Hunting for Nature’s Treasures or Learning from Nature?: The Narrative Ambivalence of the Ecotechnological Turn

Author： Berghahn Journals Sanne Berghahn Journals Martin

E-ISSN： 1558-5468|12|2|162-180

ISSN： 1558-6073

Source： Nature and Culture, Vol.12, Iss.2, 2017-06, pp. : 162-180

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Abstract

Scientists need narrative structures, metaphors, and images to explain andlegitimize research practices that are usually described in abstract and technicalterms. Yet, sometimes they do not take proper account of the complexityand multilayered character of their narrative self-presentations. This alsoapplies to the narratives of ecotechnology explored in this article: the treasurequest narrative used in the field of metagenomics, and the tutorial narrativeproposed by the learning-from-nature movement biomimicry. Researchersfrom both fields tend to underestimate the general public’s understanding ofthe inherent ambivalence of the narratives suggested by them; the treasurequest and tutorial narratives build upon larger master narratives that can befound throughout our culture, for instance, in literature, art, and film. Wewill show how these genres reveal the moral ambivalence of both narratives,using two well-known movies as illustrations: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)and Disney’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1940).