What literature can teach us about the climate crisis
The Jerusalem Post · ELLIOT HELLER, IN COLLABORATION WITH BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV ·
Prof. Itay Marienberg-Milikowsky of Ben-Gurion University argues that the books that matter most for the environment may not be about the environment at all
Like the vast majority of experts, Itay Marienberg-Milikowsky thinks we are in the midst of a climate crisis. But it is among the hardest crises to relate to: vast, decades in the making, and extremely complex in its causes and solutions.
The Ben-Gurion University professor of Hebrew literature argues that such a “silent killer” crisis demands an equally gradual cultural shift, especially in literature and the arts. Stories help us imagine the world differently, he notes, and the way that books treat nature, even in passing, can shape how a society relates to it.
Today, Marienberg-Milikowsky is helping bring this approach to Israel. But his view runs against conventional instinct: the literature most likely to change how we think about nature, he argues, rarely announces it.
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