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The Cultural Ecology of Elisabeth Mann Borgese

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The Cultural Ecology of Elisabeth Mann Borgese NARRATIVES OF NATURE AND CULTURE: THE CULTURAL ECOLOGY OF ELISABETH MANN BORGESE by Julia Poertner Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia March 2020 © Copyright by Julia Poertner, 2020 TO MY PARENTS. MEINEN ELTERN. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………………... v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED ………………………………………………………….. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………………………………….. vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………… 1 1.1 Thesis ………………………………………………………………... 1 1.2 Methodology and Outline ………………………………………….. 27 1.3 State of Research ……....…………………………………………... 32 1.4 Background ……………………………………………………….... 36 CHAPTER 2: NARRATIVES OF NATURE AND CULTURE …………………………………... 54 2.1 Between a Mythological Past and a Scientific Future ……………………. 54 2.1.1 Biographical Background ………………………………………... 54 2.1.2 “Culture is Part of Nature in Any Case”: Cultural Evolution ……. 63 2.1.3 Ascent of Woman ………………………………….……………… 81 2.1.4 The Language Barrier: Beasts and Men …….…………………… 97 2.2 Dark Fiction: Futuristic Pessimism …………………………………….. 111 2.2.1 “To Whom It May Concern” ………………….………………… 121 2.2.2 “The Immortal Fish” ………………………………………….…. 123 2.2.3 “Delphi Revisited” ……………………………………….……… 127 2.2.4 “Birdpeople” …………………………………………….………. 130 CHAPTER 3: UTOPIAN OPTIMISM: THE OCEAN AS A LABORATORY FOR A NEW WORLD ORDER ……………………………………………….…………….……… 135 3.1 Historical Background …………………………………………………. 135 3.1.1 Competing Narratives: The Common Heritage of Mankind and Sustainable Development ……………………………………….. 135 3.1.2 Ocean Frontiers and Chairworm & Supershark ………………... 175 3.1.3 Arvid Pardo’s Tale of the Deep Sea …………………………….. 184 3.2 Elisabeth Mann Borgese’s Cultural Ecology ………………………….. 207 iii 3.2.1 Law: From the Deep Seabed via Ocean Space towards World Communities ……………………………………………………. 207 3.2.2 Economics ………………………………………………………. 244 3.2.3 Science and Education: The Need for Interdisciplinarity ………. 252 CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION ……………..………………………………………………. 267 BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………………… 277 PRIMARY SOURCES/ARCHIVE MATERIALS .………………………………… 277 WORKS BY ELISABETH MANN BORGESE …………………………………… 282 LIST OF REFERENCES …...…………………………………………………... 298 iv ABSTRACT Elisabeth Mann Borgese, born in Munich in 1918, the youngest daughter of German novelist, Thomas Mann, and Katia Pringsheim, made it her moral duty to consider the future of humanity. For her, the ocean, with its densely interconnected structures, acts as a natural model for paradigmatic changes to cultural systems. Arguably, this was only the beginning of a wide-ranging utopian plan envisioning a dynamic, equitable, and ecological world order comprised of a world government and functional ‘world communities’ based on the common heritage of mankind concept. The works and biography of Mann Borgese are viewed mostly through the lens of the international law of the sea and as another chapter of the Mann family history. As a result, the interconnections between her thematically diverse writings are often ignored. Using an interdisciplinary narrative approach, this thesis examines Mann Borgese’s nonfiction and fiction work as well as archival materials originating from the late 1950s to the early 2000s. More specifically, Mann Borgese’s work is situated here within the contexts of cultural ecology or Kulturökologie and is explained against the backdrop of politico-historical events. A broader understanding of narrative both as a concept and as a tool for interdisciplinary scholarship in the Anthropocene serves as methodological background. A close reading of Mann Borgese’s works first analyzes Mann Borgese’s ‘philosophy of continuity’, highlighting the interconnectedness between the individual, society, and nature based on evolutionary and complexity theories. Secondly, it reveals that Mann Borgese’s philosophy of continuity constitutes the link between her work, both fiction and nonfiction, which is articulated through leitmotifs, metaphors as well as intertextual and thematic interrelations. Thirdly, it showcases that Mann Borgese’s emphasis on continuity and cooperation between agents of nature and culture constitutes the basis of her extended understanding of humanism and the common heritage of mankind concept. Lastly, it illustrates the ideological setting of her cultural ecology in which society and its cultural subsystems of law, economy, science and education are organized in such ways to be able to deal with complex global problems ecologically and for the benefit of all humanity. v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED CHM Common Heritage of Mankind EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone EMB Elisabeth Mann Borgese GEF Global Environment Facility GNP Gross National Product IOI International Ocean Institute ISA International Seabed Authority NIEO New International Economic Order NM Nautical Miles OCS Outer Continental Shelf RIO Reshaping the International Order UN United Nations UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development UNCLOS United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea UNCLOS I First United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea UNCLOS II Second United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea UNCLOS III Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNEP United Nations Environmental Programme vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is written in memory of Dr. Jane V. Curran. Jane was the original supervisor of this project. She always believed in my abilities as an academic and a teacher. She is greatly missed. First and foremost, I would like to thank my parents, Karin and Frank Poertner. You instilled in me a sense of assurance, curiosity, and humour that makes wandering through this world a lot easier. You have always supported my adventures and shown me that it is fine to be me. I am the very first academic in our business-oriented Hanseatic family. In the words of my mother, I might have overdone it a little. I would like the thank the Dalhousie University Interdisciplinary PhD Program and the Faculty of Graduate Studies for the generous financial support during the first five years of my PhD program. Certainly, this project would not have been possible without the support and (almost) never-ending patience, wisdom, kindness, and open-mindedness of my advisors, Dr. Aldo Chircop, Dr. Thomas Curran, Dr. Michael House, and Dr. David Black. I further would like to express my sincerest thanks to the members of the Dalhousie Department of German, Dr. Hans-Günther Schwarz and Brigid Garvey. Dr. Schwarz (“without considering the consequences”) strongly suggested doing a PhD at Dalhousie. Brigid Garvey, over the years, has provided me with the most interesting teaching and professional development opportunities. While the actual process of writing the dissertation was inherently lonely (except for the occasional company of Brandy, the cat), I have had the support of many friends over the years. It has (and I have) not been easy at times, and I could not have done it without you. Special thanks go to Gloria Haskett and her family, the Bishara family, Cornelia Lorenz, vii Verena Eichhorn, Paula Weste-Dumaresq, Paula Minnikin, Mirjam Held, Mirella Kokkinaras, Christine Hoehne, Annett Gaudig, Lindsay Marie Hébert, Petra O’Toole, Miri Döpfert, Franziska Gerhardt as well as the many friends back in Germany who have not seen me or heard from me in quite a while. Very special thanks go to Sharon Woodill. We ran into each other just a few weeks after I had started the program when you were the co-chair of the Interdisciplinary PhD Student Society. Little did I know that you were to become one of the most important people in my life. You showed me Nova Scotia and how things are done around here. We travelled together; we ate, drank, and accomplished things together. I was lucky enough to witness how you became Dr. Sharon Woodill, and now see your academic career thriving. Your influence on my life and my thinking is unique and cherished. You simply make things a lot more interesting. This thesis was professionally copyedited. viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Thesis This thesis examines the interrelations of Elisabeth Mann Borgese’s work, including her early nonfiction writings, her fiction, her later ocean and international law of the sea-related texts as well as her archival materials within the timeframe of the late 1950s until her death in early 2002. Situated within the environmental humanities and roughly set at the intersections of literary studies, international law of the sea, cultural history, and political science, it explores the cultural ecology of Mann Borgese’s utopian vision of the ocean as a laboratory for a new world order. Elisabeth Mann Borgese, born in Munich in 1918, the second youngest child of the German novelist, Thomas Mann, and Katia Pringsheim, made it her moral duty to think about the future of humanity1, envisioning a new, more equitable and ecological world order. The ocean, with its densely interconnected structures, was supposed to act as a natural model for paradigmatic changes to cultural systems. Arguably, this was just the beginning of a wide-ranging utopian plan. Mann Borgese founded the International Ocean Institute (IOI)2, held a professorship in Political Science at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was known to many as an influential expert on the international law of the sea who, throughout the second half of her life, published widely on ocean governance and global order. In particular,
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