THE CONCEPT OF NATURE PROTECTION IN THE WORKS OF EWA ŁUSKINA

Abstract

Ewa Łuskina’s work is worth looking at in the context of the ideas of saving nature that she propagates. As an advocate of nature conservation, the writer is part of a trend clearly visible at the beginning of the 20th century, for which he was known, among others, Jan Gwalbert Pawlikowski. Ewa Łuskina’s writing reflects the concepts of protecting nature in the context of its culture-forming values.

The apotheosis of the native landscape shown in Łuskina’s work brings to mind the tradition of nature writing, in which the dominant narrative about the biodiversity of the natural world is often a starting point for reflection on man’s place in the universe and his relationship with non-human inhabitants of the Earth. Referring to contemporary research in the field of ecocriticism, it can be stated that Łuskina’s work fits into the mainstream of ecojustice literature, the main task of which is to show the complicated relations between man and nature, which should not be based on the parasitic activity of representatives of homo sapiens, but should strive to restore old symbiotic relationships, crucial when we talk about sustainable development.

Łuskina’s observations on hunting, which she treats as a way of spending free time and connecting it with the culture of the nobility, are at odds with the presented vision of protecting the natural environment. Perhaps this is due to the different perspective adopted by the author, who is, on the one hand, fascinated by the native landscape in its original version, untainted by civilization, and on the other hand, she describes parks and gardens created by people over the centuries in an extremely pragmatic way.

Łuskina emphasizes that excessive interference in the order of nature disturbs the balance prevailing in nature, and in turn, the “modernization” of monuments has a disastrous impact on the material culture of the country, “killing aesthetic sensitivity, which in her case is synonymous with love for the homeland.

Although Łuskina’s work is dominated by the anthropocentric perspective, in which man is at the center and assumes a privileged position, it also shows some seeds of biocentrism, which is associated with an ethical attitude “assuming the acceptance of responsibility for the state and persistence of nature”.