DissB 7969
THE CRISIS OF MODERNITY:
CULTURE, NATURE, AND THE MODERNIST
YEARNING FOR AUTHENTICITY
Dissertation zur Erlangung der Würde einer Doktorin der Philosophie
vorgelegt der Philosophisch-Historischen Fakultät der Universität Basel und der Faculté des Lettres, Langues et Sciences Humaines der Universität Orléans
von
Ann-Catherine Nabholz von Zürich
Basel 2007
i
Genehmigt von der Philosophisch-Historischen Fakultät der Universität Basel, auf Antrag von Prof. Dr. Hartwig Isernhagen (Universität Basel), Prof. Dr. Thomas Pughe (Universität
Orléans), Prof. Dr. Yves-Charles Grandjeat (Universität Brodeaux III) und Prof. Dr. Werner
Brönnimann (Universität St. Gallen).
Basel, den 6. Juli 2004
ii
Die Dekanin
Prof. Dr. Annelies Häcki Buhofer.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research and writing of this study were assisted by the generous financial support of the
Swiss National Science Foundation and the Uarda Frutiger Foundation. For their trusting generosity, I am very grateful. Their fellowships took me to the University of Oregon,
Eugene, where I was warmly welcomed by a remarkable community of "green" scholars. I owe a debt of gratitude to Prof. Louise Westling, who gave me valuable suggestions, encouragement and guidance. For conversation and companionship I must thank the members of the Mesa Verde (in- and outdoors) research group and Prof. George Wickes. For supporting my work, I would like to thank the James Fenimore Cooper Foundation. The
Rectors ' Conference of the Swiss Universities favoured me with a fellowship making possible the collaboration between the University of Basel and the University of Orléans. For their financial support, I am grateful. I am grateful also to the careful readings and the valuable reactions Prof. Thomas Pughe has given to various drafts of this study. Special thanks are due also to Prof. Hartwig Isernhagen, who has provided crucial support, advocacy and literary advice. I am also deeply indebted to my family for support and encouragement
CULTURE, NATURE, AND THE MODERNIST
YEARNING FOR AUTHENTICITY
Dissertation zur Erlangung der Würde einer Doktorin der Philosophie
vorgelegt der Philosophisch-Historischen Fakultät der Universität Basel und der Faculté des Lettres, Langues et Sciences Humaines der Universität Orléans
von
Ann-Catherine Nabholz von Zürich
Basel 2007
i
Genehmigt von der Philosophisch-Historischen Fakultät der Universität Basel, auf Antrag von Prof. Dr. Hartwig Isernhagen (Universität Basel), Prof. Dr. Thomas Pughe (Universität
Orléans), Prof. Dr. Yves-Charles Grandjeat (Universität Brodeaux III) und Prof. Dr. Werner
Brönnimann (Universität St. Gallen).
Basel, den 6. Juli 2004
ii
Die Dekanin
Prof. Dr. Annelies Häcki Buhofer.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research and writing of this study were assisted by the generous financial support of the
Swiss National Science Foundation and the Uarda Frutiger Foundation. For their trusting generosity, I am very grateful. Their fellowships took me to the University of Oregon,
Eugene, where I was warmly welcomed by a remarkable community of "green" scholars. I owe a debt of gratitude to Prof. Louise Westling, who gave me valuable suggestions, encouragement and guidance. For conversation and companionship I must thank the members of the Mesa Verde (in- and outdoors) research group and Prof. George Wickes. For supporting my work, I would like to thank the James Fenimore Cooper Foundation. The
Rectors ' Conference of the Swiss Universities favoured me with a fellowship making possible the collaboration between the University of Basel and the University of Orléans. For their financial support, I am grateful. I am grateful also to the careful readings and the valuable reactions Prof. Thomas Pughe has given to various drafts of this study. Special thanks are due also to Prof. Hartwig Isernhagen, who has provided crucial support, advocacy and literary advice. I am also deeply indebted to my family for support and encouragement
References: language is crystallized insofar as "the genesis of the cosmos already contains highly configured and densely conjunctive elements that at least portend logos" (1998:5). world it seems to be trying to say something. (1993:238) Clearly, these assumptions suggest that an authentic experience of primordial nature cannot Irigaray describes this model as follows: "L 'indit ou l 'indicible d 'un rapport de l 'homme à une nature échappant à son logos" (1983:129). vie? Un autre vivant? Ne s 'est-il pas exercé, jusqu 'à présent, sur un mode d 'appropriation captatrice plutôt que sur celui d 'un échange—et de vie?"(1983:141). imitation of nature because "appearing nature wants silence" (1997:69). Not surprisingly then, he claims that "[a]s indeterminate, as antithetical to definitions, natural beauty is indefinable"