Solastalgia and soul suffrage: A narrative eco-poem

As Anae explains in this volume, solastalgia is an emotional well-being term to describe how a person or society might suffer some form of existential trauma as a result of changes to the environment. Indeed the solastalgia condition has been included as a climate change impact on human well-being (Wang and Horton 2015). Other solastalgia triggers include a visceral reaction to development activity such as mining or multi-generation farming families experiencing a prolonged drought (Fig. 14.1). On some public policy evidence, science writing per se does not often sway political decision-making on environmental or health issues. Perhaps, artistic endeavour can inspire an environmental ethos in this Age of the Anthropocene. Indeed, precedents exist. Furthermore, no one single piece of art will lay down a lasting neurological pathway on the scale of society. A continuous drip-feed of images, music and writing may be needed to deluge the debate. This narrative eco-poem charts a dialogue-less discussion between a pair of summer hikers in the Swiss Alps. The walkers unravel in the natural wonders and the summer fields of alpine flowers. They come across an old plaque that entreats walkers to make sure the vista stays natural. However, in all directions, are winter skiing infrastructure and bovine summer pasture plots—a natural landscape with anthropogenic signatures. Dichotomies surface that seeks resolution as the discursive reflection develops. The act of writing this inward dialogue, as Gupta in this volume notes; ‘to let nature peep at us’, has assisted the author (at least) reflect on their relationship with nature.