Vol.4, No 1, 2006pp. 47 - 52
UDC 82.09:502/504
METHODOLOGICAL NIGHTMARE – GENERAL OPENING OF
BOUNDARIES IN LITERATURE AND CULTURE STUDIES
Jelica Tošić
Faculty of Occupational Safety, Niš
Problems in preserving the natural resources and the wildlife on Earth have prompted the twenty-first century man to start thinking seriously about environmental protection. Man has proved to be the only living creature endangering all other species. The destructive part of man's nature has turned into self-destructiveness as a result of his destruction of the resources that sustain him. Realizing the urgency of the situation because of the possible self-extinction, man decided to make an effort to do something about his and the planet's survival. Action has become imperative so that even the fields of literature and language have become the battlefields for environmental protection. Some of the concepts of ecology can be found in the discussions about literature and language. A new kind of literary criticism, eco-criticism, has emerged. Its field is obviously interdisciplinary. Inter- and multi-disciplinary orientation prevail in modern man's thinking but here the problem of the methodology applied to the overlapping area opens up. This consideration gave rise to the exploration of what was happening in the twentieth century compared to the beginning of the twenty-first century. In the new situation the scholars dealing with the overlapping disciplines have to work at the intellectual margins of their disciplines. Their step in this direction, however, can often be practically motivated. In the case of eco-criticism there is an attempt to involve both literature and literary criticism in the general movement for the survival of the planet.
Key words:  eco-criticism, interdisciplinary orientation, removal of boundaries, neologisms
METODOLOŠKI KOŠMAR: OPŠTE OTVARANJE GRANICA U
STUDIJAMA KULTURE U KNJIŽEVNOSTI
Zbog velikih problema u očuvanju prirodnih resursa i živog sveta na zemlji čovek dvadeset prvog veka počinje ozbiljno da se bavi zaštitom životne sredine. Pokazalo se da od svih živih bića čovek jedini ugrožava sav živi svet. Taj destruktivni deo čovekove prirode pretvorio se u samodestruktivnost jer on uništava resurse koji i njega samog održavaju u životu. Shvativši urgentnost situacije, čovek je rešio da učini napor i uradi nešto u vezi sa sopstvenim opstankom i opstankom cele planete. Akcija postaje imperativ. O tome svedoče neki od pojmova ekologije čiji se odraz može videti i u raspravama o jeziku i književnosti. Najočigledniji primer veze sa ekologijom predstavlja pojava nove vrste književne interpretacije, ekokritika. Radi se očigledno o interdisciplinarnom spoju. Inter- i multi-disciplinarnost postali su uopšte deo razmišljanja modernog čoveka tako da se otvorilo pitanje metodološke zasnovanosti odredjenih pristupa oblastima koje se medjusobno preklapaju.Ovo je dalo povoda za utvrdjivanje razlika izmedju dvadesetog i početka dvadeset prvog veka. Danas, naučnici koji se bave disciplinama koje se stavljaju u medjuodnos prinudjeni su da rade na intelektualnim marginama svojih disciplina. Medjutim, njihov korak u ovom pravcu ponekad ima i praktičnu svrhu. U slučaju eko kritike, na primer, nazire se pokušaj da se i književnost i književna kritika pridruže opštem pokretu za očuvanje planete Zemlje.
Ključne reči: ekokritika, interdisciplinarnost, uklanjanje granica, neologizmi