Digital nature

Videopoetry from an ecocritical perspective

Abstract

Starting at the observation of the digital and emminently audio-visual ecosystem we inscribe ourselves in, this article questions whether videopoetry (as a singular artistic expression, resulting from this audio-visual era) can help us define ourselves and better navigate the world around us. We will analize the influence of the natural within the digital phenomenon of videopoetry, exploring its intersections in the light of ecofeminism. We will first provide a brief approach to the main theoretical issues around videopoetry and ecofeminism. We analize the influence of the different branches of ecofeminism in a series of selected videopoems from representative international authors. We then comment, from an ecocritical perspective, on how the concepts of body, nature, woman, space and culture are treated in those works, making a particular reference to the Galician reality. We conclude by recognising videopoetry’s power to convey through its digital body a much needed ecocritical vision of our natural habitat, our relationship with it, and our very own identity.