011737782
Thinking, Dwelling, Building in News from Nowhere
Abstract:
This essay will provide an analytical ecocritical examination of
William Morris’s News from Nowhere as understood in relation to
Martin Heidegger’s Building, Dwelling, Thinking. I will argue that both
thinkers express a deep concern relating to the predominant
scientific worldview as espoused within modernity, and in
response they emphasize the importance of recognising the
historical transition of thought towards the mechanistic
comprehension of reality we have today. By way of introduction, I
will pose the question: What is Ecocirtisim? I will discuss the
development of this new and emerging critical idiom, as well as
asserting its importance to the contemporary environmental
crisis. In section II, I will discuss the Martin Heidegger essay
Building, Dwelling, Thinking, and look to draw out Heidegger’s notion of
‘poetic dwelling’. Further, I will assert the importance of
‘authentic thought’ in addressing our mechanistic tenancies
within modernity. In section III, I will introduce William Morris
and provide a discussion of his political oeuvre, with a view to
1 | P a g e
011737782
highlighting the importance of aesthetics to his life and work.
In the final section, I will undertake a critical reading of
Morris’s, News from Nowhere, and will contrast it with the thought
of Heidegger as portrayed in Building, Dwelling, Thinking. To conclude,
I will assert that both thinkers saw within Western thought a
distinct lack of ‘metaphysical solace’. In response, both
thinkers look to highlight, within these works specifically, the
possibility of the development of an ‘alternative path’, one that
would allow for a different understanding of reality to develop.
In other words a way of thinking that would be conducive towards
the placing of human beings within nature; allowing for the
prospect of poetic dwelling upon the earth.
I – What is Ecocriticism?
The term ‘ecocriticism’ first came into being by way of
William Rueckert’s Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism.
First published in 1978, the essay signalled the birth of what is
now recognised to be a mainstay of literal theory.1 Cheryll
Glotfelty in a seminal publication, The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in
1 William Rueckert, Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism (1978), [In] The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology, [Ed.] Glotgelty, C. & Fromm, H., (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1996).
2 | P a g e
011737782
Literary Ecology, defined ecocriticism as “the study of the
relationship between literature and the environment”.2 In this
way Ecocriticism can be seen to comprise an acivistic nature,
comparable to that of Feminism and Marxism. However, rather than
race or class being the focus adopted, “an earth-centred
approach” is given prime importance.3 The emergence of this
scholarly discipline arose simultaneously along with changing
attitudes towards the contemporary “environmental crisis”;
primarily the human “dominance” of the environment.4 In this way
it began as a conglomeration of criticism that sought to address
this now deep-routed concern for the survival of the planet and
thus human existence upon it.5 Ecocriticism does not set itself
up against these other academic disciplines per-se, but it
attempts to elucidate the problem at hand; it seeks to “define,
explore and even resolve ecological problems” in a wider sense.6
2Cheryll Glotgelty, The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology, (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1996), Introduction. 3 Ibid. Introduction.4 Ibid. Introduction.5 The interdisciplinary nature of ecocriticism is highlighted by a number of academic scholars. The field as it is known today comprises academic work from: scientific studies (primarily: ecology), historical studies, philosophy,sociology, politics, ethics, amongst others. 6 Cheryll Glotgelty, The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology, (Athens: 1996), Introduction.
3 | P a g e
011737782
Most ecocritical scholarship has concentrated on the study
of Anglo-American and British literature written in the
eighteenth and nineteenth century.7 This is due to the emergence
of a number of important developments in literature within this
period, these developments paved the way for a diverse
exploration of a number of environmental topics.8 Much of the
best known literature that was produced within this period gives
heed to pastoral clichés, emphasises and depicts picturesque
landscapes, and romanticises about forgotten wildernesses. These
works specifically can thus be open to charges of nostalgia or
idealism with their relevance to contemporary academic debate
7 Adoring to much of the academic literature the magnum opus of ecologically orientated work is seen to be Henry D. Thoreau’s Walden (1845). This philosophical book addresses the human relation to nature particularly the possibility of living in harmony with nature and one's soul. Another work considered in the same vein is Ralph Waldo Emerson's Nature (1836). Within theessay the writer sets up this thought regarding transcendental philosophy (He is particularly critical of George Berkeley and John Locke), he encourages contemplation of a more spiritual side of nature with a view to re-establish anatural bond between humans and the environment.8 Greg Garrard, Ecocriticism: the new critical idiom, (London & New York: Routledge, 2004).The romanticism movement, comprising idealistic undertones, reached its peak in the mid-nineteenth century, and had undoubted influence on a number of American and British writers who took a particular interest in nature as a subject; this was surpassed by Victorian realism in the mid-to-late nineteenthcentury which focused on a critique of the broadly expanding industrial landscape, which was viewed in stark contrast to natural landscapes; also during the period there developed a penchant for explorers and natural historians to undertake in the practice of writing to convey newly encounteredplaces and wildlife; and finally pioneers and other travellers wrote of their experiences with an emphasis on setting.
4 | P a g e
011737782
held into question. Ecocriticsim, however, seeks to address these
misconceptions, and bring new light and understanding to many
seminal works that were prophetic in relation to the imposition
of power at play within society, and the dynamics of social
change. One such work that certainly possesses these
characteristics will be the subject of analysis within this
essay; William Morris’s News from Nowhere (1890).9
II – Martin Heidegger
The philosophical project of Martin Heidegger is notoriously
difficult to understand. This is due to the fact that he is
essentially challenging the predominant mode of thinking within
modernity. He believes that our modern mechanised worldview is
neither incorrect nor invalid, but rather he sees it as limiting
the way in which we can understand the world around us. The
difficulties in comprehending the Hiedeggarian project are
exacerbated by his characteristic etymological approach to
philosophical investigation. He believes that this domineering
worldview can only be overcome if we are to ‘deconstruct’ and re-
9 William Morris, News from Nowhere, [In] William Morris: News from Nowhere and other writings, [Ed.] Wilmer, C., (London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1993).
5 | P a g e
011737782
interpret the very language that we use.10 He looks to reveal to
us the historical development of language that has come to
condition the ways in which we perceive and comprehend of our
very existence within-the-world.11 The misconception that
Heidegger identifies is fundamentally related to the human notion
of selfhood, which in turn guides our relations to other beings
and the environment that we inhabit.12 Thus, Heidegger’s
ontological exploration of being can be best understood as an
attempt to re-ground within the human subject a coherent self-
understanding, or authenticity, that will allow for proper
ethical relations concerning nature. His assertion then is not to
suggest that we are thinking incorrectly, but he does invite us
to take “an alternative road”, a road that will allow for
another, more poetic, interpretation of the world which we
inhabit.13 10 Heidegger does not mean deconstruct in the traditional sense, he redefines the term for use in philosophical investigation. The word he uses is, in German, is ‘Destruktion’.11 Martin Heidegger, Building, Dwelling, Thinking, [In] Basic Writings: Martin Heidegger [Ed]. Krell, D. F., (London: Routledge, 2002), p. 348.“Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language remains the master of man”.12 Other beings can be: natural objects, material things, animals, or other human beings.13 Cf. Martin Heidegger, Building, Dwelling, Thinking, (London: Routledge, 2002).Cf. Martin Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology, [in] Basic Writings: Martin Heidegger, [Ed.] Krell, D. F., (London: 2002).
6 | P a g e
011737782
In Building, Dwelling, Thinking (1951), Heidegger looks to counter
this mechanistic modern mind-set directly. He offers up a
conception of living that allows humans to reside and remain
within nature, as opposed to the dualistic way in which we
conceive of nature/culture today.14 He believes that within
modernity human beings have lost sight with what is means to
dwell. Our modern conceptions of building, he believes, lead us
to conceive of building as a means to an end: we build to dwell.
However, upon closer examination, by way of his etymological
approach, the converse appears to be true; building is actually a
manifestation of dwelling: “to-build” is “to-dwell” and “to-
dwell” is “to-be or let-to-be”.15 In this way dwelling is equated
to not only the human essence, but further it is framed in
relation to the letting-be of other beings.16 In other words, a
shepherding of all beings within Being.
Cf. Martin Heidegger, Letter on Humanism, [in] Basic Writings: Martin Heidegger, [Ed.] Krell, D. F., (London: 2002).14 Martin Heidegger, Building, Dwelling, Thinking, (London: Routledge, 2002).15 Ibid., pp. 348 – 50.16 Such as: natural things, material objects, animals, or other human beings. Also the human essence, for Heidegger, it what he terms Dasein (being-in-the-world).
7 | P a g e
011737782
To understand this terminology in a more comprehensive way
we can turn to Heidegger’s concept of the fourfold, which
constitutes a central aspect of dwelling. The word ‘fourfold’
(Geviert) equates in English to ‘square’ or ‘courtyard’ and is
therefore a spatial notion.17 The fourfold is comprised of four
elements: earth, sky, divinities, and mortals. Each of the four
elements are to be considered as belonging together in a unified
whole. Mortals are not simply a being-in-the-world, they exist
also as part of the primal oneness of the fourfold; what “we call
the world”.18 Within this fourfold humans dwell, they are “at
home”. For human beings to create an authentic home here on earth
means to ascend from a mortal to a divine state by integrating
nature and culture; in other words, to live in accordance with
the primal unity of the fourfold.19
17 Martin Heidegger, Building, Dwelling, Thinking, (London: Routledge, 2002), pp. 350 – 53.18 Ibid., p. 352.19 Ibid., p.353.Heidegger’s fourfold: 1 – Dwellers dwell on the earth; the earth embraces the totality of things, and comprises all that grows, lives, or contributes to life, and thus can be characterised by the variability of space. 2 – Dwellers dwell under the sky; the sky embraces literal signifiers (warmth of sun, passing of seasons, motion of planets/stars, etc.) and their metaphoric spiritual meanings projected upon them by human beings, and can thus be characterised by the permanence of space. 3 – The mortals are human beings. Human beings in their mortality emphasises the finitude and precariousness of their existence, and can be characterised by the variability, or limited nature, of time. 4 – The Divinities are “the beckoning messengers of the
8 | P a g e
011737782
Heidegger’s bridge analogy provides an insight into how this
kind of thinking may take place:20 A bridge when conceived of as
a manifestation of the fourfold can be seen to gather all aspects
of it together.21 It in essence creates a space, a clearing where
beings can come-forth into Being. The bridge then is a locale
that clears the way for the unveiling/revealing of the fourfold.
Therefore, the locale itself cannot exist before the bridge. Upon
human contemplation of the bridge many possible locales are
considered, one of which proves to be a chosen locale, and is so
because of the bridge. Thus, all aspects of the fourfold are
taken into consideration via contemplation in the mind.22 It is
in this way that dwelling is a kind of thinking, and pertains to
a certain necessary thoughtfulness. A bridge if constructed in
conjunction with this “necessary thinking” in mind will not only
exist to allow human beings merely to cross a river, it will
exist as a being in-itself and will function as to allow all
godhead”; in this context dwelling can give access to something transcendent. I do not merely dwell in a house, it further shows my essence, who I am.20 Ibid., pp. 354 – 56.21 The four aspects are: earth, sky, mortals, and divinities. 22 This can be understood in relation to the Greek term episteme. Which can thenbe understood in terms of techne. Both are skills which can be performed to thehighest order; one relating to craft (techne), and one relating to knowledge (episteme). This skill in turn can be understood in relation to poesis (making), as a kind of bringing-forth into being (phusis).
9 | P a g e
011737782
other beings to-be what they are in-truth; it will gather
together all elements required for the construction of the bridge
in such a way that the ecological harmony of nature will not be
interrupted.
The possibility of this thoughtfulness that allows for the
actualization of authentic dwelling rests within Heidegger’s
conception of the fourfold also. When all the elements of the
fourfold are possible, the world in which humans come to dwell is
inherently an ethical one. In this way the dynamic of the
fourfold actualizes the human being-in-the-world. Humans dwell in
nature between earth and sky, as mortals we look up to the divine,
and our culture as manifest by the gods becomes structured and
unified. In this way, only dwelling “in the sight of the gods”
does “man become a people (Volk)”.23 The fundamental problem then
within modernity can be understood in relation to Friedrich’s
Nietzsche famous statement: “God is dead […] And we have killed
him."24 Essentially the modern technological epoch that we find
23 Peter Critchley, The Ecological Communism of William Morris (2006), [e-book] Available through: Academia website <http://mmu.academia.edu/PeterCritchley/Books, Ch. 7.24 Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science, [In] The Nietzsche Reader [Ed.] Pearson, A. &Large, D., (Oxford: Blackwell Pub., 2006), pp. 362 – 85, Section 125.
10 | P a g e
011737782
ourselves in has developed to “enframe” our perceptions of
reality in a purely technological way.25 We no longer comprehend
of our existence on poetic terms, we mistrust our everyday
experiences and dismiss the importance of spirituality. As
Nietzsche would say: we have lost our “metaphysical solace”.26
Section III: William Morris
William Morris can best be described as an aestheticist who
dedicated his entire life to combating what he termed: “the
ugliness of the industrial revolution”.27 He equated beauty to
harmony within nature, and it was this almost Platonic conception
of the Beautiful that would remain central to all that he pursued
in life. Morris was a highly creative individual, and was
considered somewhat of a dreamer in his youth. He became
politicised initially during his studies at Oxford University,
25 Martin Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology, [in] Basic Writings: Martin Heidegger, [Ed.] Krell, D. F., (London: Routledge, 2002).26 Friedrich Niezsche, The Birth of Tragedy, [In] The Nietzsche Reader [Ed.] Pearson, A.& Large, D., (Oxford: Blackwell Pub., 2006), pp. 42 – 88, Sections 3, 5, 7, 9.CF. Mircea Eliade, Myths, Dreams, & Mysteries, [Trans.] Mairet, P., (London & Glasgow: Harper Books, 1970), p. 24.Mircea Elaide puts it well when he states: “The myth is no longer dominant in the essential sectors of life… it has been repressed, partly into the obscurerlevels of the psyche, partly into the secondary or even irresponsible activates of society.”27 Arthur Clutten-Brock, William Morris, (New York: Parkstone Press International,2012), Introduction.
11 | P a g e
011737782
whereby the writings of political radical John Ruskin intoxicated
his imagination. Despite developing a fierce distaste for
modernity and the emerging capitalist system, Morris initial
foray into adulthood took him via the arts and to a life of
painting, but this political apathy would soon fade and the all
too evident rumblings of rebellion and lust for social change
were quickly to become actualized. Morris’s belligerent attitude
became concretely evident upon his involvement in the creation of
The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (1877), and
in the contribution he made to the formulation of The Socialist
League (1885); The former being the most obvious instance of
collaboration between Morris and Ruskin.28 It was within his
novel, News from Nowhere (1890), that these aesthetic ideals were
most imaginatively wielded.29 Morris then, despite being a
dreamer, was no mere utopian or idealist, but rather a political
visionary whose writings are as pertinent today as they ever
28 Arthur Leslie Morton, Political Writings of William Morris, (London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1973), p. 27.“Morris was deeply concerned for people, that they should lead free, happy anddignified lives in which all could develop to the full the powers with which, he was convinced, all are potentially endowed. But he knew that this was only possible given a healthy attitude to the natural world. He saw it, not, as capitalism has made it, an enemy to be conquered and exploited but as a friendto be won and cherished.”29 William Morris, News from Nowhere, (London: 1993).
12 | P a g e
011737782
were. Perhaps it was this aesthetic approach to his contemporary
environment that allowed for such elucidation of thought with
regards to the state of modern civilization. In a way his
rejection of all things modern, including analytic thought, in
favour of a more constructive, imaginative, experienced based
conception of the modern world, led to a more “immediate and
concrete” understanding of the world in which we inhabit.30 It
was this view that led him to believe that civilization had taken
a wrong path, his vision and profound wisdom were to suggest that
another way was possible, a way that would allow for poetic dwelling
upon the earth.31
Section IV: Poetic Dwelling
(a): Thinking
The full title of Morris’s News from Nowhere is a playful and
suggestive one.32 The title itself “evokes the tradition of30 Arthur Leslie Morton, Political Writings, (London: 1973), p. 11.These ideals are evident within a number of Morris’s political lectures and writings. Notably: Art Under Plutocracy (1883); Art and Socialism (1884); The Society of the Future (1887); and Under the Elm Tree (1889). 31 Ibid., p. 28.32 Beatrice Laurent, The Landscapes of Nowhere, The Journal of William Morris Studies, [Accessed at: http://www.morrissociety.org/publications/JWMS/18.2/18.2_landscapesNowhere.pdf] [Accessed on: 20/10/2014], p. 52.Full Title: News from Nowhere, or, an Epoch of Rest: being some chapters from a utopian romance.
13 | P a g e
011737782
sensationalist seventeenth-century pre-tabloid literature”, a
genre that embodied hyperbolic scandal and risqué human
relations, as well as containing some eye catching art.33
However, News from Nowhere does in no way carry any of these
hallmarks; what then can be revealed by the choice of such a
provocative title? If one were to take into consideration
Morris’s radical socialist political standing, as is evident from
his political writings, it could be suggested that he may well
have been attempting to intensify interest in his book, not in a
commercial capitalist sense, but to enable it to act as a
mechanism allowing his aesthetic vison become manifest within the
general populis; he wanted the people on his side, he wanted them
to relate to his vison, and to achieve this he had to get them to
think differently.34
33 Ibid, p. 53.34 Marcus Waithe, From socialist news to fine art printing: William Morris's News from Nowhere, [Accessed at: http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/from-socialist-news-to-fine-art-printing-william-morriss-news-from-nowhere#sthash.X5VDIFU3.dpuf] [Accessed on: 30/11/2014]. It is worth noting that although the book may well have been written for eventual consumption by the general populous, it was also written as to generate debate within Morris’s own political circle (it was initially published in the Commonweal, the official newspaper for the Socialist League).The book contained many ‘in jokes’ and sought to stir up debate in a playful manner, where Morris made as much fun of himself as he did others.
14 | P a g e
011737782
This notion of thinking differently is further actualised
within the novel itself, in Chapter I, the narrator, after an
evening of heated political discussion, tumbles into bed in a
“revolutionary mood”. He experiences a restless night, in this
lucid state he allows his imagination free rein. Upon awakening
in “a hazy and half-wake condition” he takes it for granted “that
[… he] was at home in [… his] own room”.35 Nowhere, is thus,
presented to the reader as a ‘waking dream’, a lucid sate that
allows for free play of the imagination, a place where ingrained
conceptions of reality can be left behind, a place that allows
for, in the Heidegarian sense, thoughtfulness to take place.36
(b): Dwelling
As discussed, the Heidegarian project leads us to view our
modern conceptions of building as a misconception; we do not
build to-dwell, we dwell to-build, and thus building is essential
35 William Morris, W., News from Nowhere, (London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1993), pp. 44 – 5.The debate referred to in the first chapter was one regarding the form of a post-revolution society; a brainstorming about the actualities of a possible socialist utopia. 36 Cf. Martin Heidegger, Building, Dwelling, Thinking, (London: Lawrence & Wishart, 2002).
15 | P a g e
011737782
to our being-in-the-world. Existence, for Heidegger, designates
a mode of Being; “specifically, the Being of those beings who
stand open for the openness of Being in which they stand, by
standing it”.37 This Being of beings-in-the-world then is no mere
standing, it implies a bringing together, a gathering together of
other beings.38 This, then, for Heidegger, can be comprehended as
a type of safeguarding or more appropriately, a shepherding of
all other beings. This thought can be read in relation to the
modern understanding of the well-known biblical passage:
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and of the cattle, and
over all the earth.39
The modern interpretation of this passage lends thinking towards
the notion of ‘man as masters’ of the earth.40 This
37 Walter Kaufman, Existentialism: from Dostoevsky to Sartre, (New York: World Pub., 1984), Introduction. 38 Such as: natural objects, material things, animals, or other human beings. 39 The Holy Bible: King James Version, Iowa Falls, (IA: World Bible Publishers, 2001), 1: 26.40 This notion of ‘man as masters’ of the earth can be found in the work of Francis Bacon, who built upon Rene Descartes intellection of ‘I Think, therefore I am’. Cf. Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, [Trans.] Donald A. Cress, (Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co., 1992).
16 | P a g e
011737782
interpretation of the word ‘dominion’, for Heidegger, is a
misconception. If one were to look at the etymological
development of the word ‘dominion’, one would discover that the
ancient Greek word for ‘dominion’ was ‘kratos’, and it is from
this word, kratos, that the English word ‘heard’ originates.41
When conceived of in this alternate way, ‘to have dominion over
the earth’, becomes akin to a shepherding of the earth; a
letting-be of all beings within Being.
This holistic unity and naturalist outlook on life is very
evident within News from Nowhere. Heidegger, like Morris before
him, understood the development of human autonomy in historical
terms, and was consequently able to locate this transformation of
human beings into selfhood as the primary catalyst of the
illusionary divide between nature and culture. Morris’s
disillusionment with modernity, the emerging supremacy of human
autonomy and anthropocentric ideals that emerged from it are
clearly expressed in Chapter XXVII, where Clara remarks:
Cf. Jean Overton Fuller, Sir Francis Bacon: A Biography, (Maidstone: East-West Pub., 1994).41 T. F. Hoad [Ed.], The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 212 – 3.
17 | P a g e
011737782
Was not their mistake once more bred of life of slavery that
they had been living? – a life which was always looking upon
everything, except making, animate and inanimate – “nature”,
as people used to call it – as one thing, and mankind
another. It was natural to people thinking in this way, that
they should try to make “nature” their slave, since they
thought “nature” was something outside them.42
The event that was fundamentally to change this illusionary
perspective was the “Great Clearing”, whereby changes were made
to the rural landscape of Nowhereian London and furthermore to
the rest of the country. This resulted in the gradual
disintegration of the rigid distinction between country and town;
or nature and culture. Old Hammond, in Chapter X, describes the
change in this manner:
England […] became a country of huge and foul workshops and
fouler gambling-dens, surrounded by an ill-kept, poverty-
stricken farm, pillaged by the masters of the workshops. It
is now a garden, where nothing is wasted and nothing is spoilt, with
42 William Morris, News from Nowhere, (London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1993), p. 200(my emphasis added).
18 | P a g e
011737782
the necessary dwellings, sheds, and workshops scattered up and
down the country, all trim and neat and pretty.43
Nowhere has now been transformed into a garden among gardens,
William, in Chapter XXIII, speaks of his surroundings:
I went out a-doors, and after a turn or two round the
superabundant garden, I wandered down over the meadow to the
river-side, where lay our boat, looking quite familiar and
friendly to me. I walked up-stream a little, watching the
light mist curling up from the river till the sun gained
power to draw it all away; saw the bleak speckling the water
under the willow boughs, when the tiny flies they fed on
were falling in myriads; heard the great chub splashing here
and there at some belated moth or other, and felt almost
back again in my boyhood.44
This illuminating passage conveys precisely an inherent holistic
landscape that has been allowed to emerge by process of a
nurturing subscription to ecological care. The image of a
superabundant garden evokes images and thought relating to the
43 Ibid., p. 99 – 100 (my emphasis added).44 Ibid., p. 178 (my emphasis added).
19 | P a g e
011737782
Garden of Eden, which according to biblical tradition is the
abundant paradise from which all life began, even man who was
formed from “the dust from the ground”.45 Also in the passage
each of the four classical elements associated with pagan
religion(s) are clearly evident: “Earth (meadow), Air (mist),
Fire (sun) and Water (river)”.46 This holistic imagery is further
emphasised by the flowing nature of the passage, whereby
everything he sees seems to merge into one holistic image.
(c): Building & Conclusion
Within News from Nowhere the buildings and architectural
landscapes that Morris presents are representations of this
manifestation of the fourfold. As in Heidegger’s analogy of the
bridge, locale are opened up by way of contemplation and
thoughtfully considered in relation to the environment and
culture. People dwell in Nowhere, they do not merely live there.
This evinces a meaningful response to topography, ecology and
climate, all expressed by a culture that espouses a belief system45 The Holy Bible: King James Version, Iowa Falls, (IA: World Bible Publishers, 2001), 2: 7. 46 Beatrice Laurent, The Landscapes of Nowhere, The Journal of William Morris Studies, [Accessed at: http://www.morrissociety.org/publications/JWMS/18.2/18.2_landscapesNowhere.pdf] [Accessed on: 20/10/2014], p. 54.
20 | P a g e
011737782
that places the communal over the individual, quality over
quantity, and beauty over degradation.
To turn again to the text: William Guest whilst aboard the
waterman’s boat heading down the Thames remarks with some
confusion and astonishment on the transformation that occurred
form the (apparent) previous day:
The soap-works with their smoke-vomiting chimneys were gone;
the engineer’s works gone […] Then the bridge! I had perhaps
dreamed of such a bridge, but never seen such an one out of
an illuminated manuscript […] It was of stone arches,
splendidly solid, and as graceful as they were strong; high
enough also to let ordinary river traffic through easily.47
The bridge here is constructed thoughtfully in accordance with
the primal unity as expressed within the fourfold. It exists in a
local whereby it unites bank with bank, allowing mortals to cross
with respect to their ecological beliefs, and the river is
allowed to flow uninterrupted. The bridge does not fundamentally
47 William Morris, News from Nowhere, (London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1993), p. 48 (my emphasis added).
21 | P a g e
011737782
alter the being of any other-being, it lets all beings exist in-
themselves.
The manifestation of the fourfold is perhaps most accurately
portrayed in Chapter XVI. While entering the Dinner Hall after
walking through the Bloomsbury Market, William comments on the
architecture and the art work of the Hall:
[…] we entered a hall much bigger […] more elaborate in its
architecture and perhaps more beautiful. I found it
difficult to keep my eyes off the wall pictures […] I saw at
a glance that their subjects were taken from queer old-world
myths and imaginations which in yesterday’s world only about
half a dozen people in the country knew anything about.48
Old Hammond’s reply to Williams surprise at seeing such
depictions is:
I don’t see why you should be surprised; everybody knows the
tales; and they are graceful and pleasant subjects, not too
tragic for a place where people mostly eat and drink and
amuse themselves, and yet full of incident.49
48 Ibid, p. 130 – 1.49 Ibid., p. 130 – 1.
22 | P a g e
011737782
William, still somewhat perplexed, dismisses the importance of
such pictures and remarks on their childlike nature. He also
thinks that the depictions portray a more primitive understanding
of the world, as opposed to the progressive and knowledgeable
nature of his modernity.
Within these passages one can begin to understand the
historical event that transformed Nowhere. Nowhereians still
value science and technology, but they also recognise the
importance of other ways of understanding the world. The “wall
pictures” referred to in the text are no mere pictures, they are
symbolic representations that structure and unify Nowhereian
society; they are the divine. The centrality of these myths and
legend to Nowhereian lives reinforces the poetic within the
culture as a whole. The bewilderment that confronts William when
faced with the paintings reflects the disambiguation between the
two worldviews; the poetic and the scientific. These paintings
are not “childlike” or “primitive” they offer a more authentic
poetic understanding of reality, one in which creative
interpretation plays a central role.50 These metaphoric tales are
50 Ibid., p. 130 – 1.
23 | P a g e
011737782
told and re-told, they are discussed, debated, and passed on from
generation to generation. This allows each coming generation to
re-interpret the myths for themselves. The meaning then develops
with each succeeding generation, and allows for the grounding of
thought within nature. In addition, it combats the static and
limiting nature of enframing within the modern technological
epoch. Only by way of poetic language can one retain a “free
relationship” to technology, one which allows for poetic dwelling
upon the earth.
Bibliography
24 | P a g e
011737782
Clutten-Brock, A., William Morris, (New York: Parkstone Press
International, 2012).
Critchley, P., The Ecological Communism of William Morris (2006), [e-
book] [Accessed at: Academia website –
http://mmu.academia.edu/PeterCritchley/Books] [Accessed on:
15/10/2014].
Descartes, R., Meditations on First Philosophy, [Trans.] Donald A.
Cress, (Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co., 1992).
Eliade, M., Myths, Dreams, & Mysteries, [Trans.] Mairet, P., The
Fontana Library of Theology and Philosophy, (London and Glasgow:
Collins Clear-Type Press, 1970).
Fuller, J. O., Sir Francis Bacon: A Biography, (Maidstone: East-West
Pub., 1994).
Garrard, G., Ecocriticism: the new critical idiom, (London & New York:
Routledge, 2004).
Glotgelty, C., The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology,
(Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1996).
25 | P a g e
011737782
Heidegger, M., Building, Dwelling, Thinking, [In] Basic Writings: Martin
Heidegger [Ed]. Krell, D. F., (London: Routledge, 2002).
Heidegger, M., Letter on Humanism, [in] Basic Writings: Martin Heidegger,
[Ed.] Krell, D. F., (London: Routledge, 2002).
Heidegger, M., The Question Concerning Technology, [in] Basic Writings:
Martin Heidegger, [Ed.] Krell, D. F., (London: Routledge, 2002).
Hoad, T. F. [Ed.], The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology,
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993).
Kaufman, W., Existentialism: from Dostoevsky to Sartre, (New York:
Meridian, 1984).
Laurent, B., The Landscapes of Nowhere, The Journal of William Morris Studies,
[Accessed at:
http://www.morrissociety.org/publications/JWMS/18.2/18.2_landscap
esNowhere.pdf] [Accessed on: 20/10/2014].
Morris, W., News from Nowhere, [In] William Morris: News from Nowhere and
other writings, [Ed.] Wilmer, C., (London: Penguin Books, 1993).
Morton, A. L., Political Writings of William Morris, (London: Lawrence and
Wishart, 1973).
26 | P a g e
011737782
Niezsche, F., The Birth of Tragedy, [In] The Nietzsche Reader [Ed.]
Pearson, A. & Large, D., (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006).
Nietzsche, F., The Gay Science, [In] The Nietzsche Reader [Ed.] Pearson,
A. & Large, D., (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006).
Rueckert, W., Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism (1978),
[In] The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology, [Ed.] Glotgelty,
C. & Fromm, H., (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1996).
Waithe, M., From socialist news to fine art printing: William Morris's News from
Nowhere, [Accessed at: http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-
victorians/articles/from-socialist-news-to-fine-art-printing-
william-morriss-news-from-nowhere#sthash.X5VDIFU3.dpuf] [Accessed
on: 30/11/2014].
27 | P a g e
Top Related