Protecting the Fragile Splendor of the Universe: A Serresian Reading of Jean Giono’s L’Homme qui plantait des arbres
ORCID
Moser: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3824-1021
MSU Affiliation
College of Arts and Sciences; Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures
Creation Date
2026-06-01
Abstract
The purpose of this essay is to explore Jean Giono's short story L'Homme qui plantait des arbres from the lens of the complex, interdisciplinary philosophy of Michel Serres. In an age that is increasingly defined by an environmental calamity of epic proportions on a global scale, the poignant and cautionary narrative L'Homme has never been more relevant. Nonetheless, this text has been relatively neglected by the academic community. In L'Homme, it is evident that Giono is astutely aware of the scientific principles that govern the existence of every life form on this planet, including human beings. Although nature writing is often dismissed by literary critics as fantastical or whimsical, many of Giono's philosophical reflections related to ecological interdependency and interconnectedness in L'Homme have been unequivocally proven by modern science. For this reason, this investigation endeavours to encourage other scholars to re-examine L'Homme in addition to the rest of Giono's oeuvre from a more interdisciplinary perspective that corresponds to recent scientific discoveries.
Publication Date
9-1-2018
Publication Title
Mosaic
Publisher
University of Manitoba
First Page
107
Last Page
122
Rights
Mosaic: An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal © 2018 University of Manitoba
Recommended Citation
MOSER, KEITH. “Protecting the Fragile Splendor of the Universe: A Serresian Reading of Jean Giono’s L’Homme Qui Plantait Des Arbres.” Mosaic: An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal, vol. 51, no. 3, 2018, pp. 107–22. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26974113.
