Prisoners of Nature – On Shaping the Human Gaze (the Case of Maurice Maeterlinck)
Ireneusz Gielata
Wydział Humanistyczno-Społeczny, Akademia Techniczno-Humanistyczna w Bielsku-BiałejAbstract
Relying on Maurice Maeterlinck’s essays, the article reflects on the question of human perception of insects, especially termites. Spatially enclosed termitemounds impose specific way of life which, in Maeterlinck’s view, resembles human way. Following Gernat Böhme’s argument, this realization can only be attained if one accepts emotions in perception. By writing about “places of imprisonment” of living creatures, Maeterlinck was the first to depict human living space as natural imprisonment. At the same time, in his entomological monographs he initiated human experiencing of nature; the process which Böhme described as situating man in his surroundings.Keywords:
Maurice Maeterlinck, termites, nature, human perception, spaceWydział Humanistyczno-Społeczny, Akademia Techniczno-Humanistyczna w Bielsku-Białej
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