ABSTRACT:
This article analyses the environmentalist novels Un viejo que leía novelas de amor by Luis Sepúlveda and La loca de Gandoca by Anacristina Rossi. It proposes that the main characters of these novels exhibit ecological identities, that is, a deep identification with nature. This work follows the environmental philosopher David Utsler (2009, 2013) to discuss the idea of ecological identities. Utsler proposes the concept of environmental identity as a component of the identity and as a hermeneutical project in which the subject can find itself with nature. Environmental identity is understood as a multidimensional category, which can be studied from three philosophical intentions: the detour of reflection through analysis, the dialectic of selfhood and sameness, and the dialectic of selfhood and otherness. This essay studies how the protagonists of Sepulveda's and Rossi's novels display each of those philosophical intentions. It concludes that the presented ecological identities fall within the text’s activist condition since they call for a change guaranteeing the wellness of the natural environment. That change must occur on a political, economic, social, and a personal level.
Keywords:
Luis Sepúlveda; Anacristina Rossi; Environmentalist novel; Environmental identity; Ecological identity