In Loss and Wonder at the World's End, Laura A. Ogden brings together animals, people, and things-from beavers, stolen photographs, lichen, American explorers, and birdsong-to catalog the ways environmental change and colonial history are entangled in the Fuegian Archipelago of southernmost Chile and Argentina. Repeated algal blooms have closed fisheries in the archipelago. Glaciers are in retreat. Extractive industries such as commercial forestry, natural gas production, and salmon farming along with the introduction of nonnative species are rapidly transforming assemblages of life. Ogden archives forms of loss-including territory, language, sovereignty, and life itself-as well as forms of wonder, or moments when life continues to flourish even in the ruins of these devastations. Her account draws on long-term ethnographic research with settler and Indigenous communities; archival photographs; explorer journals; and experiments in natural history and performance studies. Loss and Wonder at the World's End frames environmental change as imperialism's shadow, a darkness cast over the earth in the wake of other losses.
Industry Reviews
"One of the most brilliant and compelling aspects of this beautiful little book is Laura A. Ogden's voice. A woman's seasoned, feminist, highly attuned and tuned, expertly lived voice, it leads us graciously into a critical world of wonder and loss-a collective looking around at what could have been and might still be. Loss and Wonder at the World's End is sharply, fiercely loving. It teaches us to live and think differently. This is a masterful, inspiring, wholly original work." -- Kathleen Stewart, coauthor of * The Hundreds *
"In its freshness of vision, its first-person mode of presentation, its openheartedness, and its scattering of materials in delicate montages, Loss and Wonder at the World's End is such fun to read. Laura A. Ogden's persistent view of history throughout the text as multivalent, dense, and mysterious is wonderful." -- Michael T. Taussig, author of * Mastery of Non-mastery in the Age of Meltdown *
"Ogden's book is a nonlinear presentation, a meticulously articulated variety of thought on the Fuegian world. It is many stories well told that continue evolving, and although its academic style is not always attractive to lay audiences, Loss and Wonder at the World's End is a highly recommended, fun to read book for those interested in world boundaries, what lies beyond them, and their place within the legacy of imperialism." -- Yoly Zentella * Journal of Global South Studies *
"The book could be very useful in an introduction to environmental anthropology, cultural anthropology, or regional history. The volume is well produced, and the photographs are abundant, well-chosen, and thought provoking. I learned a variety of specific things, was reminded of others in new contexts, and laughed out loud (in a good way) at still others." -- John H. Walker * Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology *
"The eclectic parts of Loss and Wonder at the World's End hold together with the improbable coherence of sticks and mud that make up a beaver dam. Each piece has its own valence, but recurring strands of inquiry and reflection link the elements in multiple ways, inviting the reader to retrace their steps in a creative reordering of content. These characteristics, along with a humble tone and presentation, makes this an accessible and thought-provoking text for a wide audience. Meanwhile, it offers valuable contributions to method, theory and scholarly debate, in relation not only to the Fuegian region but also to wider reimaginings of socio-environmental change." -- Alex Latta * Bulletin of Latin American Research *
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