New Books in Critical Theory

Loneliness

Dec 30, 2024

Laura Marris, an accomplished essayist and poet, unveils the concept of ecological loneliness as both a cause and reflection of isolation in society. She highlights how our disconnection from nature not only impacts personal relationships but also the environment. The conversation reframes loneliness as a pathway to hope, illuminating its potential for introspection and societal insight. Marris encourages listeners to reconnect with their surroundings, suggesting that understanding our isolation may spark meaningful transformation.

20:25

Episode guests

Laura Marris

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Quick takeaways

Ecological loneliness highlights the reciprocal isolation caused by disconnection from both human and non-human communities, revealing systemic social issues.

Engaging with loneliness can uncover personal and community needs, transforming neglected spaces into opportunities for ecological renewal and healing.

Deep dives

Understanding Ecological Loneliness

Ecological loneliness refers to the disconnection individuals experience from both human and non-human communities due to the way environments are designed. This sense of solitude arises from a lack of relationships with the living world, creating a reciprocating effect where diminishing other species also contributes to personal isolation. As loneliness has been popularized in self-help culture, its true complexity often remains obscured, particularly regarding how it varies across genders and contexts. Recognizing ecological loneliness encourages a deeper understanding of the social structures that perpetuate isolation and the importance of reconnecting with our surroundings.

Intro

2min

Ecological Loneliness: Reconnecting with Nature

6min

Exploring Loneliness as an Ecological Tool

6min

Reframing Loneliness as a Pathway to Hope

4min

Ecological Regeneration and the Return of Nature

2min

Loneliness is what results when a person is cut off from the living world. Ecological loneliness, in particular, is reciprocal - what we mete out always comes back to trouble us. However, as Laura Marris demonstrates, loneliness can entail the shadow work for understanding how a society based on capital and on growth, can create profound isolation. She suggests that this work can look like ground truthing a place that has changed over time, that was once familiar to us, either as individuals or as collectives, but now appears alien.

Laura Marris is an essayist, poet, and translator. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in The Believer, Harper’s, The New York Times, The Paris Review Daily, The Yale Review, Words Without Borders and elsewhere. She has received fellowships from MacDowell, a Katharine Bakeless Fellowship from the Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference, and a grant from the Robert B. Silvers Foundation. Her first solo-authored book, The Age of Loneliness, was published by Graywolf in August, 2024. She lives in Buffalo.

Image: “The Monk by the Sea” by Caspar David Friedrich, now housed at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin. The image is in the public domain.

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