settlement and its unequal north-south relations. In essence European rewilding projects are legitimising the economic collapse and demise of communities in southern Europe, and Croatia is among the countries finding themselves becoming borderlands again.
The Epilogue, ‘The New European Wilderness’, concludes on the contemporary European rejection of Faust’s salvation and today’s interpretation of the Faust myth to indict humanity. The Faust myth speaks to human estrangement from nature and aspirations to forge a different world. Herman Hesse’s 1927 novel Steppenwolf was in this tradition. His protagonist found succour from Goethe’s promise of redemption and beliefs in a higher truth. The humanitarian cosmopolitanism after the Second World War was more hopeful of new beginnings even under the shadow of the Holocaust and Hiroshima. Conversely contemporary risk cosmopolitanism struggles to forgive the deeds of the past and sees the necessity of curbing human agency and action in the world. Engineering Faust’s vision of land free from the threat of floods is more technically possible today but is culturally alien. Large-scale Faustian infrastructure building to protect human settlements is being rejected and replaced with digital governance of vulnerable critical infrastructure, threatened ecosystems, predatory zones, and populations at risk. Faust’s fall is characterised by the return of the wilderness to parts of Europe. It is tempting to romanticise the wild wolfish conditions of New Europe’s borderlands. However they represent the demise of European humanist aspirations and the expansion of inhospitable spaces without living communities. Arendt’s warning over the desertification of politics and political sandstorms in desert conditions is relevant to a Europe where market and natural forces prevail over collective self-determination. The Faust myth recognises our restless nature as imperfect crooked timber with a spark of the divine that is not content with a passive existence but searches for a more meaningful existence. The Faustian spirit wants to venture on ships into dangerous waters but to return to the sheltered harbours of home. Our anti-Faustian spirit is jeopardising both venture and home. Goethe’s Faust recognises it is impossible to act without erring, and if we are not forgiven when we err, then we are inhibited from acting. In affirming human deeds, Goethe’s work contends our very redemption lies in our Faustian striving and our Gretchen forgiving.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
