Tomorrow is International Book Day, and I would like to use this week to recommend some reading. In the last Green Literature article, we talked about five books dealing with environmental issues. Today, I only have one recommendation, not a very dense book, but it will not leave you indifferent.

The Name for the World is Forest is a science fiction book by Ursula K. Le Guin, one of the most renowned writers of the genre [1]. Among the characteristics of the stories Le Guin wrote is her interest in various anthropological topics, something that ran in the family — her father and mother were two renowned anthropologists [2].

It is not a very long book, just 160 pages divided into seven chapters. It was first published as a short novel in an anthology of science fiction stories (Again, Dangerous Visions, 1972) [3], and Le Guin‘s chapter won the Hugo Award the following year, one of the highest honors in science fiction [4]. It regained some popularity when Avatar was released in cinemas, as some say that Le Guin‘s world was a clear inspiration.

The story takes place on a colony planet of Earth, known as World 41 or New Tahiti. It is a planet made up of a group of forested islands. There, inhabitants are used to supply wood to planet Earth. The Earthers employ the natives as cheap labour or slaves, even though they are a species close to humans (they are very similar, slightly smaller, and have greenish skin).

Each chapter follows the experiences of one of the three protagonists of the story, with their different perspectives on events. These are Captain Davidson, Scientist Lyuvob, and Native Selver. Each of these characters represents, in reality, a way of seeing nature and relating to it.

The science fiction genre has tended to present various ethical and moral dilemmas in a more palatable way for the reader than an essay. In the case of this book, there are various perspectives on the relationship between humans and nature, which are very clearly represented.

On the one hand, there is Captain Davidson with his anthropocentric view, with humans as the rulers and masters of nature, always at its service. This view has been the dominant one – and unfortunately, the only one – in Western culture for the last few centuries.

“The Earth needs wood, it needs it desperately. And we have found wood in New Tahiti. Well, now we are lumberjacks”

This way of thinking reflects the anthropocentric and colonial mindset that Davidson, as a representative of our society, has. There is another passage in which, when thinking about this new world when it was discovered, Davidson states that “there was nothing, only trees“. Because for him (us), trees have no value until they are cut down into wood, which is useful.

On the other hand, there are Selver and the natives of World 41, representing ecocentrism, the notion that human beings are part of the ecosystem. The natives use the word, Athsthe, both as “world” and “forest” – hence, the title of the book.

They have developed their society to adapt to the ecosystem, of which they consider themselves as part of. Each tribe and city is named after the trees surrounding it, and the elderly women make decisions based on what the forest tells them. Natives do not understand the conquering urge of humans from Earth, who have forgotten their roots, the ecosystem they are connected to.

“They have left their roots elsewhere, perhaps in that other forest where they come from, that forest without trees”