Soil and Culture
SOIL —beneath our feet
—food and fiber
—ashes to ashes, dust to dust
—dirt
Soil has been called the final frontier of environmental research. The critical role of soil in biogeochemical processes is tied to its properties and place—porous, structured, and spatially variable, it serves as a conduit, buffer, and transformer of water, solutes and gases. Yet what is complex, life-giving, and sacred to some, is ordinary, even ugly, to others. This is the enigma that is soil.
Soil and Culture explores the perception of soil in ancient, traditional, and modern societies. It looks at the visual arts (painting, textiles, sculpture, architecture, film, comics and stamps), prose & poetry, religion, philosophy, anthropology, archaeology, wine production, health & diet, and disease & warfare.
Soil and Culture explores high culture and popular culture—from the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch to the films of Steve McQueen. It looks at ancient societies and contemporary artists. Contributors from a variety of disciplines delve into the mind of Carl Jung and the bellies of soil eaters, and explore Chinese paintings, African mud cloths, Mayan rituals, Japanese films, French comic strips, and Russian poetry.
Contents
Preface: Philippe Descola;
Introduction: Edward R. Landa, Christian Feller
Part 1. Soil and the Visual Arts
1.1 The representation of soil in the Western Art: from Genesis to Pedogenesis: Christian Feller, Lydie Chapuis-Lardy, Fiorenzo Ugolini; 1.2 Deforestation and erosion captured in historical art of the Pearl River Delta region, China: Walter E. Parham ; 1.3 Transcendental aspects of soil in contemporary visual arts: Nico Van Breemen; 1.4 Merging horizons – soil science and soil art: Alexandra Toland, Gerd Wessolek; 1.5 Soil colors, pigments and clays in paintings: Fiorenzo Ugolini; 1.6 In a supporting role: Soil and the cinema: Edward R. Landa
Part 2. Under my feet—Soil presence and perspectives in the work of four contemporary visual artists
2.1 Dig deeper: Margaret Boozer; 2.2 Creating fiber art with soil and rust: Lisa Kriner; 2.3 Soil, subsoil, priming and architectural design: Heinrich F. Jennes; 2.4 Art by the ground: Martine Lafon
Part 3. Soil and Soul: Literature and Philosophy
3.1 To join the real and the mental place: the written earth: Suzanne Mériaux; 3.2 "Pochveniks" – "the poets of the soil": The geological school of 20th century poetry in Leningrad, USSR (St. Petersburg, Russia): Paul Belasky; 3.3 The soil scientist’s hidden beloved: Archetypal images and emotions in the scientist’s relationship with soil: Nikola Patzel; 3.4 Comprehending soil within the context of the land community: Frederick Kirschenmann; 3.5 Core samples of the sublime – on the aesthetics of dirt: Alexandra Toland, Gerd Wessolek
Part 4. Perspectives on Soil by Indigenous and Ancient Cultures
4.1 European religious cultivation of the soil: Nikola Patzel; 4.2 "Rock - stone" and "soil - earth": indigenous views of soil formation and soil fertility in the West Indies: Christian Feller, Eric Blanchart; 4.3 Mobilizing farmers’ knowledge of the soil (Tanala region; East Madagascar): Domoina J. Rakotoson, Albert Rakotonirina, Georges Serpantié; 4.4 Ancient Maya perceptions of soil, land, and earth: E. Christian Wells, Lorena D. Mihok; 4.5 The soil memory: Case study of a Protohistoric archaeological site in Senegal: Bruno Chavane, Christian Feller
Part 5. Soil and Health
5.1 Soils and geomedicine: Trace elements: Eiliv Steinnes; 5.2 Do pedo-epidemiological systems exist?: Pascal Handschumacher, Dominique Schwartz; 5.3 "Earth eaters": ancient and modern perspectives on human geophagy: Peter Abrahams
Part 6. Soil – the dark side and the light side
6.1 Soil and warfare. C.E. Wood; 6.2 Yellow sands and penguins: the soil of "The Great Escape": Peter Doyle, Larry Babits, Jamie Pringle; 6.3 Soils and soil pioneers on stamps: H.-P Blume; 6.4 Soil in comic strips and cartoons: Anne Richer de Forges, Frank Verheijen, Dominique Arrouays, Eric Blanchart, Martial Bernoux; 6.5 Soils and terroir expression in wines: Cornelis van Leeuwen
