-
9. Zen and the Art of Environmental Education
- Wesleyan University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
167 9 Zen and the Art of Environmental Education The previous chapter described the discourse of haiku as an example of a discourse that represents the natural world in ways that overcome some of the abstraction and objectification of mainstream discourses in the West and promotes direct connection with animals and nature. However, haiku poetry itself is likely only to appeal to a small audience, given both difficulties in translation and the marginal place of poetry within popular culture. Photography is one way of using some of the characteristics of haiku to reach people, but there is another , even more powerful way, through moving images. This chapter explores a film discourse that has similarities with haiku. The focus is on one particular film—Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbour Totoro), and its potential for encouraging close relationships with nature. Tonari no Totoro is a hand-drawn animated film produced by Miyazaki Hayao (nb: Japanese names are in the Japanese order of surname followed by first name) and released in Japan by Studio Ghibli in 1988 (Ghibli 1988). The film portrays the interaction of humans, nature, and forest spirits in rural Japan, and has gained a significant following due to what film critic Kanō Seiji describes as “its extremely original and powerfully persuasive ways of representing nature” (Kanō 1998 [nb: unless otherwise specified, all Japanese material has been translated by the author]). Some of Miyazaki’s other films contain explicitly environmental themes such as habitat destruction, in Heisei tanuki gassen ponpoko (The Racoon War); pollution, in Kaze no tani no Nausicaa (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind); and deforestation, in Mononoke-hime (Princess Mononoke). Tonari no Totoro, however, 168 animals erased has special importance, since the film models positive relationships between humans and nature rather than representing a breakdown of those relationships. This chapter investigates whether, like haiku, sadō (the tea ceremony), shodō (calligraphy), and other cultural art forms, animation of the type used in Tonari no Totoro has the potential to draw out ecological insights from Zen and Shinto traditions and make them available to a popular audience. If so, it is an art form that has the power to cross borders. Indeed, Tonari no Totoro has been released in two English dubbed versions, one by Fox in 1993 (Fox 1993), and another, more recently, by Disney in 2006 (Disney 2006). The arrival of Tonari no Totoro with its Zen-like and subtly animistic portrayal of human interaction with nature, in the midst of a Western culture suffering increasing alienation from the natural world, brings with it the potential to contribute to new forms of environmental education. As the ecological crisis worsens, the importance of environmental education across all educational contexts, formal and informal, for people of all ages, has become increasingly recognized. At the same time, some of the limitations of environmental education as it is usually envisaged have also come to light (Bowers 2001, Cooper 1992, Orr 1992, Smith and Williams 1999, Sterling 2001, Stone and Barlow 2005). One limitation is the way that environmental education tends toward statistics, technical knowledge, and global abstractions, without simultaneously grounding the abstract in concrete awareness of natural systems and the very real consequences of environmental destruction. The common injunction to “think globally, act locally” may be partly to blame, because a global “environment” is difficult to apprehend directly. David Yencken suggests a focus on both the global and the local: If we do not think locally, we may ignore rich sources of environmental knowledge and devalue local understanding and experience. . . . If we do not act globally, we will never solve the big issues of the global commons : atmospheric and ocean pollution (Yencken 2000: 4) One benefit of thinking locally, and carefully observing the ecosystems of the local bioregion across the seasons, is a deeper understanding of the way [107.21.137.184] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 08:16 GMT) zen and the art of environmental education 169 that natural systems work. Perhaps even more importantly, close observation of animals and nature has the potential to help develop a firsthand understanding of the value of healthy natural systems, that is, the value of the flourishing of life. Without appreciation of value, knowledge and technical skills are directionless. Fritjof Capra, a leading holistic scientist, recommends an approach to environmental education that includes both technical knowledge of ecological principles and the values that are necessary to guide that technical knowledge (Capra 2005: xiv). David Orr’s concept of ecoliteracy is similar. In addition...