, and spent a couple of hours researching at the National Library (Nasjonalbiblioteket) in the process, logged in through their license for using LovData, a Norwegian database of laws and regulations.

5. Yesterday I was interviewed in the regional daily newspaper Fædrelandsvennen, in connection with three readings I will be doing today and tomorrow. Will be published tomorrow.

6. One of the readings is philosophical and will take place in a fair trade-shop in Kristiansand, as part of the event Kulturnatta. My theme: 'Frigjøring' [liberation] - May 8th happens to be both the day of liberation (WW2) and the international fair trade-day.

7. Meanwhile, we, the guest editors of Hortos Semioticus' special issue Semiotics of Nature, have been receiving full-length papers from contributors.

Editorial presentation of "I, wolf"

The editorial presentation of my article "I, wolf: The ecology of existence" is to be found on page 14 in the introduction of Ane Faugstad Aarø and Johannes Servan, in Environment, Embodiment and Gender, and reads:

Morten Tønnessen describes in his essay "I, Wolf: The Ecology of Existence" the 'Umwelt' of wolves in Scandinavia, the life conditions that have led to the threat of extinction among wolves, as well as the policies and cultural values that oppose the existence of a very small population of wolves in Scandinavia. The myths of the threats that wolves represent in a community that has been based historically on sheep farming are balanced by Tønnessen's account of the semiotic Umwelt of wolves and their ecological alienation in this area today.

My bionote is on page 338.

Reference for "I, Wolf: The Ecology of Existence"

The anthology Environment, Embodiment and Gender (note: not ... and History) has now been published by Bergen-based Hermes Text. Reference for my contribution:

Tønnessen, Morten 2011. I, Wolf: The Ecology of Existence. Pp. 315-333 in Johannes Servan and Ane Faugstad Aarø (eds.): Environment, Embodiment and Gender, Bergen: Hermes Text

The publisher's presentation of the book reads like this:

Environment, Embodiment & Gender

An anthology on Man, Nature and the concepts of Nature

What can phenomenology do to clarify eco-philosophical matters? This essential question was the center of our attention during the conference ”Environment, Embodiment and Gender” hosted by the University of Bergen in 2008 in honor of the centennial of Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961). Inspired by the papers by Monika Langer, Ted Toadvine, Joanna Handerek and Kirsti Kuosa, among others, the idea of this anthology emerged and has developed from eco-phenomenology at its core, to encompass a broad range of environmental philosophy brought to life by the careful, phenomenological attention to the concrete living experience and the lifeworld. Together these essays constitute a handful of thought-provoking perspectives and ideas to ways of reforming our modern concept of nature – one of the greatest and most acute challenges of our time. Among the authors we find Charles Brown, David Abram, Gunnar Skirbekk, Claus Halberg, Fern Wickson and Svein Anders Noer Lie, and more.

Price 30 $ / 198,- NOK